THE MORGAN SCHOOL “Intellect and Character — The Hallmarks of Excellence”

Public

Information Newsletter

First Quarter, 2012

Volume 37

Number 1

Office 860.664.6504 Fax 860.664.6549

Guidance 860.664.6544 www.clintonpublic.org

Athletics 860.664.6530

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Dear Morgan School Parents and Students,

Have you Portaled.……2

Thanks for taking the time to review our first newsletter of the year.

Safe School Climate..…2

Family & Consumer Science In Action……..3 Club Fairs………….….3

In an effort to move to paperless, we will be posting our newsletter online and not sending it home to every parent. If you wish to have a copy sent to you, please call the main office and request a copy. The Morgan School Parent Conferences will be held on Thursday, November 8. Hours to call the school to schedule conference appointments are included in this newsletter on page 4. Faculty will make every effort to meet with parents who want a conference. However, if this doesn’t happen, there are several other ways to contact teachers and schedule appointments. Here are some suggestions:

Parent conferences..…..4 Political Club………....4

1. E-mail the teacher. Teacher’s e-mails are the initial of their first name, their last name, @clintonpublic.org. For instance, mine is [email protected].

Forensic Team………..4 Student Council………5 NHS Blood Drive…….5 Daylight Savings……..5

2. Call the main office (860.664.6504) and ask for the teacher to contact you.

3. You may also check student progress using the Parent Portal for Power School. Grades are updated every two weeks. Remember, progress reports WILL NOT be sent home. They will be available on Power School.

Health office………….6 Morgan Athletics……..6

4. Check the teacher websites for homework, projects, and field-trip information. If you have difficulty connecting to the teacher websites, please call the school and we can assist you.

Poetry Out Loud………7

I hope this information is helpful and that the conferences are productive.

Veterans Day….………7

Sincerely, K. Hagness

Orion Award…………..8

1

Have You Portaled? Parent Portal News and Information The Parent Portal was opened last year and provided an opportunity for parents to view their child’s grades and attendance information securely via the Internet. The feedback from parents and students has been very positive. Many parents commented that having access to student grades and progress throughout the marking period allowed students to take more ownership over their work and provided parents opportunities to have conversations with their children about school work and achievement. The next step in our rollout process is to encourage all parents to create a Parent Portal account and to provide students in grades 6-12 with individual student logins so that they can monitor their own academic progress on a more frequent basis. Letters with parent login information were sent home the first week of school, and by October 1, the schools provided students with their login information to create their own student account. The final component of our Year 2 rollout is that the schools will rely on the Parent Portal as the sole means of providing progress information to parents. This means that the school will NOT be sending home paper

copies of progress reports at the midpoint of the marking periods. Parents will be reminded through a Global Connect call on the midterm date and encouraged to check student progress and contact the teacher or school with any questions. Any parent who does not have the ability to access the Parent Portal online should call the school’s main office and request to receive paper copies of the progress reports. We hope that you find the PowerSchool Parent Portal to be a useful tool in monitoring student academic progress. If you have questions or need assistance, please contact the Clinton Public Schools Central Office at (860) 664-6500.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Safe School Climate Plan The Safe School Climate Plan was developed by the Board of Education Policy Subcommittee in response to Public Act 11-232, and was approved on December 5, 2011. This Plan represents a comprehensive approach to establishing positive school climate and building the quality and character of school life, with a particular focus on the quality of the relationships within the school community between and among students and adults. It also outlines a process to address bullying and cyberbullying and sets forth the Board’s expectations for preventing, intervening, and responding to incidents of bullying. The Clinton Board of Education is committed to creating and maintaining an educational environment free from bullying, harassment, and discrimination. The Safe School Climate Plan Handbook was developed with the intent to outline and further explain key components of the policy and regulation. The handbook can be found on the Clinton Public Schools’ website under the “Parent” tab. Assistant superintendent, Maryann O'Donnell, has been appointed as the Safe School Climate Coordinator, and is available to provide assistance or to answer questions. She can be reached at [email protected] or (860) 664-6500.

