Updates - Week of January 30th

Congratulations! Our bell schedule is a go! In working with Educational Specialist Jill Zodrow @OCISS who coordinates this effort, our revised bell schedule met the criteria such as instructional minutes and was able to address questions utilizing non-instructional time. Will provide more updates a later date. Strategic communication to the community will now need to be coordinated. Great Job!

Beginning this week, administration will be meeting with all content areas to review progress to addressing student growth, curriculum maps , common assessments, and c onsistent grading practices . Along with this, counselors will be facilitating discussions addressing those identified struggling students. This will be coordinated through Doris Morioka Fulks. Attendees will be targeted students' teachers, counselors, school services coordinator and administration. Our target of 95% proficiency is priority. Attached provides for 99% of the teacher's reflections for 1st semester reflections.



Acknowledgements:
JROTC: Received a call from PTSA president Robert Purdue sharing that our JROTC Drill team took 1st place in this past weekend state competition on Oahu. Congratulations and more information to follow.

Science projects: Congratulations to the students as their projects reflected the many hours of research, analyzing, organizing, writing, etc. ultimately producing their final product. Student's projects continue to be a solid formative assessment piece to validate learning. Good luck to the 15 students moving on to the District Science & Engineering Fair on Feb. 29th - March 2nd. Kudos also to the teachers who also played important roles in this effort!

Parent Registration Informational meetings: Informational sessions for SY 2012-13 were very successful reflecting a good number of attendees, parents involved in asking questions and sharing their appreciation. Special thanks to those staff members who played important roles in making this a success.....in fact many parents shared how wonderful it was for them being able to meet the staff.

Middle School Orientation: Kudos to Robyn Keawe, Kahele Keawe, Calvin Paleka and Evan Costa for their efforts at the orientation session at Kapaa Middle School. Several KMS staff and administration shared their thumbs-up for the two day sessions. Due to our projected enrollment counts, important that we get as many students enrolled.

Academy Registration: Per the work group progress, next year's academies are nicely well balanced. While they are waiting for some outstanding registration forms, things are moving along quite nicely. When fully implemented, this structure will provide students with that sense of purpose and relevance. Teachers will need to continue thinking as to where they would like to be in terms of HUI and Academies as by May of this school year, all teachers and support staff will be tentatively placed in an Academy or HUI up to grade 12.

Finally, the County of Kauai is promoting free bus rides on the Kauai Bus from Feb. 20th through March 10th per their long term vision promoting public transportation. Please share with students and other staff members.



Weekly Calendar:
Monday, Jan. 30th: Leadership mtg @Principal's office 8:30 a.m.
Principal mtg w/Art programs 2:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 31st: Principal mtg with Student Council @Student Center (lunch)
Wednesday, Feb. 1st: Administration meeting with Social Studies, Science and Mathematics departments 1:50 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 2nd: Principal attending State SLC mtg @Pearl City High School

Have a great week!


Daniel S. Hamada
Principal
Kapaa High School
4695 Mailihuna Road
Kapaa, Kauai, Hawaii 96746
PH: (808) 821- 4401 ext. 102
FAX: (808) 821- 4420
daniel_hamada@notes.k12.hi.us

Kapaa High School cares for and supports "ALL" students to be prepared for college, career, and citizenship in the 21st century.

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Updates - Week of Jan. 23rd

Kung Hee Fat Choy! - The Year of the Dragon! During ancient times, Chinese culture considered the dragon the most sacred of all animals. It reflected authority, dignity, honor, success and luck.


All content areas were sent their compiled reflection for the 1st semester. While there are some outstanding data, information provides venue for focused discussions. As shared, critical that we continue to be on that same page.....within and across content areas. Bottom line:

* Curriculum maps (year long pacing chart/calendar) must be aligned, implemented and revisited.
* Common (post) assessments measure what students must master as a result of your teaching. Need to have a good handle where students are prior and post instruction. Assessment data informs whether the lessons you are preparing are really the lessons that students need;
* Rubrics helps to provide good feedback to students (and teachers); and
* C onsistent grading practices ....while challenging, it comes together as a result of continued practice and articulation. For our most important customers, students (and parents) will have a higher level of appreciation, trust, respect and relevance.


