Brian M. Stack's School Leadership Blog

A recent incident involving two of our students has prompted some questions as to how Sanborn Regional High School addresses disciplinary issues, especially ones that involve violence and impact the overall safety of all of our students. Discipline policies and procedures are based on several school board policies that are related to pupil safety in the Sanborn Regional School District. These policies can be found at the following link: http://web.sau17.org/administration/school-board/174-policy-manual-index Offenses are broken down into six “levels” of discipline that range from minor classroom issues (tardy to class, unauthorized use of a cell phone, etc.) up to major incidents (drugs, aggressive behavior, weapons, etc). A full description of these incidents as well as the consequences that are assigned to each can be found in the student handbook beginning on page 27. The link to the handbook is here: http://web.sau17.org/images/stories/highschool/2010_2011%20student_handbook.pdf ...

December 22, 2011 Dear Parent and/or Guardian, As we approach the conclusion of the first semester, we will be reviewing students’ proficiency on course-level competencies to award credit. This year, in order for students to successfully earn credit in a course, he or she must demonstrate proficiency on each individual course competency by obtaining a 65% or higher average for that competency as well as earn an overall passing grade for the course of a 65% or higher. It is possible for a student to earn an overall course grade greater than a 65 but still earn less than a passing grade on an individual competency. In this case, a student would not earn credit for the course until the failed competency grade was remediated. Currently, our teachers are working with students individually to identify any gaps in their learning, any competency averages that are not at a proficient level, and any missing assignments that can be submitted for grading. This is being done in an effort to prevent...

Good morning parents, students, and friends of Sanborn Regional High School. Here are your important announcements for the week: 1. This is a short week. We have NO SCHOOL this Friday. We will be on holiday break and school will resume on Monday, January 2, 2012. 2. I have attached the schedule for final/midterm assessments, which will be held on January 12 and 13. Quarter 2 ends January 13th. 3. SAVE THE DATE for our next open house, which will be held on January 23 from 4:30-8:00pm. 4. The post prom planning committee needs your help! Please remember, this event is planned completely by parent volunteers. If you can offer some support, you can email Theresa Drury at: drury1234@myfairpoint.net theresa.drury@hanscom.af.mil 5. A message from the Guidance Department: Tuesday, January 10, 2012, at 6:30 pm, in the high school library, the Guidance Department will host a Financial Aid Night for seniors and their parents. A representative from the New Hampshire Higher Education Assistance Fo...

Good morning Parents, Friends, and Students of Sanborn Regional High School. Here are your important announcements for the week: 1. The post prom planning committee needs your help! Please come to their meeting TONIGHT at 6:30 in the library. Please remember, this event is planned completely by parent volunteers. If you cannot attend the meeting but want to receive updates on progress, you can email Theresa Drury at: drury1234@myfairpoint.net theresa.drury@hanscom.af.mil 2. Speaking of parent volunteers ... last week a group of parents officially formed the SRHS PTO. You will be hearing more from this group in the coming weeks as they prepare a membership drive. 3. Dr. Blake is hosting a community forum on keeping our kids safe next Wednesday, December 14, at 7pm in the cafeteria. Please review the attached letter for more information. 4. Message from the Guidance Department: Destination College: Sanborn Juniors are encouraged to attend Destination College, hosted by the NHHEAF network...

Good Morning Parents, Students, and Friends of Sanborn Regional High School, Here are your important announcements for the week: 1. Our solar panel project is getting more news attention. Here is an article from last week's Boston Globe: http://finance.boston.com/boston/news/read/20070804/New_Hampshire_School_Signs_World's_First_Solar_Hot_Air_Power_Purchase_Agreement_to_Reduce_Heating_Costs_&_C02_Emissions ... and the Tribune last Friday: http://www.eagletribune.com/newhampshire/x1331366263/Sanborn-installs-unique-solar-hot-air-system 2. I have attached the December Guidance Calendar as well as this week's Scholarship Newsletter. Both documents are put out by our guidance department. 3. This Wednesday is an early release day. Students will be released at noon. There is no PM SST. 4. On Wednesday at 6pm, I will host my next PAC meeting. Our topic was supposed to be the culture survey results, but I may have to table that discussion to January --- I just got the results a...