2

Family and Consumer Science in Action In preparing for the Morgan preschool to open, students in Mrs. Nunan’s Child Development classes were able to spend a morning observing children at local preschool facilities. A special thank you to The Red Barn, Pumpkin Patch, Maple Avenue, Clinton Childcare, and Joel preschool for welcoming Morgan students into their classrooms! Mrs. Hidek, at the Henry Carter Hull Library, shared ways that caregivers, for even the youngest of children, can help to teach early literacy skills so children are better able to have success later in their childhood, especially in school. She also spent some time demonstrating, to the high school students, how to select and read a story to a large group of preschoolers. Our students are now opening our preschool and welcoming community preschoolers in for circle-time activities, crafts, nutritious snacks, and some free-play time . These activities help students

process what we are learning in class in a more realistic way. In the culinary classroom, students worked hard to bake pies to donate to Families Helping Families for the Apple Pie Festival (fundraiser) that was held October 6th at The Morgan School. A special thanks to Shop Rite for donating apples for us to use in our pies! Students are learning what it would be like to work in the food industry by holding a soup bar each month and preparing custom-made lunchboxes for teachers. Students must work on marketing each event and complete a cost analysis to be sure our “business” doesn’t end up in the red! Students are looking forward to a regional “cupcake wars” to be held in the spring, a chili throwdown, and the annual gingerbread house contest held each winter. This gingerbread-house activity is a school-wide activity open to any student to participate. Listen for details closer to Thanksgiving.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Club Fair and Mentors Research has shown that active recreation and leisure activities are related to a higher quality of life. This is especially true of those activities that foster a sense of connectedness. Through ninth and tenth-grade advisory, students discussed how clubs/activities help students feel connected to The Morgan School community and foster student achievement. Students were also encouraged to discuss their own involvement in positive activities, both inside and outside of school. A Club Fair was held that promoted twenty-four clubs/activities. Visual displays were presented by forty-four students on the array of clubs/activities. Ninth and tenth-grade students researched activities of interest and how to become involved. A mentoring program was also launched through ninth-grade advisory. Twenty-two upperclassmen volunteered to act as mentors. The role of mentors is to provide a link to The Morgan School community, assist advisors with advisory lesson plans when requested, and coordinate special ninth-grade programs. At the end of first semester, the mentors will return to their own advisory. The Club Fair and Mentoring Program are only two of the many student-driven programs designed to give students a voice and to promote a positive school climate. It is hoped that all students feel that they are a vital part of The Morgan School. For more information, contact Mrs. O’Brien in the guidance department (860-664-6544).

3

Fall Parent/Teacher Conferences_

will be held on Thursday, November 8

Afternoon conferences are from 12:30 until 2:30 and are scheduled for ten minutes each. Evening conferences begin at 6:00 and end at 8:00. Each conference is ten-minutes long. YOU NEED TO MAKE APPOINTMENT(S) between 8:00 & 11:00am, from Friday, November 2 through Wednesday, November 7. When available appointments are full, phone calls home will be made by the teacher. Please have ready the name(s) of the teacher(s) you wish to see when you call for appointments. (664-6504).

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

MPC Hosts Candidates The Morgan Political Club will be hosting a state representative /state senate debate on October 24 in the Gagnon Auditorium from 6:30 to 8:30. All are welcome. Participants in the debate will be: Chet Harris, Libertarian, Haddam Board of Education ; Melissa Schlag, Green Party, candidate for state senate, District 33; Jim Crawford, Democratic Party, state representative and candidate for state senate, District 33; John Kleinhans, campaign director for Paul Formica, candidate for CT Congressional District 2. _____________________________________________________________________________________________

Forensic Team Member Goes to the Next Level Cameron Cook, a junior-class member of the Morgan Forensic Team, takes a basic idea of forensic study to the next level over the summer of 2012. Last year, The Morgan School, in conjunction with the Clinton Police Department and local businesses, offered an opportunity to Morgan students to experience, hands on, the critical work of forensics. The collaborative experience allowed student members of the team a learning experience that ended with a mock-murder crime-scene investigation at the Clinton Motel. Team members experienced what criminal investigators do each day. Morgan teachers, Mr. Graham and Mr. Izadi, led the training with outstanding collaboration from officers of the Clinton Police Department. Graham stated, “Officer Joe Flynn and Officer Brian Pellegrini led a training experience for students which is offered at Morgan to members of the Forensics Team.” Former Morgan student, Samantha Lee, a University of New Haven forensics major, stated that many of her classmates had the investigative opportunity in high school and she is glad that people are offered that experience. By year’s end, students were working on DNA studies similar to that offered in classrooms at Morgan. One student, Cameron Cook, decided interest in the field was important enough that he spent his summer learning more. “I enjoyed working with DNA and it was interesting to see how it was used in forensics.” It is difficult to demonstrate without the equipment at the school so Cook took advantage of an opportunity at Yale University. “This summer I had a six-week internship in a lab at Yale University 4