As professionals, when we accomplish this consistency, it will result in that tipping point of increased student learning productivity. Research based on successful pedagogy practices continue to validate this.

Asking department heads to facilitate their department meetings and ask our counselors and school services coordinator to facilitate cross department/program focused discussions. Please be sure to inform administration so we can also participate. Wanted to also acknowledge the HUI teachers as I was informed that they have already begun to identify students and collaboratively working to address targeted supports.

Planning to share the school-wide reflection template that reflects all content areas in a follow-up e-mail. Will also be sending specific questions to individual and groups of teachers for more follow-up.

Facilities Construction Updates: The telecommunications project is very much on schedule. The major work of digging trenches to lay the conduits are almost completed. Major work will transition to the night crews who are installing conduits in all of the buildings and classrooms. This phase will take a couple of months followed by the final phase where another work team will begin pulling of the fiber and other wires across the entire campus. Upon completion, both Kapaa Elementary and High will be well positioned in terms of technology capacity. While the exact time frame hasn't yet been set, the installation of solar panels should follow as we move toward making our schools more energy efficient.

In concluding, want to express my appreciation per the tremendous strides per the Academy & HUI work. When fully implemented, this structure will provide students with that sense of purpose and relevance over their four years at Kapaa High. Electives, core and other programs will have that tighter alignment. As we continue to structure next year's programs and teaching assignments, all teachers need to continue thinking as to where they would like to be in terms of HUI and Academies. By the end of this school year, we should have all teachers and support staff tentatively placed in an Academy or HUI up to grade 12.


Weekly Calendar:
Monday, Jan. 23rd: Grades 10 & 11- Parent Registration Informational Meeting @Library 6:00 p.m.
Principal @ SLC Consortium meeting @McKinley High
PTSA Board Mtg @Student Center 6:00 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 24th: Principal @District Leadership meeting @District Office 8:00 a.m.
School Community Council Meeting @Student Center 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Jan. 25th; Science Fair viewing @library (only through science classes)
Thursday, Jan. 26th: Apple Representative (Kupono Kekuewa) on campus
Vice-principals & AD at monthly meeting @District Office 8:00 a.m.
Friday, Jan. 27th: Principal @ East Complex Leadership mtg 7:00 - 11:00 a.m.

Have a great week!

UPDATES - WEEK OF JAN 16TH

Thank you as administration received a very good percentage teachers' reflective feedback addressing their students' progress to date. This formative information along with other data helps to provide that comprehensive picture. Spent weekend compiling the information and will combine with other data for faculty discussion.

Per classroom visits, sharing more feedback:

• Pleased to see continued focused instruction across many classrooms as a good number of lessons reflected higher level critical thinking. Saw a nice balance of lecture, student feedback/wait time, group work and projects. Strongly encouraging more student work products to be posted as it provides that nice reference support for all students. Reminder that the standards being covered needs to be visible in every classroom.
• An area where we need to strengthen is ensuring that teachers teaching similar content are on same page. Example, Social Studies teachers teaching U.S History should be meeting on a consistent basis to assure curriculum maps are being followed, common rubrics are being used, grading practices are consistent, etc. This pertains to all content areas and recommend that departments utilize Monday and Thursday's planning time to make this happen.

Reminders:
HUI planning for SY 2012-13: In preparing for next school year, will be meeting with teachers who are interested in being on the HUIs for grade 10. As this is our initial year of implementation, we continue to learn and grow.....a fundamental expectation is that commitment in working as a team. Administration will be interviewing interested teachers for grade 10 as well as reassessing current 9th grade HUI teams in terms of commitment for next school year.

