"The Prom"

We had our prom this past Friday, May 28th at the Mississauga Convention Centre.

From about 6:30 pm to approximately 7:30 pm, I was thinking why our staff and school puts itself in a position to deal with a sizable percentage of students that were well on their way to inebriation.

As a parent, you are thinking why do we allow these students into the event in the first place if they "appear" to be under the influence. Yes...we have our female staff volunteers check the purses of the female students and likewise for the male staff volunteers who do a brief but non-intrusive "pat" down of the male students.

As has been the case for the last 3.5 years as the Principal at CtK, we might find the odd "dime bag" or one of those tiny liquor bottles of which we seize and the student is sent home. There is the odd student that attempts to come through the doors obliterated which leaves us no choice but to apprehend the student....call their parents and then send them home.

Back to the sizable percentage of students that may have been under the influence. These students pose an ethical dilemma. For most of them, they have worked hard for at least four years and this evening is a culmination and celebration of their efforts. Do we send them home simply because we think they have had a few drinks? Easier said than done. We have built relationships with these students and a combination of duty, care, trust and compassion get intermingled when we are confronted with the decision to end their evening at the front door.

So....like so many other schools...we let them know that we are concerned about them and to be on their best behaviour or face the possibility of being sent home. This decision falls on me and only me.

So now to the time period between 6:30 pm and 7:30 pm. This was the most contentious time of our evening where it could easily have been a powder keg if cooler heads hadn't prevailed.

Many students arrived late for the dinner. Many of our students ignored the requests of one of our VPs to settle down as he was attempting to provide the ground rules for the evening for their safety. My other VP attempted to appeal to their sense of decency and managed to settle the crowd momentarily. I took the microphone shortly thereafter and mentioned that while the evening started in a disappointing fashion that I was very proud of them, complimented their appearance and wished them a wonderful evening. Fortunately, this was greeted with applause and was followed by Grace and then the meal.

To appease the unbelievable amount of students who needed to smoke throughout the evening, we allowed a few "smoke" breaks in between the transition of each course. Students filed into the smoking area to inhale a cigarette as fast as possible until one of the administrators asked .....frequently....to return to their seats for the next course.

The rest of the evening went very well as the meal and dancing had dissipated any alcohol that was consumed by the aforementioned students.

The Convention Centre was empty by 11 pm as most of the students were on their way to yet another party and in some cases one that would take place all weekend.

So....I ask you why we continue to have staff that put in MANY hours of their FREE time to make this event a special one. Why do I as the Principal put myself in a precarious position with lingering liability throughout the evening?

We do it for the many wonderful students that thanked us on the way out for our time and effort. As educators, we don't do what we do to receive thanks from anyone quite frankly. That said...the emphatic appreciation from these students was affirmation that this evening was worthwhile.

I guess it is all about perspective. Some of the staff that have been at CtK much longer than I said it was the worst behaved prom in our school's existence. When I mentioned this to a new staff member that transferred from Dufferin-Peel Catholic, she was surprised and said that the evening was far better than most of the nights that she supervised in her previous board.

Perspective indeed.

Thanks for reading. Looking forward to your comments.

"Annie"

One word....."Outstanding!"

I brought my family to the Friday night show. As I sat and watched our students put on a spectacular performance, I was emphatically reminded of three things. One....our students are incredibly dedicated and talented. Two.... the teaching staff and volunteers responsible for the planning, organizing and implementation of this musical deserve many accolades for their tireless work and the incredible amount of spare time that it took to produce a musical that was clearly professional in nature. Three....how are Arts and Culture Specialist High Skills Major has benefited our Catholic Learning Community.

As the Principal, I was never more proud of my staff and students. The happiness induced as a result of our students' wonderful acting and music could not be quantified.

This same feeling is what Cathy Parker, the wife of our dear colleague John Merlini, gave to her family and friends with her artistic impressions. Cathy passed away peacefully at their home after a courageous battle with cancer on Thursday, May 20th. Her passion for art touched the lives of many people as she created many pieces in all kinds of mediums.

As I was received by John and Cathy's family and friends at the MacKinnon Family Funeral Home, one could clearly appreciate what a profound impact her art has had on those that she loved.

Our thoughts and prayers are with John and his family.

The Fraser Report

The 2008-2009 Fraser Report for Secondary Schools was released a week ago. It is a “report card” on Ontario schools. The report collects a variety of data of relevant objective indicators of school performance. Specifically, the Fraser Report isolates the results of each school's Grade 10 Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) and Grade 9 Math EQAO Assessment.

