Monday, April 8, 2013

Booster Time

Dear Reader:

This week we began our last 8 weeks of the 2012-13 school year.  Our staff have been communicating with each other  about targeting 'booster lessons' for our students.  Boosters are indiscriminate amount of learning opportunities (based on strengths and needs) to have students practice, reflect, and refine their actions around the Janssen Way.
Quarter 4 and the anticipation it brings for students about the upcoming summer is an excellent opportunity to provide our students with booster lessons.  We are very excited about finishing the year strong.  Woof!  Woof!

Sincerely,
Mr. Nikolaou

Monday, April 1, 2013

Dear Reader:

We are currently on Spring Break for the week, but I still wanted to share with some data we have collected related to our practices of the Janssen Way--for it sets the stage for the remainder of the year. Since the start of the school year until the end of March, 95% our students have received 0-1 office referrals.  Office referrals take place based on the severity of the behavior or its frequency. This is positively phenomenal--an example of the fidelity in which our staff members integrate the Janssen Way into their daily routines.   I also believe our daily messages during Morning Paws contributes to the high percentage of students making good choices during the day.  Last week for example we target honesty throughout the week--our students were prompted each day about how and why it is important to honest.
We have a great incentive for our students this month.  The more dog bones they receive the closer to reaching the target.  I cannot give you the specifics at this time, but it does include all students who do not receive any office referrals for the month of April.  This all school event's purpose is to acknowledge to our students the thousands of good decisions they make at Janssen School.
Upon our return from Spring Break, 8 weeks of school remain.  Our staff recognize the challenges for students during this time of the year and are committed just like the start of the school to acknowledge good decisions and reteach and prompt for making good decisions.  Developing and practicing citizenship skills for  each of our students continues to be very important to our school.

Sincerely,
Mr. Nikolaou