Parent Registration Informational Meetings: Our first parent registration informational meeting held on January 9th was well received. Many questions addressing graduation requirements, college/career planning, etc. were asked. Very pleased with the amount of questions addressing the STEP-UP diploma as parents want their children striving for the BOE Recognition diploma. Kapaa High's Class of 2015 (current 9th graders) has nearly 40% already signed up for the BOE recognition diploma and definitely anticipate more. As you are aware, this is the last year that students have a choice in terms of the going for the regular or the BOE recognition diploma. Beginning next school year there will be only one diploma...the BOE recognition diploma. Thank goodness that the 7th period schedule passed.

• Grades 10 & 11 on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012 @Library 6:00 p.m.
• Incoming Grade 9 on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012 @Library 6:00 p.m.

Faculty Meeting: Topics to be covered are the PSAT scores, HUI & Academy updates, SY 2012-13 registration, projected student enrollment, staffing, and funding.

Weekly Calendar:
Monday, Jan. 16th: Holiday - Martin Luther King Day
Tuesday, Jan. 17th: Grade 10 & 11 Parent Registration Informational Meeting @Library 6:00 p.m.
Wednesday, Jan. 18th: Principal mtg with Kauai Rotarians 11:30 a.m. @Courtyard Marriott
Faculty Meeting 1:50 p.m. @Chorus Room
Thursday, Jan. 19th: HUI Collaboration 7:45 a.m. @I102
Friday, Jan. 20th: Castle and MOTT Foundation visitors on campus

Calendar Changes:

• PTSA Board rescheduled to Monday, January 23rd 6:00 p.m. @Student Center; and
• School Community Council rescheduled to Tuesday, Jan. 24th 5:30 p.m. @Student Center

Have a great week!

Daniel S. Hamada
Principal
Kapaa High School
4695 Mailihuna Road
Kapaa, Kauai, Hawaii 96746
PH: (808) 821- 4401 ext. 102
FAX: (808) 821- 4420
daniel_hamada@notes.k12.hi.us

Updates - Week of Jan. 9th

Sharing feedback per classroom visits.....

• A good number of the classes visited were focused, standards based, and modeling bell-to-bell instruction. Will continue to follow-up with teachers whose classes were lacking focus in terms of benchmarks and classroom management.
• Reminder that the taxonomy level of instruction is critical for balanced learning. Per our classroom visitations, always assessing if instruction is balanced in challenging students beyond just memorization/recall learning activities. Many know this as Bloom's taxonomy levels....."Remembering, Comprehension, Applying, Analyzing, Evaluating, and Creating". Let's ensure that all students are challenged with learning activities that are rigorous and relevant.
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Reminder that your reflection feedback on students' progress are due this Friday, January 13th. Appreciate if you can send it electronically and feel free to "cc" the vice-principals, Beth, Doris and your department heads. Data will be compiled along with 1st semester grades, attendance, etc. as we utilize formative data in affirming our collective progress. I am also attaching a sample received from Calvin Paleka for reference and special thanks to Mr. Paleka in his willingness to share.



Reminders:
Senior Contracts: Please be sure that you have provided your with a "senior contract" as it is already in effect this semester. Informed that not all seniors may have received a copy from their period 1 teachers. Very difficult for administration to be consistent especially when dealing with serious Chapter 19 incidents.

Parent Registration Informational Meetings: During January, parent registration informational meetings will be held addressing graduation requirements, required classes, elective classes, college/career planning, and questions parents may have. With the implementation of Academies beginning with grade 10 students in SY 2012-13, strongly encourage teachers attend so parents/students can get that opportunity to personally meet and have their content/elective questions answered. You can be assured that Monday's January 9th informational meeting should be well attended as our current 9th grade parents are quite involved.

• Grade 9 on Monday, Jan. 9, 2012 @Cafeteria 6:00 p.m.
• Grades 10 & 11 on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012 @Library 6:00 p.m.
• Incoming Grade 9 on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012 @Library 6:00 p.m.