This article will appear in the December edition of the Sanborn Voice student newspaper: This month, Revolution Energy has begun the installation process for our solar panel heating system. By the end of December, if all goes according to plan, Sanborn Regional High School will be one of the first in the WORLD to use this new technology to help reduce the heating costs of our school. We expect the heat generated from these panels will save our school district nearly $17,000.00 per year in heating costs, reduce our dependence on oil by about 13,500 gallons per year, and reduce our CO2 emissions by about 48 tons annually. How did Sanborn become a candidate for such a cool project? Since our building was completed in 2006, our School District has been looking for a way to help us “go green” and make use of an alternative energy sources. The district investigated erecting windmills that could collect and use wind-power, but as it turns out we don’t generate quite enough wind in this area f...

Good Morning Parents, Students, and Friends of Sanborn Regional High School: I hope you all had an enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Here are your important announcements for the week: 1. I will hold my next PAC meeting a week from this Wednesday (December 7), from 6-7pm in the library. Our focus will be to review the culture survey data from a survey recently completed by all staff and students at the school. One of the focus areas of this survey was bullying. 2. Immediately following my PAC meeting at 7pm next Wednesday, the newly formed SRHS PTO will hold an organizational meeting to elect officers and adopt by-laws. I have attached the draft by-laws for your review. 3. In recent weeks we have received several inquiries into how class rank is computed. We currently use an outdated quality point system to calculate rank, one that has several inequities. For the class of 2012, in an effort to make sure our students have the best competitive advantage for the college application ...

Good Morning Parents, Students, and Friends of Sanborn Regional High School: It is hard to believe that we have reached Thanksgiving week, a short week for us. Here are your important announcements: 1. This past weekend we had a tragic event occur in our community. Here is a copy of the alert-now message that you should have received from Dr. Blake: Good evening, This is Brian Blake, superintendent of schools for the Sanborn Regional School District. As many of you are aware, the Sanborn community experienced a tragedy on Friday night with the passing of one of our 8th grade students. I have met with the local officials and the District Crisis team in preparation for school on Monday. I will be meeting with the faculty prior to the beginning of school to prepare for the arrival of our students. Additional counseling support will be provided in each of the schools in order to meet the needs of the students and staff. Additional information and resources will be forthcoming to parents in...

Good morning Parents, Friends, and Students of Sanborn Regional High School. Here are your important announcements for the week: 1. Tonight our band, chorus, and jazz band will host their fall concert at 7pm in the auditorium. Come support these great musicians and hear some great music! 2. The guidance department's weekly scholarship newsletter is attached to this email. 3. This week, Revolution Energy will begin installing solar panels on the southern face of our building. You can read more about this exciting project and the money it will save our district here: http://www.rev-en.com/projects/current-projects/ . 4. Here is a message from the folks organizing Newton's Turkey Trot next week: Hello All, Sometimes in life, one goes thru a reflection period in hopes of making a better world and contributing to those in needs. The result – Newton Turkey Trot. This event brings together people throughout the area and helps those in dire need for the upcoming winter and holidays....

Good morning Parents, Students, and Friends of Sanborn Regional High School, I hope this week finds all of us "back on the grid" and cleaned up from last week's surprise storm. We also got an extra hour of sleep this weekend, so we are all well-rested, right? Here are your important announcements for the week: 1. I have attached the November calendar of events, published monthly by the Guidance Department, for your convenience. 2. Tonight we will hold our fall sports awards in the auditorium. 3. This week, our students will participate in a culture and school climate survey. The data collected from this survey will be analyzed by groups of students, teachers, and parents - and our goal is to better understand our school culture and the ways we can improve it. If you would like to learn more about this process, visit the website of the company we have hired to assist us with this process. The funds for this were paid through with grant funds. 4. Quarter 1 Report Cards can ...

