Friday, October 12, 2018

Ravin Nanda, YA Galley, Parent-Teacher Conferences, Early Release Information, & More







YA Galley Book Review Club
Some members of the CCHS YA Galley Book Review Club recently participated in two events, the Boston Teen Author Festival and a focus group at the Concord Free Public Library. 

These impressive students along with their endlessly talented adviser, Dr. Robin Cichetti,  who is the librarian and AP Capstone teacher at CC, provided feedback on the proposed design of the new spaces at the library. The dedicated teen space, programming ideas, and furnishings are going to be amazing!


Early Release
It is with great excitement that we are looking forward to our first early release day next Wednesday, October 17.  This professional development is the culmination of over 12 months of work spanning several committees. We are grateful to the members of these various committees and to the educators who have developed these professional learning opportunities.


We will have four early release days this year (October 17, 2018, December 12, 2018, February 6, 2019, & April 3, 2019).  A few logistical notes about these four days:
  • One these four Wednesday afternoons, students will be dismissed at 11:15 AM  
  • The full bell schedule for the week can be found here on the second tab
  • Busses will run immediately after school and then again during the normal late bus times
  • All sports will begin at their regular times


Tutors will be available in the Homework Club in room 308 from 11:15 - 2:45 pm to provide additional academic assistance.  We encourage all students to make use of this resource.




Educators will be exploring one of four paths during the early release professional development.
  • Path A - Special Education Report Recommendations & Implementation
  • Path B - Instructional Methods
  • Path C - Social Emotional Learning / Teen Mental Health
  • Path D - Interdisciplinary Work
If you are interested in learning more about these four paths, you can read a more details description here.

Once again I want to commend the CCHS staff early release path leaders (listed below) for their hard work and effort developing some impressive professional development for our staff.  







Ravin Nanda
Please check out this fantastic, unique performance by CCHS senior, Ravin Nanda.

By Owen Curtain
Ravin Nanda class of 2018 performed Patnam Subramanya Iyer's, "Raghuvamsa Sudha." on the Veena. He said, "I started playing the Veena when I was 7 years old after seeing it for the first time on a family vacation to India. I was so fascinated by how unique it seemed, and I’ve found that it keeps me connected to my roots." 

He is accompanied by Acton - Boxborough student Raghav Jayakrishna who played the Mridangam. Video of his performance and the performances of may other CCHS students can be found on the Colonial Sound Youtube Channel. Watch him now! 


https://youtu.be/UyHrLjO7thI



Jocotoco Biodiversity Video

Check out the highlights from a trip our students, along with CCHS math teachers Sara Kiesselbach and Sandy Haupt, participated in last year. A Biodiversity/Biostatistics trip is planned for June '19.

Jocotoco Video




Parent-Teacher Conferences
Parent-teacher conferences are scheduled for Thursday, November 8th from 2:00 - 8:30pm. They provide an opportunity for parents to connect on an individual basis with some of their child’s teachers.  Signups will open next Wednesday, October 17 at 8:00 PM. We will be sending out more information about the sign-up early next week.


Trip Information
We held a trip fair on Wednesday, 10 October.  During this time, students and families had an opportunity to explore the variety of domestic and international learning experiences we are offering. This slide deck outlines many of the trips.

We are still in the process of finalizing the trip details (dates, costs, application, etc.) and will be in touch in the coming week with this information.


Center for Parents & Teachers
By Sally Quinn Reed

Starting the Conversation:
Presented by Jon Cohan, CADC

Two-part program held on Thursday evenings, October 18th and 25th – 7:30 PM to 9 PM Location: Ripley Administration Building 120 Meriam Road, Concord (park in back and enter through doors off the back lot) 

Fee: Your payment of $40 for both sessions supports the ongoing work of our nonprofit. No one will be turned away if not able to pay the fee (just contact us at cpt@concordps.org and type “October 18th workshop” in the subject line). 

Pre-registration is required – seats are limited! Please go to https://talkingtochildrenaboutdrugsoctober2018.eventbrite.com


Student PR Team
We assembled a fantastic student-led PR team that aims to cover all things CCHS.  Their first assignment was Kicks for Cancer, and I include a few of their videos below. CCHS students Ellen Su, Grace Jennings, Ted Sweeney, and Gabby Shih make a fantastic team, and we look forward to showcasing their coverage throughout the year.  In addition to the videos below, I have included some pictures they snapped while covering engineering and biology labs and CCHS senior Ravin Nanda making music.  

The best opportunity to see their work is to follow us on Instagram and Facebook.


Kicks for Cancer Video Via Instagram

Kicks for Cancer Video Via Facebook

More Kicks for Cancer Video Clips



CCHS Roof Camera and Lightning Alerting System 
By Ned Roos
Some of you may not be aware of the handy equipment we have on our roof in addition to heating/cooling machinery and WIQH's radio tower.  As part of our weather station system under the auspices of the Science Department, we also have a steerable video camera and a system to warn us if there's a lightning strike in the area!

What can you use the camera for in addition to looking at the weather?   

You can check traffic in the parking lot (at least most of it):


You can watch a game

You can catch a glimpse of Kicks for Cancer Soccer (only one day in September, though)


You can view roof conditions...for ice, snow, and birds

Also on the roof, but separate from the camera, the Outdoor Alerting System illuminates a strobe light and sounds a warning horn when lightning strikes are detected within 8 miles of our location. The system can be configured to be active all the time or only during certain hours.  At the moment, we have it running during the school day into early evening on weekdays, and from early in the morning until evening on weekends to cover the normal activity schedule on our fields.

The lightning alerting system can also send emails or text messages when it's activated.  So coaches and the Athletic Directors can receive personal messages when there's a risk to our staff and student-athletes.  



No comments:

Post a Comment