Weekly Calendar:
Monday, Jan. 9th: 2nd quarter/1st semester grades are due
Grade 9 Parent Registration Informational Mtg. 6 - 8:00 p.m. @Cafeteria

Tuesday, Jan. 10th: Principal @KIF Executive Board mtg 2:30 p.m. @State Bldg.

Wednesday, Jan. 11th: Social Studies Department meeting with Administration 1:50 p.m. @Library

Have a great week!

Daniel S. Hamada
Principal
Kapaa High School
4695 Mailihuna Road
Kapaa, Kauai, Hawaii 96746
PH: (808) 821- 4401 ext. 102
FAX: (808) 821- 4420
daniel_hamada@notes.k12.hi.us

Registration Parent Meetings

Registration Parent Meetings

9th: Mon. January 9 in Cafeteria
10th & 11th: Tues. January 17 in Library
Incoming 9th: Wed. January 25 in Library

6:00 - 8:00 pm

Updates - Week of January 3th, 2012

Please take time to reflect of your students' learning progress as the success of any student can only happen through our collective efforts. As professionals we know that when any student fails....we take responsibility; and when our student succeeds, that's a testament of solid instructional school-wide support practices. For every student here at Kapaa High we must guarantee that they will have a viable curriculum with essential content, knowledge, and skills that all are expected to learn. Students will have....adequate learning time such as bell-to-bell will be given so they are able to acquire those essential knowledge and skills; quality instruction and assessments aligned with essential knowledge and skills; and literacy through vocabulary is taught so students succeed on their assessments. At the end of the day, this continues as our non negotiable priorities focused on learning the essential curriculum regardless of distractions.

Our academic plan speaks to that concrete performance target where 95% of our students will be proficient. Students, teachers, support staff and administration are expected to meet performance targets. As a PLC, we'll be spending time in learning how to use formative data to help guide us on our progress. A good temperature check of our students' academic progress will be seen per the attached template that all teachers need to provide feedback by Friday, January 13th. Information along with other formative school-wide data will help gauge our overall progress and shared with the faculty.



Very pleased to welcome and introduce new additions to Kapaa High's ohana:

• Dr. Sandra Combs is our new Social Studies teacher. Sandra brings a wealth of experience as a classroom teacher, administrator and superintendent. She is also very well versed with technology as she currently teaches on-line classes for a university.
• Jean Esaki is our new Japanese teacher. Jean was serving as the substitute Japanese teacher since receiving her teaching degree and she brings a wealth of experience especially from the private business sector.

Confident that these ladies will make that positive impact for students, school and community and that they can count on everyone's support.

Reminders:
Seniors: Please remind your seniors that their "senior contract" goes into effect on Wednesday, January 4th. Failure to comply may result in being unable to participate in the graduation ceremonies.

Posters: All school clubs must remove any posters that are placed around the campus immediately following any function. We are hoping to have special assigned areas built where announcements can be posted. Until then, let's work together to help maintain the neatness of our campus.

Classroom visits: During this second semester, administration will be stepping-up our classroom visits with timely feedback. Reminder that all teachers are continuously and responsible for duties 1 - 5 as listed on page 4 of the PEP-T manual. Administration will also be working closely with teachers on the PEP-T cycle.

Revised Bell Schedule: Working with the State DOE Office to have our revised bell schedule reviewed/approved on a faster time frame as it affects our master schedule planning. Having had to present other secondary schools revised schedules to the State Board of Education in my previous job, aware of potential questions/concerns. Again, congratulations on taking that positive step in making learning opportunities better for our students and will keep everyone posted.

Weekly Calendar:
Wednesday, Jan. 4th: Principal mtg with Fine Arts & CTE Departments @1:45 Library
Monday, Jan. 9th: Grades for 2nd quarter/1st semester are due

May 2012 bring you much happiness, fulfillment, and good health!