Invitation to attend a
Special Education
Parent Advisory Council Meeting

Date: Wednesday, 3/31/10
Time: 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Location: Old Rochester Regional High School Library

Click HERE for more information.

Old Rochester Regional High School will hold its annual Parent Information Night on Wednesday, February 24, 2010 at 7:00 P.M. in the high school/junior high school cafeteria.  The format for the evening will be a brief introduction and overview by the high school principal, guidance counselors, and department coordinators, followed by an opportunity for parents to interact and ask questions of department coordinators, advisors and coaches.  This informational evening is an excellent opportunity for parents to ask specific questions regarding their son or daughter's 2010-2011 course selections before the student's course requests are entered.

Course selection process:

• February 9:  2010-2011 Program of Studies available online (click here to download).
• February 24:  Guidance counselors meet with 8th graders during Team Time to explain scheduling process. Schedule cards are distributed.
• February 26-March 5: Students meet with teachers to "sign off" on course recommendations.
• Week of March 8th: Students enter requests into computer during one mod of Social Studies Class.

UPDATE! The winners of the Guaranteach Math Video contest are:

Top 3 Students:
1st- P. Graves (171 math videos watched!)
2nd-A. Underhill (95 )
3rd-R. Stopka (67)

Top 3 Classes (highest average number of videos per student):
1st- Mr. Coellner's Honors Algebra Mod 1 (15.7 per student)
2nd- Mrs. D'Olympia's Title 1 Math Students (15.2 per student)
3rd- Mr. Coellner's Honors Algebra Mod 2 (10.2 per student)

Guaranteach was so impressed with our student's efforts they there have announced a Second Math Video Contest ! This new month-long contest will begin on March 15th!

Guaranteach.com has generously offered the ORR Junior and Senior High Schools, completely free of charge, full access to all of their Math video tutorials for the remainder of the school year. Normally, this tutorial service would cost $9.95 per person per month. To encourage teacher and student use of this service, they are offering a contest to reward the three students who watch the most math videos between Feb 4th and Mar. 4th a gift card valued at $50, $100, and $150.

All levels of math tutorials are available. Students may choose the types of videos that best suit their learning styles. Some teachers are also creating "Scopes" for their classes, which would include links to the topics that are being covered in their classes. All students in both schools have usernames and passwords for access to Guaranteach. See your math teacher, Title 1 teacher, or LSC teacher for more information (or contact Mrs. Silva at asilva@orr.mec.edu).

Eventually, the hope is that all JHS and HS math textbooks will be "mapped" to the video tutorials, enable students (and parents!) to select the book, enter a page number, and be presented with a list of video tutorials relevant to that page. The Gr 7 Math book has already been mapped.

Students and teachers are also invited to created their own video tutorials to contribute to Guaranteach's video library.

For more information about the contest, download a copy of the flyer HERE.

Geek.  Jock.  Jerk.  Bully.  Loser.  Nerd.  People label each other all the time, and usually the labels aren't very accurate.  With this project students had the chance to label themselves, to create a metaphor that's a shortcut to understanding the truth about who they actually are.

http://www.andreeinstitute.com/archivespages/LabelYourself200910.html

It's just what it sounds like, a bunch of geeks get together and have geektastic adventures, play games, write stories, solve improbable problems, juggle various objects including kittens, play impractical jokes, make movies, learn important geeking skills, study why the meaning of life is "42", take vocabulary quizzes, watch movies, create cool stuff, and ocassionally save the world from interstellar threats to the space-time continuum. Most imporatantly it gives us all a place to fit in and spend a Tuesday afternoon. If all this sounds cool to you stop by Mr. Andree's room any Tuesday (be you geek or of the "normal" persuasion).

http://www.andreeinstitute.com/archivespages/geekclub200910.html

A Thin Line ( http://www.athinline.org/ )  is a digital safety education resource produced by MTV in collaboration with other media partners. The purpose of the site is to education teenagers and young adults about the possible repercussions of their digital activities. A Thin Line ( http://www.athinline.org/ )   offers a series of fact sheets about topics like sexting, digital spying, and excessive text messaging and instant messaging. A Thin Line ( http://www.athinline.org/ ) gives students advice on how to recognize those behaviors, the dangers of those behaviors, and how to protect your digital identity. Students can also take a short quiz to practice identifying risky digital behaviors.