School of Medicine. It was a great educational experience and I was able to participate in research for cancer and auto immune conditions. I worked with post-doctoral candidates, assisting them with their experiments. I ran gels through the gel electrophoresis using a container that separates pieces of DNA according to size. I worked with a PCR machine which amplified DNA in order to analyze the various parts. I removed cells from a mouse spleen, put them into a centrifuge to gather all of the cells in the solution at the bottom of the tube, and then passed the tube along for analysis. These are just a few of the processes that I assisted with during my internship. I hope to continue to study scientific research in the future.” The opportunity to do what you want in life is a continuous evolution and the challenge to reach your potential begins with the curiosity offered by teams and clubs at Morgan. The Morgan Forensics’ team hopes this year to use the learned experiences in competition with other high schools across Connecticut in the spring of 2013. The team began meeting the week of September 24. Contact Mr. Graham for further information. For more info about Civics First and the great work they do, go to http://www.civicsfirstct.org/

Student Council Update Student Council is off to a good start for the 2012-2013 school year thanks to the strong leadership of president, Shelby Church, vice president, Patrick McAllister, a dedicated group of students, and advisor, Mr. Izadi. They are currently working on organizing Homecoming events. The Homecoming football game is on Friday, November 9, against East Hampton. It’s a home game and starts at 6:30. The Homecoming parade will be on Saturday, November 10. The theme for this year is “Major World Cities.” As in previous years, each class will design a float that depicts an aspect of the theme. The parade will start at 11:00am at The Morgan School, roll down Glenwood Road and end at the Joel School. There will also be a Homecoming dance on Saturday night, November 10, at 7:00pm. The cost of admission will be $10. Student council members look forward to an exciting school year with many activities to make the experience at The Morgan School a positive and memorable one.

______________________

On Tuesday, October 16, the National Honor Society is hosting its bi-annual blood drive. Students 17 and over and staff are encouraged to donate life-saving blood. One donation can save three lives.

Daylight Savings Time will end on Sunday, November 4. Set your clocks back one hour. 5

From the Health Office To parents/guardians of students who participate in school sports: Please remember to give notes directly to the health office from your child’s physician that may pertain to: injury, illness, inability to play his/her sport, clearance to resume playing These notes should NOT be given to coaches or coaching staff. To report daily absences, please call The Morgan School main office 860 664-6504. Also, for your information, sports physicals are valid for thirteen months.

If your child is ill with a fever, please do not send him/her to school. If your child is diagnosed with the flu, please advise the health office. The flu virus spreads rapidly and exhibits symptoms such as: *fever

*muscle aches

*cough

*sore throat

*respiratory discomfort

WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT EACH STUDENT RECEIVE A FLU VACCINE Lorraine Lewellyn, R.N. Health Office--664-6574

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ __

M O R G A N AT H L E T I C S The Morgan winter sports meeting is on

Monday, November 19 at 7:00pm This meeting is mandatory for all winter sports athletes and their parents. Boys basketball will meet in room 60 Girls basketball will meet in room 64 Indoor track will be in room 61 Wrestling will meet in room 67 Up-to-date schedules and directions to games are available on-line at www.casciac.org –athletic division—then follow the prompts. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------