We have improved for the third year in a row. Below is a comparision of our scores compared to our neighbouring Secondary Schools. Please click on the graphic to expand the view.



CtK achieved a score of 8/10 while Acton and GDHS scored 6.2 and 6.5 respectively. Overall, in the Province of Ontario, we ranked 65/722 Secondary Schools while Acton and GDHS ranked 366 and 307 respectively.

In the area of Grade 9 Academic Math, CtK's average level was 2.9 on a scale of 1-4 while Acton and GDHS were 2.8 respectively.

In the area of Grade 9 Applied Math, CtK's average level was 2.7 on a scale of 1-4 while Acton and GDHS were 2.1 and 2.3 respectively.

With respect to the OSSLT, CtK had a 95.1% success rate while Acton and GDHS had 84% and 85.9% respectively.

Last but not least is an indicator that speaks volumes in terms of how close the rest of our students achieved on the OSSLT and the Math EQAO. The last chart in the above graphic shows the percentage of students that were not successful on the literacy test and did not achieve the standard of a level 3 on the Math Assessment. Our percentage was 15.8% while Acton and GDHS were 25.6% and 22.5% respectively.

Our percentage has dropped relatively the most over the last three years…from 25.8 to 15.8. This indicates that more and more of our students are meeting the standard in the OSSLT and EQAO Math Assessment.

Quite frankly, our excellent results are due to analysis of data, outstanding Math and English Departments and a concerted cross-curricular literacy and numeracy plan that has been embedded in our instructional and assessment and evaluation practices.

It is my hope that our success continues because one would be hard pressed to find a more dedicated and hard-working Catholic Learning Community. Please visit the site below to examine our full results. Feel free to compare our results to the rest of our sister schools in the Halton Catholic District School Board. You will be pleasantly surprised.

http://ontario.compareschoolrankings.org/secondary/SchoolsByName.aspx

Thanks for reading. Looking forward to your comments

Staged Fights in Georgetown

Last week, we sent home telephone and email messages regarding the consequences that would be meted out to those engaged in a "staged fight", bystanders and the individuals responsible for posting the fight online.

Many parents called in worried that their son or daughter had been suspended. When told that students in our community have been planning fights and then posting them online, they were both surprised and disappointed.

Simply go to YouTube on any given day and key in terms such as Gtown Fights or CtK Fights or CtK against GDHS or any variation thereof. Some if not all of these titles may have been removed. This is due to our investigation and forewarning students with the help of our liaison officer.

Please be diligent in checking YouTube and other internet forums for our students engaging in planned fights. Our investigation revealed that alot of these fights are just for the joy of fighting. A few were over disagreements of which I am unable to divulge here.

We are taking a strong stance against this mode of engagement because we have a moral obligation to do so. As pointed out in a previous blog, we are well within our rights under the Education Act to consequence students for behaviour that is injurious to the moral tone of our school OFF OF SCHOOL PROPERTY.

We sent home warnings as partners in your children's education. We have a duty of care to ensure that our Catholic Learning Community prospers academically, emotionally, spiritually and physically.

Please contact my office if you become aware of fights that may take place or those that have been posted to the internet. Your assistance would help us greatly in our efforts to continue to promote, model and teach verbal conflict resolution skills.

Thanks for reading. Looking forward to your comments

Meco Poliziani Annual Crusader Run

This Sunday my wife and I participated in the Meco Poliziani Annual Crusader Run hosted by Assumption Catholic Secondary School. It was a great day to run 5 km with colleagues and students from the school.

Mr.Poliziani was an influential leader and teacher in the Assumption School community. This run commemorated his many contributions during his years with the Halton Catholic District School Board. Meco was instrumental in developing programs that inspired students to volunteer and give to those less fortunate.

In addition, this fundraiser supported the emergency programs of the Good Shepherd Ministries as well as the less fortunate youth from within the Assumption community.

The Good Shepherd is a charity that provides assistance to thousands of people throughout the Hamilton Diocese. Their emergency programs provide food, clothing and shelter to those in immediate need.

My wife will be a member of the Assumption staff next school year and we thought that it would be a very good start to be part of another community which honours excellent educators through supporting initiatives that help the disenfranchised and those that are in need.

Our governing and gospel values lead us to help those that are less fortunate. This is one of the reasons why we created the CtK Cares Foundation.

I would like to extend my congratulations to the staff and many students that volunteered for this event. It was heart warming to see that student volunteerism is alive and well at Assumption.

Thanks for reading. Looking forward to your comments.