Brian M. Stack's School Leadership Blog

This past week I had an opportunity to spend a day at the Christa McAuliffe Technology conference for educators. This year's conference was held in Manchester and was an opportunity for school administrators and teachers to learn about some of the new tools and technology resources that schools are using to stay "current" in the 21st century. I took some time to attend a couple of different "Web 2.0" workshops -- these always interest me because I always learn about new web tools and resources that schools are using (as well as new ways to use some old tools). Here is a summary of some of the tools I plan to try soon: 1. Twitter and Blogger -- I have used both of these before, but the twist (or challenge) is to find a way to use one of these to publish the school newspaper. I have asked a couple of students to help me explore how we might upload our December 2010 school newspaper to Blogger to allow for more reader interaction. More to follow on that soon... 2....

One of the pleasures of working at Sanborn is that the school has a rich 127 year history. In my office I have a bookcase where past principals have left yearbooks from each graduating class since 1957 (the library has yearbooks dating back further than that)! Two years ago, we digitally uploaded most of these yearbooks to our Facebook Alumni page as a way to boost our participation on that page, and it worked - over 1500 alumni have signed up. Still, I often feel that it is a shame that these old yearbooks aren't more widely available to all. For today's post, I pay tribute to the class of 1960 by posting some of their yearbook candids along with the captions they used. I thought it was a fitting way to look at what life at Sanborn was like fifty years ago. Enjoy!

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I thought I would dedicate my column this month to listing some of the things that I am thankful for this year. Please note that these are in no particular order. 1. I am thankful that we successfully (successfully within reason, that is) made it through our first round of report cards. As you know, we made some significant changes to the way grading works at Sanborn, and with those changes came a new report card format and a new grading program (Pinnacle). As with any change, we expected some “bumps in the road.” I am thankful that I have teachers, students, parents, and administrators who know this new system is the right thing to do and have been patient as we work through the implementation process. 2. I am thankful that our school community has pledged to put an end to vandalism in our school. I thank each of you who have come forward with information on an act of vandalism. 3. I am thankful for the high level of sportsmanship and teamwork...

This past Thursday, we had a unique opportunity to host a session of the NH Supreme Court. The day was part of an annual trip that the court makes to a local high school for "Court on the Road." Sanborn was lucky enough to play host for this important event thanks to Deb DeBay, fourth grade teacher from Memorial Elementary School in Newton, who asked the court to consider our location last year. Ten local high schools sent student representatives to watch the two actual court cases. Sanborn had 150 students from Mr. Hurley's AP US History classes, Ms. Karcz's and Mrs. Jules's block 6 Democracy class, and Mr. Hatem's and Mr. Welch's block 2 Democracy class. Sanborn ran a live video feed to the UNH Granite State Distance Learning Network - this allowed high schools form the North Country to participate in the event as well (and this technology was a first for the court!) It was a busy week. Sanborn students were paid a visit last Tuesday by Attorney General ...

I had a difficult time writing the five-year textbook replacement plan this year for the high school. I found this to be a little ironic though, considering where Sanborn was just a few years ago - My first week on the job as assistant principal in 2006, I was attacked by a swarm of teachers begging me to order them some much-needed textbooks. The math department wanted to stop the practice of having just one set of classroom textbooks for each teacher (meaning no one could bring a book home). The science department was still using a biology book with a copyright date of 1984. The Social Studies department had ten different sets of US History books that they had accumulated over the years and none of them talked about the "War on Terrorism," the biggest news of the last decade. The problem was, by 2006 the textbook budget was grossly inadequate for the needs of the school and by the time books were actually purchased for a course or department, the information in them became...

Last week, I had an opportunity to sit down with an admissions officer from Boston University. We had a great discussion about some of our Sanborn students who have expressed interest in the school, but more importantly, we talked about what BU is looking for these days in college applications. I'd like to share some of what I learned in that meeting with all of you. First, I asked her if there were any specific courses (above and beyond the obvious 4 years of English, 4 years of math, 4 years of science, and 4 years of Social Studies) that BU likes to see on the high school transcripts of applicants. She indicated that precalculus and physics were very helpful because they were one way to show a student challenged themselves. For the same reason, she said BU also likes to see at least one or two courses at the AP (Advanced Placement) or PRS (Project Running Start) level in high school. When I asked her about foreign languages, she indicated that 2-4 years in the same language was ...

This past week, the State of New Hampshire released the results from the NECAP Science test administration from May or 2010. Each year, grade 11 students take this test as part of a battery of NECAP tests (math, reading, and writing are done in the fall) that are used to determine if schools are making adequate yearly growth. These latest tests confirm that Sanborn's class of 2011 made some significant gains in each of the subject areas. Student scores are based on the following four levels: 4: Proficient with Distinction 3: Proficient 2: Slightly Below Proficient 1: Significantly Below Proficient The following chart show how Sanborn students have done over the past three years as compared to the State on this Science test. You should note that the State stayed at 24% of students scoring proficient or above, but Sanborn improved from 17% to 32% of students proficient or above. Our Science Department has already begun studying the data to determine what changes should be made to ...