This article recently appeared in our school newspaper, the Sanborn Voice: I would like to start a privilege system at Sanborn next year. I often hear the complaint from students, parents, and teachers that we have a lot of rules and restrictions at Sanborn. Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a system whereby you could earn the right to have certain privileges? I think such a system would help us improve our school culture and climate. It would give students something to work hard for, and it would provide a reward to students who have earned the right to have some privileges. Of course, to start this process, the first logical question is, what should we put in place for privileges at Sanborn? I’ve spent time this fall talking to a lot of students and student groups. Here are the most popular responses I always seem to get. Please keep in mind that at this point, these are student-generated ideas. We haven’t turned these into a formal list of privileges yet. In fact, I haven’t even taken ...

Happy "belated" Halloween. I hope you all survived the storm and are either back (or soon to be back) on the grid later today. Here are some important announcements from Sanborn HS for the week. 1. We are in the process of rolling out a new "Google Ap" and "Google email" system for students. You can read more about this program in the attachment to this email - a letter written by Dr. Blake to all parents in the Sanborn Schools. 2. Did you know that Sanborn HS will be the first in the nation to install a new solar heating system? This system is being installed at NO COST to the taxpayers and it is estimated to save us almost $20,000.00 in heating costs. You can read more about this exciting project here: http://www.solardaily.com/reports/School_Gets_World_First_Solar_Hot_Air_PPA_for_HVAC_999.html Work will begin in a couple weeks. Solar panels will be installed on the side of the building that faces Route 111. A mock-up of the solar panel design can be fou...

Good morning parents, friends, and students of Sanborn Regional High School. Here are your important announcements for the week: 1. We are rolling out a new "Dress for Success" program this week. I have attached a flyer with more information. The Dress for Success program intent is to help students increase self- respect and learn about dressing for the professional community be that (school, college interviews, job interviews, etc.). It is important for you to review the school’s dress code policy with your child and help them to make proper clothing choices for their school attendance. Dress for Success will sponsor school events targeted at helping students recognize and embrace professional school attire in a positive promotion. We need your help to support the positive message of appropriate clothing for the school community setting. Below are quick reference talking points that may be helpful to review with your teen. 2. Tonight we will hold our National Honor Society i...

Good Morning Parents, Friends, and Students of SRHS. Here are your important announcements for the week of October 17: 1. The Music Boosters are hosting a Haunted Forest on Saturday, October 22nd from 6-9pm at Camp Lincoln in Kingston. Admission is $8 and proceeds benefit the music department. Come support a great cause and have some pre-Halloween fun (and frights!) 2. I have attached this week's Scholarship newsletter from Guidance. 3. The NECAPS are finally complete! Thank you to Mr. Turmelle for running a smooth NECAP testing schedule. Students who missed one or more of the tests will be scheduled for make-up sessions this week. 4. Next Monday evening October 24th at 6pm the National Honor Society will gold its fall induction ceremony for new members. 5. There will be a Halloween Dance on Friday, October 28th from 7-10pm. All current Sanborn students (and guests) are invited to attend. 6. We have again started posting the daily announcements on our homepage. These are the announ...

Dear Parents, Students, and Friends of Sanborn Regional High School: Welcome back. I hope you all enjoyed the long Columbus Day weekend. Here are your important announcements for the week. 1. Consider running in the Newton 5K Turkey Trot. Proceeds will benefit local families in need. I have attached a flyer with more information and a registration form. 2. I have attached the scholarship news from Guidance for the week. 3. Thank you to those of you who made it to my PAC meeting last Wednesday. Our next PAC meeting will be Wednesday, November 2 from 6-7pm in the library. The topic will be the development of a privilege-based discipline system at SRHS. 4. NECAPS are still in session this week for all grade 11 students, and will be administered this Thursday and Friday. 5. We will administer the PSATs to interested students on Wednesday of this week. For more information, contact the Guidance office at 642-3600. Have a great week everyone