6

“If you cannot be a poet, be the poem.” David Carradine

In 2006, The National Endowment for the Arts and The Poetry Foundation created a nationwide poetry recitation contest entitled Poetry Out Loud (P.O.L.). On Friday, February 1, 2013, The Morgan School will host its fourth annual installment of the school-level Poetry Out Loud competition. In February of 2010, Morgan’s first year participating in the contest, only a short list of four students competed in front of an equally small audience during February break. Since February, Clinton’s interest in P.O.L. continues to grow. This year’s contestants are working diligently to memorize, recite, and perform two poems from the Poetry Out Loud anthology. On February 1, 2013, each student will deliver his/her poetry selections, each will “be the poem” for an expectant audience of Morgan students, teachers, parents and friends. Similar to previous years, the high school’s competition will consist of two rounds. In the first round, each contestant will deliver his/her first poem to an audience of wide-eyed listeners, as well as a panel of rubric-driven judges. After a short intermission, the top five scoring contestants will return to the stage for the second round in order to perform their next poems. Morgan’s final winner and runner-up then will attend a workshop at Southern Connecticut State University, which is generously sponsored and supported by the Connecticut Department of Culture and Tourism. In preparation for performance at the Connecticut state-level P.O.L. contest, students will collaborate at Southern with various artists and other Connecticut school-level P.O.L. champions in order to perfect the craft of poetry recitation. Should Morgan’s school-level champion become Connecticut’s state champion and representative, he/she will journey, in April, to Washington, D.C. for the national contest. Poetry Out Loud was created to heighten awareness about the importance of the spoken word, and more importantly, about the art of poetry. And while many high schools across the nation will be holding school competitions in the upcoming months, The Morgan School community remains excited and hopeful about its own upcoming Clinton contest, all in the name of poetry. Who: What: Where: When:

Morgan students, teachers, parents, friends Poetry Out Loud Annual Poem Recitation Contest The Morgan School auditorium Friday, February 1, 2013 - 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

All friends and family of contestants are encouraged to attend and show their support for the event! For more information, please visit: www.poetryoutloud.org ______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Veterans Day at Morgan The Morgan School will again host Veterans Day ceremonies for all Clinton residents on November 12, 2012, from 10:00am to ll:00am in The Morgan School gym.

Veterans of all armed forces are encouraged to attend.

7

We are pleased to announce that history teacher Michael Graham will receive this year’s Orion Award from Mystic Seaport! The Orion Award for Excellence in Experiential Education was introduced in 2005 in honor of the Museum's 75th Anniversary. Named for one of the most familiar constellations -the Hunter Orion, son of the sea god Poseidon -- Orion has often marked the course for many seagoing vessels. The Orion Award recognizes teachers who infuse history, math, science and literature with a maritime focus. Teachers who use museum resources to illuminate history, and create a living record that reflects America's present and future as well as its past. Through the Orion Award, Mystic Seaport acknowledges the unique skills and abilities of teachers to link disciplines and communicate ideas with their students, helping their students navigate the course of life. This annual award recognizes stellar teachers who are inspiring to their students and to their colleagues. And, perhaps most importantly, teachers who radiate the joy of learning, as well as of teaching. Mr. Graham creates meaningful and innovative learning experiences for his students and others. Graham provided a collaborative work presentation at the Mystic Seaport Summer Teacher Institute this past summer Thirty teachers from across the country learned from Mike, methods for students to research und use inquiry methods. In addition he offered the same opportunity to school principals and superintendents from across Connecticut at Mystic this past summer. This fall students from The Morgan School in Clinton will be able to experience the research project again. Mikes’ approach in his teaching brings students out of the classroom and into the field for first-hand encounters with the places, artifacts and activities that allow students to collaborate in their World History studies and develop lifelong occupational real life skills. A life-long learner, Mike continually adds to his repertoire through experiential learning. .A believer in research-based data study Mike has been a participant in Yale University’s PIER Institute Summer Programs, a participant in Gilder Lehrman Institute, learned and contributed to the Digital History Units of study a online learning program. He actively uses the Brown University Choices Program. During his teaching career in three school districts, and as a trainer and supervisor in private business he continuously applied the principles learned in education to the training he provided in business operations. Graham has been a successful coach in athletics, a tutor, serves on several High School committees and is involved with the Connecticut Geographic Alliance. Michael does not limit his commitment to hands on learning experiences during school He began after school programs including a Mock Trial team where team members actually try real cases in Connecticut Superior Courts against other high school teams He initiated a Forensics Team co-taught by the local and state police in which students challenge their learned skills in simulated crime scene investigations and the follow thru in forensics lab work ,and annually he provides a one week experience in Political History in conjunction with the Close-Up Programs in Washington D.C. Graham said ‘The use of primary sources and the experience of hands on research are more than just a fun experience—they create a real experience that allow the students to develop the Common Core standards our schools want students to learn and use In addition he adds, “The Mystic Seaport Research Program is an example of collaboration between public and private that provide students new methods of learning with impact for the rest of their lives.” Sarah Cahill Director of Museum Education and Outreach

Mystic Seaport Museum

8