The Exploratory Team teachers are currently working on increasing awareness and involvement in Community Service for ALL students.  Please visit the website of the GiftsToGive organization, where several school projects are being planned. The site is www.giftstogive.org  (choose the New Bedford location).

Letters are  scheduled to go home with students on February 3rd. Click here to download a copy of the letter.

A memoir is a story based on a personal memory. 55 Word Stories are told in just 55 words as writers carefully choose what to cut, and figure out what must be included to tell their story in a concise way.

A six-word memoir is an impossible exercise trying to tell a story in only six words. That means you must choose your words precisely so your memoir has as much meaning as you can squeeze into those few words.

Click here to read Fifty-Five Word Stories and Six Word Memoirs

Here are some links to FREE online tools, that allow you to create documents using word processing (like MS Word), Spreadsheets (like Excel), and presentations (like PowerPoint). These tools will enable you to work on files anywhere & anytime that you can connect to the internet - school, home, a friend or relative's house, etc. If you want, files can be shared so multiple users can collaborate on the same files. No need for floppy disks to tranfer files to and from school. This is especially useful if you do not have MS Office (Word, PowerPoint, etc.) on your home computer and want to work on files at home and in school. MS Works and Word Perfect, are not completely compatible with the software we have in school.

NEW!! Try some of many free, easy, online tools for quickly creating multimedia projects and presentations (edit photos, record audio, create videos, comic strips, etc.) for school or to share with friends. This website is constantly being updated so check back frquently to see what's been added!

Click HERE to go to Box of Tricks.

Word Processing:

Google Docs & Spreadsheets : http://docs.google.com/ (formerly Writely.com)

Zoho Writer : http://www.zohowriter.com 

Presentations:

Zoho Show : http://zohoshow.com

Spreadsheets:

Google Docs & Spreadsheets : http://docs.google.com/

Zoho Sheet : http://www.zohosheet.com

Other Productivity Tools:

Create a Graph: http://nces.ed .gov/nceskids/createagraph

Zoho Home : http://zoho.com/

Gliffy.com : http://www.gliffy.com/ - create simple diagrams, floor plans, mind maps, graphic organizers, etc.

ReadWriteThink : Student Materials : http://www.readwritethink.org/student_mat/index.asp

Mrs. Herrmann is asking for suggestions and/or book recommendations for our library. If you have ideas to share, please visit the ORRJHS Library website and click on the link to the "Suggestion Box."

Wanted: School Programming

We are looking for school programming from the ORR School District:classroom lessons,guest speakers, sports, school events and activities, etc.

Please share the wonderful things going on in this school district with the community. Programming will air on Comcast Ch.18 & Verizon Ch.37 - the Ed TV Channel for the tri-town.

Teachers, students, parents, if you have taped school events or would like to learn how, please contact: Debbie Stinson or Lee Shionis at ORRHS 508-758-3745.

email: dstinson@orr.mec.edu   lshionis@orr.mec.edu

Formats for programming: mini dv or DVD

The mission of ORCTV's Channel 18 is threefold:

• To provide the youth, parents, teachers, and members of the greater community of Marion, Mattapoisett and Rochester with the technology and resources to produce their own television programming.
• To showcase educational endeavors/interests of schools within or available to students of the Tri-town area.
• To provide educational programming to learners of all ages within its viewing audience.
  

Click here for more information on ORCTV's ETV Channel 18 

  H1N1 - Policy Guidance, Toolkit and Press Release for Schools

As new information comes in on H1N1, we will continue to pass it along to you.  Policy guidance is now available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding the H1N1 virus, intended for K-12 schools, teachers, administrators, and parents. You will find it here: http://www.flu.gov/plan/school/schoolguidance.html . (Because the guidance may change as the situation changes, we're sharing the URL where the guidance will always live on flu.gov, rather than a static attachment.)
 
Additionally, CDC has also created a health-focused toolkit for teachers and parents, located here: http://www.flu.gov/plan/school/toolkit.html .
 
Finally, here is a link the press release summarizing a joint announcement on Aug. 7 from Secretaries Duncan (ED), Sebelius (HHS), and Napolitano (DHS): http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2009/08/08072009.html .

