Each week, I proudly share and celebrate our successes with you. I know many of you see this news as we have the highest social media engagement in the region. This data shows me that you care and that you are interested. There is a lot of good going on in and around our schools. We have many strengths.
What about the weaknesses, though? We have them. We identify them weekly, and, I believe, have excellent plans to address most of them. However, one critical area that we have identified is building security. Systems purchased years ago are becoming outdated. Building design doesn’t always fit with new demands. Also, behaviors are different today. So we are making plans to improve security as I believe it is the responsibility of every school to think about threats and to mitigate as many as possible.
One of the most pronounced areas we are modifying is at our middle and high school. This summer, we will be adding a more secure entrance system to both the east (student/activity entrance) and west (front) ends of the building. Construction on this begins in June. In anticipation of the tighter security, expect locked doors at the front of the school, effective immediately. Our entrance camera system will be active.
WLPS staff has been actively evaluating the flow of students, parents, and the public into our other facilities as well. I will be making recommendations to the BOE which, I believe, will make our all of our schools even safer than they are today.
Finally, on the topic of security, I don’t want to think about another school shooting…but, I have to. The incident in Florida this week re-affirms, in my mind, the plans and recommendations for improvements to our schools. There are no positives that come out of such tragedies like the most recent one. However, I do find myself appreciative of our police and fire departments in Northfield Township. They have been excellent partners in serving our children for years. They are fearless and selfless. And the students in our schools, full of energy and disparaged, at times, for the occasional lack of impulse control typical of their age, are not often appreciated for their important role in protecting each other. But they do. We have a great relationship with our student body. They get us information if a situation looks unsafe. As parents, please encourage this behavior. Afterward, give them a hug and remind them that it’s a great day to be a Trojan.
Northfield Human Services’ New Look
We are consistently sharing stories here about projects, programs and field trips that take the learning from the classroom and connect it with the real world. That is because it is cool to see the impact that experience has on our students’ learning. This is another one of those stories.
This afternoon, students at our middle and high school who took first-semester art gathered in the media center for the unveiling of the new logo for a local non-profit Northfield Human Services. Why? Because that new logo was designed by WLHS sophomore, Alexzandra Farr!
Last semester, any students in grades 7-12 in first-semester art classes were asked by Northfield Human Services to create a logo to represent NHS. Students were given a presentation about what services they provide and what the organization does for the community.
Students then had to create 50 logo sketches as a sort of brainstorming activity and then had to narrow it down to their top five sketches. After that, students created their final logo and submitted that to NHS with an artist statement attached explaining their idea and how the logo reflected Northfield Human Services.
The project provided a great opportunity to examine and discuss the importance of applying art skills and knowledge in the real world and the role of graphic designers in everyday life, shared WLMS/HS Art Teacher Sarah Koch.
We welcome any opportunity for our students to take what they are learning in their classes and apply that to the real world. When it helps support an essential organization like Northfield Human Services–well, that is an extra bonus.
Join us in congratulating all the students on their work and Ms. Farr on creating the winning design.
Decimal Diner
Our teachers are so creative. Just walk through the halls, and you can visually see unique ways they engage our students in our curriculum. Fourth-grade long-term sub for Ms. Macdonald, Ms. Asiani, demonstrated this in her classroom this week. She transformed her classroom into the Decimal Diner to teach her students new math skills. The pictures below capture the innovative lesson. Kudos to Ms. Asiani for such a fun approach to learning about decimals!
Stay Connected
For the 1,644 people who follow our Facebook page, thank you. We appreciate you being a part of our online community and staying connected and engaged with us. If you are a social media user and haven’t followed us on Facebook yet, I highly recommend you do. Not only do you get all the important information we share, but you have a chance to connect with other Trojans.
Facebook has recently made some changes that will very likely keep you from seeing our posts. To combat that, we have posted a video with one easy thing you can do to make sure you continue to stay connected with us. You can view that video HERE.