** Remember --- if you want to receive this weekly update by email (which will include all the attachments), sign up here: https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dFJBN0FERU1HMDdfWnBjLTBfMjAzX1E6MQ Good morning parents, students, and friends of Sanborn Regional High School. Here are your important announcements for the week of October 3: 1. I will hold my second PAC meeting of the year this Wednesday from 6:00pm to 7:00pm. Michelle Catena, Guidance Director, will speak about the guidance curriculum and answer any questions you may have. I hope you will join us in the library. 2. Congratulations to all the students, teachers, and parents who made Homecoming 2011 a huge success. Despite the rain we had excellent turnouts at all of our games on Friday afternoon and Saturday. Saturday night's football game and bonfire provided a great end to a long week. Congratulations to the freshman class for receiving the highest percentage of attendance at the headcount prior to the footb...

Good Morning Parents, Students, and Friends of SRHS: Here are some important SRHS announcements for the week of September 26: 1. Last week I attended a "think tank" in Washington DC on standards-based assessment with Social Studies teacher Brian Gray. You can learn more about our trip by visiting my blog here: http://srhsprincipalsblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/our-trip-to-washington-dc.html 2. Also last week we hosted the Ford Driving Skills for Life Program. You can learn more about that day as well as view some pictures from the event here: http://srhsprincipalsblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/ford-driving-skills-for-life-program.html 3. This week is Homecoming week. Many of you may already know that due to some scheduling difficulties there will be some changes to homecoming this year ( SAT's are the same day 10/1). There will be no parade this year, thus no float decorating. In place of the float, there will be hallway entrance way decorating and a banner competition in the hall...

Sanborn Regional High School was one of two New Hampshire Schools chosen to host the Ford Driving Skills for Life Program this fall. The full program was open to all Sanborn students with valid NH Driver Licenses. Space was limited to 80 students on a first-come, first serve basis. The program ran in ninety minute sessions during the school day on Thursday, September 22, 2011 at the high school. Driving Skills for Life is a national safety initiative aimed at teenagers who have earned or are about to earn a driver’s license. The program was developed by a panel of safety experts brought together by Ford Motor Company and the Governor’s Highway Safety Association to teach students the skills necessary for safe driving beyond what they learn in standard driver’s education programs. While buckling up and driving sober are fundamental rules that drivers need to follow, this program goes a step further and focuses on four key driving skills: Hazard Recognition, Vehicle Handling, Space Manag...

This past week, 9th grade SRHS Social Studies teacher Brian Gray and I were asked to participate in a “think tank” in Washington DC. We were invited by Deputy Commissioner of Education for New Hampshire Paul Leather. Our invitation came as a result for our school’s recent work over the last year in high school redesign and our school’s efforts to better meet the needs of our students with instruction that focuses on higher levels of learning and assessments that are competency-based. We were honored to attend and represent our state. For us, it was an opportunity to see where Sanborn is nationally on the high school redesign spectrum. It was also an opportunity for us to actively participate in the discussion and planning of what needs to happen next in our country to help better prepare our students to compete globally. The “think tank” was run by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), a professional organization for state-level school administrators. The objectives for o...

Good Morning Parents, Students, and Friends of SRHS. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Here is all your "need to know" information for the week: 1. Tonight is our open house, from 4:30-8:00. I have attached two flyers with more information on this event. One flyer is for students in the Freshman Learning Community, the other is for all other students grades 9-12. I will be thinking of all of you while I am in Washington DC that night. I'll report out on my time at the "think tank" next week. 2. Each day, we send home an automated message to parents of students who are missing from their first period class and we think shouldn't be. If ever you receive a message like this and think it is a mistake, please call the main office at 642-3341 extension 101 to report the error. Please understand that errors will happen from time to time as we try to coordinate seventy adults taking attendance for 725 kids. Errors can occur for a variety of reasons, including ...