    As the 2009-2010 school term gets underway this fall one of the worries associated with having young people once again in close, indoor quarters involved the very possible introduction of the H1N1 flu virus which has proven to be quite contagious. School officials, school nurses and local health officials along with the ORR School Physician, Dr. John Conway, met on August 25, 2009 to discuss the information now available from numerous sources concerning H1N1 flu which as evidently been renamed Influenza A 2009. We will make every effort this fall and winter to keep you informed about the impact of Influenza A in the ORR and SU 55 schools. We will host a parent information session at the ORR HS auditorium on Monday September 21, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. Plans are being made to tape the meeting, which will include a panel discussion with some of the aforementioned people, followed by a Q & A session.

Some of the key points that were developed by Dr. Conway and the other public health care officials at the meeting on August 25th included:

• Students or staff members with fevers or other flu symptoms are to remain out of the school until at least 24 hours after the fever has ended.

• Hand sanitizers will be placed in each classroom and office, and students will be reminded of safeguards that they should follow to help themselves and others from coming in contact with flu germs.

• The vast majority of students who do come down with the Influenza A virus recover rather easily in a reasonably short time frame. However, people with compromised immune system difficulties or other significant health problems, particularly those impacting the respiratory system, can have much greater problems with Influenza A. One of the reasons for our regular reports to the community about the incidence of Influenza A in the Tri-Town Public Schools centers on the special efforts that should be made to keep those with existing health issues from getting this particular flu.

• There is not general agreement among federal or state officials about closing schools for a period of time after a number of flu cases has been confirmed. There will be a lot of variables to be considered when and if the incidence of cases in our schools requires that a decision on staying open or closing needs to be made. We expect that good guidance will be available on that matter from both state and local officials later in the fall season. We will need a strong community-wide effort to try to minimize the negative impact that the Influenza A virus could have on the population of our area. Thank you for your continued support of the Tri-Town Public Schools.

Sincerely,

William R. Cooper, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools

September 16, 2009

Dear ORRJHS Parents:

In January of 2002 the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was signed into law.  NCLB requires schools to meet various Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) benchmarks in state mandated standardized testing (MCAS) of English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics.  AYP scores are calculated in ELA and Math for participation, performance, and improvement.  Annual attendance is another measure assessed for AYP.  In addition to assessing the school as a whole, the school is assessed by sub-groups.  The sub-groups are special education and low income.  Schools must meet or surpass the participation and attendance AYP benchmarks, and either the performance or improvement benchmarks as a whole, and within each sub-group. Overall, the results inform the school of its progress toward reaching 100% proficiency by 2014.

While the junior high maintains a "very high" performance rating in ELA and a "high" performance rating in math, there is cause for concern that ORRJHS did not make AYP this year based on the 2009 MCAS results.  In ELA, the special education sub-group did not make its target goals. Math did not meet AYP criteria in the aggregate or by subgroups. Our aggregate math target was 84.3 and we scored 83.0. Initial data analysis indicates many students who achieved "proficient" on the previous MCAS exam changed status on the 2009 MCAS exam.  Most students who were "advanced" remained "advanced" and many students improved from "proficient" to "advanced". It should also be noted that while we did meet the attendance target, we did so by a narrow margin. You can access more detailed information at : http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/mcas/performance_level.aspx?linkid=32&orgcode=07400000&orgtypecode=5 .

If we fail to make AYP again during the 2009-2010 school year, ORRJHS will be designated a school in "Needs of Improvement" status.  We do not intend to become a needs improvement school. Therefore, we are addressing the current situation proactively by targeting students who need assistance through school-day and after-school programs and by continuing to refine and strengthen the curriculum by identifying power standards and creating common assessments. Math teachers will meet to prioritize standards that they will teach during the year, and they will create common grade level assessments reflecting these standards. Be assured that we will continue to offer a high quality educational experience aimed at educating the whole child. Thank you in advance for working with us to improve our attendance rate.

Please do not hesitate to contact me @ 508-758-4928 or via email at kbrogioli@orr.mec.edu if you have any questions, concerns or constructive input.

Sincerely,

Kevin Brogioli, Principal

Parents need to understand Facebook. At Facebook for Parents, parents can enroll in a free course at Stanford to learn more about Facebook or sign up for a free newsletter about Facebook created especially for parents with kids under 18 using the service.

Click HERE to visit Facebook for Parents

ORRJHS library has just launched a new multimedia book blog that highlights books available in the library. Featuring video booktalks - a kind of YouTube for books - and online book excerpts, the blog is designed to help students decide what to read next. So, please do some browsing at orrjhslibrary.wordpress.com, and then come into the library and check out some books!

