Principal's Weekly Message - 1/4/2021
Greetings,
This is Ian Solomon, Principal of Leesville Road High School sharing the latest news and upcoming events, as well as wishing you a safe and restful winter break.
PTSA General Meeting and College Panel
Announcing the next PTSA general membership meeting is this coming Tuesday, January 5 at 6:30pm. Following a brief meeting, we will host our College Student Panel. Five recent LRHS alumni will share their varied experiences transitioning from high school to college life.
Please submit specific questions to LRHSpridePTSA@gmail.com.
Zoom details for the meeting and panel will be emailed on Monday and available on the school website Tuesday morning.
Asynchronous Learning Day
Wednesday, January 6 is our next asynchronous learning day. Live instruction will resume Thursday, January 7.
Textbook Collection
Our next textbook collection event will be held Thursday, January 7. Collection will begin at 3 pm and end at 5:30 pm. To make things run smoothly, please adhere to the following:
- Have your student check with their teacher(s) to see if a book or supplies is needed for the class.
- All traffic should approach campus from Country Trail, making a right turn into the Carpool lane at the front of the school.
- Prepare an information sheet prior to arriving to campus that you will show attendants with the following:
-Your student’s first and last name
- Course Name and description (i.e. Honors Chemistry, AP Calculus, World History etc.)
-Teacher’s last name for the course
- Remain in your vehicle and a staff member will assist you.
End of Course Exam Preparation
For those of you who have students sitting for state tests during the week of January 11 - 15, please provide the information below to your students prior to their exam in preparation for their online testing experience.
- To Access the online assessment tutorial video directly, click https://data.ncsu.edu/nctest/Tutorial.html#StudentSignIn. In the first paragraph, click the “here” button in the sentence, “You may watch the desktop tutorial video here.”
- To access the online assessment tutorial video through the NCDPI website, click
https://www.dpi.nc.gov/districts-schools/testing-and-school-accountability/state-tests
Click on the sentence: Access online assessment tutorials, videos, and view released items.
- Additionally, from any page on the NCDPI website, type “State Tests” in the Search bar and select the State Tests page.
Fall Semester Exams – Updated Information (repeat)
Students will be taking final exams January 11 through January 15 for all first semester classes. While all teacher made exams will be administered virtually, all administrations of EOC exams (Math 1, Math 3, Biology, English 2) as well as specific Career and Technical (CTE) exams are required by the state policy to be in person. There are no exceptions to this in-person requirement. Please find the exam schedule for the fall courses here.
As we continue to seek avenues to best support students in these unique times, WCPSS will be using the flexibility that the state has given to all districts to amend the grading structure for state exams. Specifically, for End-of-Course (EOC) and CTE Post Assessments, we will incorporate the following into our scoring plan:
- Minimum Score of 60. The grading scale for state assessments will include a minimum possible score of “60.” The goal of this change is to ensure that no student fails the course as a direct result of their score on the exam.
- Exam Score Only Improves Course Average. If a student’s score on the state exam is lower than the combined average of Quarter 1 and Quarter 2, the student’s exam score will be curved to equal their course average. For example, if a student has an “80” average for the course prior to the exam, then their lowest possible exam score is an “80,” but they will keep any score higher than an “80.” It is important to note that the score is curved for the purpose of calculating the course average. The original EOC scale score, achievement level, and percentile will be reflected on the student transcript.
Students who do not test and have not submitted a medical exemption will receive an Incomplete (INC) for the course.
All students are strongly encouraged to take their exam and do their best. The exam is an opportunity to share what students have learned. Our hope is that the scoring structure described above allows students to do just that.
Senior Exam Exemptions Update (repeat)
Seniors with a grade of C or above on January 7, 2021 for a class will be exempt from the final exam if it is not state mandated or a Career and Technical Education Exam (This is updated information from last week’s message.) Teachers should communicate this information with the respective seniors.
Spring 2021 Schedules Update (repeat)
The process of adjusting our master schedule and moving students into the appropriate sections for the spring semester is continuing. Because we are scheduling in-person and virtual academy students at the same time, spring schedules are projected to be complete January 11, 2021. As stated previously, any schedule that is viewable at this time is not accurate. If you have a concern or question about your schedule, please contact and share it with your student’s counselor. We will take that concern and do our best to address it.
“Protecting our Pride” Safety Videos (repeat)
As we prepare for the return of students to campus please take an opportunity to view the “Protecting our Pride” Safety and procedures videos, in English and Spanish, located under the pride news section of our website as well as the links below. It may be necessary to download the file in our to view the video.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z4Gh7WLs8_23Gsn5JOdHykXOB0Y6TWdd/view (English)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PxmRkrk9bgxBWJzPLSgfdYTujzrCeHuC/view (Spanish)
Revised Spring Semester Bell Schedule (repeat)
The second semester bell schedule has been posted to the banner section of our website as well as under Pride News. To see the details of our schedule please navigate to our homepage and use one of the previously mentioned links.
Setting up Powerschool (repeat)
If you have not created or accessed Powerschool this year, please click here to learn more about the process. Powerschool will give you access to your student's grades, attendance, and other important student information.
Thank you for your continued support of Leesville Road High School, where we take PRIDE in everything we do.