Good Morning Parents, Students, and Friends of SRHS. Here are your important announcements for the week of September 12: 1. Thank you to all who attended my first Parent Advisory Council (PAC) meeting of the year. We had some great discussions. Next month we will focus on the guidance curriculum, and members of the guidance staff will be on hand to answer your questions. The meeting will be held October 5 in the library from 6-7pm. 2. Our annual open house will be held next Monday evening September 19th from 4:30-8:00pm. I have attached the flyers that went out in the mail last week to you with your child's schedule. I hope you will come out next week to meet your child's teachers. 3. Speaking of our open house next week, I will be noticeably absent. I hope you will understand. The NH Deputy Commissioner of Education Paul Leather has asked me to go to Washington DC to represent New Hampshire at a "think tank" on innovative school policy. I will be taking Social Stu...

If you want to receive Mr. Stack's emails directly, fill out the following form: https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dFJBN0FERU1HMDdfWnBjLTBfMjAzX1E6MQ Dear Parents, Students, and Friends of SRHS: I hope you had a fantastic Labor Day weekend. At the Stack household, it was a time to visit with family and friends and finish up some lingering projects around the house. Here are your announcements for the week: 1. If you haven't turned in your child's emergency forms, please take a minute to do so at the link below. These were due last week: https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dEVrYVpJT2tBSkZaanI2QjZpTFI3ZEE6MQ 2. I will hold my first Principal's Advisory Council (PAC) meeting this Wednesday from 6-7pm in the library. The topic of discussion will be -- What is new at SRHS? Please come by! 3. This Friday the Senior class will host a semi formal back to school dance in the cafeteria from 7-10pm 4. For those of you who shop at Stop and Sh...

Don't miss Mr. Stack's weekly emails! Sign up for them here: https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewformformkey=dFJBN0FERU1HMDdfWnBjLTBfMjAzX1E6MQ Dear Parents, Students, and Friends of SRHS: Irene won't hold us back anymore, it is time to start the 2011-2012 school year! Here are some important announcements for all of you for our first week of school: 1. Tuesday, August 30th is the first day of school for all students. I have attached a bell schedule for this day, which will start with an extended advisory period. Please make sure you have completed the following tasks in advance: First, you must complete emergency card information. You can either have your child submit the form we mailed home or you can complete it online at the following link: https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/viewformformkey=dEVrYVpJT2tBSkZaanI2QjZpTFI3ZEE6MQ Second, if you are a grade 9 student or parent, please submit a completed field ...

Good Morning Parents, Students, and Friends of the Sanborn Regional High School Community, This is my first email to all of you of the new 2011-2012 school year. I hope you all had a wonderful summer. We have been busy at the school getting ready for what I hope will be our biggest and best year yet! I have a few announcements for you as we get ready to start the year. 1. School starts on August 29 for freshman and SST students only. SST students are only required to be here to catch the bus for SST (9:00am for mid-session and noon for PM session). 2. Parking permits will be available to eligible students on August 26th from 9-11. The parking fee this year will remain at $10. This fee helps us cover the cost of parking stickers and annual maintenance to the parking lot (lines, signs, etc). 3. Please note that school pictures are early this year -- September 1! We will have information on ordering available to send home with students on the first day of schoo...

Sanborn Regional High School Community Bids Farewell to Class of 2011 On the evening of June 10, 2011, some 2,000 members of the Sanborn community came together to celebrate the culmination of 12 years of academic achievement by 143 graduates. Valedictorian Cecilia Kruger, Salutatorian Andrew Matthews, and Class President Tavish Forsyth each took an opportunity to share some of their memories of Sanborn and offer some words of wisdom to their fellow graduates. The Class of 2011 experienced tremendous success in their time at Sanborn. They paved the way for several new school-wide initiatives that better prepared themselves and future Sanborn graduates for the increasing demands of the twenty-first century. They were the second class to spend all four years in a new state-of-the art facility but the first to have the option to graduate outside. They were the first class that was held to a new graduation standard to demonstrate proficiency in the areas of reading, writing, math, and scie...

