The end of the first quarter, not the semester, was two weeks away. The most recent grade reports of students reluctant to do homework revealed many with grades below 50%. I did the math in my head. These students would need 80% or higher during second quarter in order to pass the semester. For some it was mathematically impossible to pass.

If there’s a secret sauce in education, it’s trust amongst adults. . . But don’t tell anyone. Here’s my definition.

Tis Shakespeare in thee summer during Connections. Here is the way we do our Drama on the Stage. It’s a dramatic event you don’t want to miss!

She was failing almost everything. I had nothing to lose so I told a freshman she was not allowed at school unless she was on time. Here’s what happened.

For 11 years I have ask a Question of the Week at our weekly team meetings. If you do this, freshmen grades go up. I know that sounds crazy, but I believe it enough to set aside 10 minutes of our team time very week and our freshmen do great work. Don’t miss this!

In 2019, I summarized the work of The Freshman Academy in a Tedx talk. This provides a good overview of how the adults approach our work with freshmen.

This is a good summary of my work at Washington High School from my principal’s perspective. This is a regular video series created to recognize the work of District staff.

You don’t need to read this. Here is my crash and burn recovery effort after a rough 1st semester.

What are you doing with the most cost-effective resource in your building for supporting academic success of your freshmen? We put our strong students to work in very strategic ways!

Check out our promo video for our summer program we call Connections. We secured the help of Josh Novak to shoot and produce this helpful tool to let freshman know that Connections is worth 10 days of their summer!

This is one of our favorite afternoons during our 10-day Summer Connections for in-coming freshmen. It commands commitment and generates amazing discussion.

Victory is not found in a grade but in doing the little things over a long period of time. Doing five things every day is what 100 freshmen will experience this summer at Connections at Washington High School. Here is an overview.

On the first day of Connections, the stunned, silent and newly minted freshmen sit in rows like statues in our Little Theater. They are holding their Connections schedule, eyes forward, and straining to look nonchalant.

Parents matter!

Parents appreciate timely contact.

Parents are almost always open to ideas to help their kids.

Here are four things to accomplish during a parent contact that cut through teacher fear and parent disappointment and get things done.

The name is mine. That’s about it. Everything else is simple, straight-forward organizational skills with a little twist.

In two weeks 450 freshmen will enter our building for a District mandated visit. If it were a holiday, it would be New Freshman Day. The visit is only 90 minutes long and we already have 2000 people in the building. Space is limited. So what’s the goal?

It’s spring. I read the paper this morning for the first time on my 3-season porch. Which means I’m thinking about fall. Which means I’m thinking about the class of 2021. Which means I need to ramp up . . . again.

I get six minutes to change the world.

I host a lunch for freshmen four days a week in a classroom.

The student goes home and the backpack is left unzipped. Video games, Netflix, cell phones, and cable TV medicate and empower the student after a day of high school. Maybe after a day of failure.

Here are the facts. They are obvious facts as most could guess these realities without the data, but I have the data. It is also interesting that I have never seen these school realities in black and white. Maybe educators have thought they were so obvious that no one needed to go through the effort.