Notes from School Renewal Committees

The notes from each committee were very similar and addressed all of the topics covered in BLT, so here is a blending of what I received:

1. Student dress is something we need to examine carefully. In the absence of a school system dress, we are left on our own. I will involve our PTO Board in giving us some input and welcome your input as well. I know all of us want to have agreement on what is acceptable and what is not. Student dress always has been and probably always will be a subject that is re-examined every time styles change.
2. Along the same lines, every time the subject of student dress comes up, the subject of teacher dress is not far behind. A former principal of mine said in faculty meeting, "We are professionals, and we ought to look like professionals." Not a bad point.
3. Bathrooms is an area discussed in the next post. We will be looking at some ways to get supplies stocked. Talking with students about not being wasteful is one way. Last year, the large bathrooms were being cleaned during school, and I was hearing concerns about the problems caused by those bathrooms being closed for cleaning during school. This year, that cleaning is happening after school.
4. No gum. Period.
5. And yes, we are still hearing, "Bring back the paper Friday Memo!" This week is a good example of ONE of the advantages of digital over paper. One of the announcements you will see a couple of posts down deals with a Supreme Court case impacting education. To get to it, all you will have to do is click the link in that post. Had I given you the same thing on paper, I would have typed out the link, which reads as follows: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/04/AR2005100401453.html With it being on paper, you would have to type that whole thing, with no mistakes. Now I ask you, which one is easier?