Dear Graduates, In just a few minutes, you will all be officially released from you required duties as a student in the Sanborn Regional School District. As your principal, I have the honor of offering you some parting words as you prepare to start the next chapter of your life. I’d like you to spend a couple minutes taking a trip back in time with me. Let’s start our journey back in the fall of 2007. You came to this school as freshman a little scared, a little nervous, but hopefully a little excited about the possibilities that would lie ahead. As you passed through the halls from Ms. Hadwen’s Citizens in a Global Society class to Mr. Salge’s Freshman Science class, our world was changing. Apple released arguably the greatest invention of the year, maybe even the decade -- the iPhone. This single invention changed the way we communicate and brought about the advent of “smart phones”, touch screens, and the concept of an “Ap”. As you entered your sophomore year, you were excited abou...

Dear Sanborn Family, This week I am doing a joint email to both faculty/staff and parents. Here are your important announcements for the week: A big Thanks to Senior Class Advisors Candice DeAngelis and Evan Czyzowski for arranging a great Senior Day of Caring this past Saturday. Our kids put in almost 600 hours of service helping residents in their yards, moving equipment and painting at the old school, cleaning up the beach at Kingston State Park, and planting 16 lilac bushes and a tree at our District schools. Thank you to Dr. Blake and my administrative staff also for giving up their Saturday to supervise the kids as they worked. The Music Boosters also had a very successful yard sale in the parking lot and the Student Council even made a good amount of money from a plant sale that will be donated to the relief efforts in Japan. IMPORTANT DATES FOR THE WEEK: June 6: Scholarship and Academic Awards Night for Seniors/Underclassmen – 6:00pm in the auditorium June 7: Senior Finals – Bl...

Did you know that as a college graduate you have the potential to make a million dollars more in income over your lifetime than you would if you didn’t earn a college degree? Did you know that students who enter their freshman year of college having already accrued some college credits are much more likely to earn a college degree in four years, thus saving them thousands of dollars in tuition? Did you know that as a student at Sanborn you have three different ways you can start earning college credit? Did you know that we are adding a fourth for the 2011-2012 school year? Next year we are making college credits an option for all students at Sanborn. Below are the ways that you can start earning college credits today for a low cost: Advanced Placement (AP): We offer several AP courses including Calculus, Literature, Language Arts, US History, Government, Chemistry, Spanish, and French. Students must meet the prerequisites to enter the class and must take the AP exam in May. Depending o...

Mr. Stack's message to studnets in March of 2011: You will find as you go through life that certain phrases and quotes will stay with you and inspire you in everything you do. For me, I am inspired by the quote “find your path, give back, and make good choices.” About seven years ago, when I was a math teacher at Andover High School in Massachusetts, a really good friend of mine named Peter Arthur passed away suddenly, leaving behind his wife and two-year-old son. Peter was a very young and popular teacher at AHS for staff and students alike. He was also in extremely good health. He always challenged his students to think beyond the walls of his classroom and look for ways to do good for others. His motto for life was simple, and he shared it with everyone he met: Find your path in life, give back to your community, and above all, make good choices. These words stick with me to this day in everything I do. Recently, I have been inspired by those of you who have exemplified the word...

The following blog entry was written by Candice DeAngelis, Spanish teacher and National Honor Society advisor for SRHS: How did you spend your February vacation? Over the past February vacation, I (Spanish teacher and NHS advisor, Candice DeAngelis) spent the week with 16 Sanborn National Honor Society (NHS) seniors and 4 parents building townhouses for Habitat for Humanity. Together we drove 13 hours to a very rural Pendleton County in West Virginia where we stayed at a community center in Cherry Grove, West Virginia. Pendleton County is one of the only non-mining counties in West Virginia, making it one of the most impoverished parts of the United States. Located in the heart of Appalachia the students, parents and I learned about construction, the county as well as ourselves. During our trip we worked with another group from Trent University, located in Canada and together, Monday-Friday from 9am-4pm worked on the inner and outer construction of townhouses. The concept for these bui...