Would you like to learn more about ORRJHS?  Click on the links below to view the ORRJHS video produced by Greg Andree and his students. (If the video does start to play after a couple of seconds, click on the little black triangle/play button in the lower left corner of the video window)

ORRJHS Video Part 1 (QuickTime)

ORRJHS Video Part 2 (QuickTime) 

A Tri-Town Special Education/Special Health Care Needs Parent Support Group is forming in our District. The first scheduled meeting for the parent group will be held on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at the Sippican School. If you are interested in attending, or becoming a part of this parent support group, please contact Sandra Kinney by email at sandykinneyfc@aol.com or the Director of Student Service office at (508) 758-2772 X 1942.

Click to HERE read Gov. Patrick's letter

of thanks to Massachusetts educators.

In accordance with federal and state regulations, the Old Rochester Regional and Marion, Mattapoisett, and Rochester school districts provide special education programs designed to meet the needs of children who are attending public and private schools and whose parents reside in the towns of Marion, Mattapoisett, and Rochester. This information applies to all children who reside in the towns of Marion, Mattapoisett, and Rochester, including homeless children. Special education services provided by the public schools are available to all children aged 3 through 21, who have disabilities which prevent them from making progress in school. Eligible areas of disability include autism, communication, physical, intellectual impairments, specific learning disabilities, and developmental delays. Parents or guardians of youngsters who might qualify for special education are encouraged to contact the public school district to determine the eligibility of their child or children. The Old Rochester Regional School District provides a full continuum of special education services. Parents or public school licensed professionals may refer a child for evaluation for special education eligibility, if regular education interventions are not successful. Preschool screenings are available four times per year in the elementary schools in the Tri-town area - look in local papers or call your elementary school for dates and times. ORR and Union #55 Elementary Schools Director of Student Services - 508-758-2772 Ext. 1942 Early Childhood Coordinator - 508-748-1863 Old Rochester Regional High School - 508-758-3745 Old Rochester Regional Junior High School - 508-758-4928 Sippican Elementary School (Marion - Gr. Pre-K-6) 508-748-0100 Center School (Mattapoisett - Gr. Pre-K-3) 508-758-2521 Old Hammondtown School (Mattapoisett - Gr. 4-6) 508-758-6241 Rochester Memorial School (Rochester - Gr. Pre-K-6) 508-763-2049 Our school districts have developed Special Education Program Plans for the State Department of Education. These documents are public. Copies are available in the Student Services Office, 135 Marion Road, Mattapoisett, MA 02739. For further information about student services, go to http://www.oldrochester.org and click on "Special Education." Our Director of Student Services and our principals are available to answer questions, and we invite your comments about special education in any of our schools. Any parents or members of the community who would like to have input into our planning for special education should call the Director of Student Services at 508-758-2772 x1942, or should plan to attend a meeting of the Special Education Parent Advisory Council. Additionally, the Marion, Mattapoisett, Rochester, and Old Rochester Regional School Districts have openings for chairpersons. Please contact the Director of Student Services at the above listing if you are interested in serving on or chairing your town's Parent Advisory Council. If you have any questions or concerns regarding these laws and how they affect your children, please do not hesitate to contact your local principal or the Student Services Office. Anyone may obtain copies of special education laws and regulations from the Department of Education, 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5023.

Please don't throw away your empty ink and toner cartridges. Send them to JHS to help Mr. Botelho's students recycle them and raise funds for school activities. For more information click here, or contact Mr. Botelho at the JHS ( 508-758-4928 ext. 1115)

AwesomeStories is a gathering place of primary-source information. Its purpose - since the site was first launched in 1999 - is to help educators and individuals find original sources, located at national archives, libraries, universities, and government web sites.

AwesomeStories is about primary sources. The stories exist as a way to place original materials in context and to hold those links together in an interesting, cohesive way (thereby encouraging people to look at them). It is a totally different kind of web site in that its purpose is to place primary sources at the forefront - not the opinions of a writer. Its objective is to take a site's users to places where those primary sources are found, and to which the site's users may otherwise not go. The author of each story is listed on the "chapters" page of the story. A link to the author provides more detailed information.

This educational learning tool also is designed to support state and national standards. Each story on the site links to online primary source materials which are selected and positioned in context to enhance reading comprehension, understanding and enjoyment.

Click HERE to go to the site. Enter the password orr in the Academic Members Box (NOT Individual members) to start reading some awesome stories!

Click here to veiw this year's Survival Photos!

(over 300 more pictures added on June 15th)