Administration

On April 21 Administrators, and teachers on the Science Hiring Committee will meet with the intent of interviewing two candidate finalists for the HS Science teacher position for 2008-2009. Both finalists will present lessons to the committee members as a part of the interview process.

The HS Principal met with parents of the Eighth Grade Class on April 9th to recruit volunteer help in making arrangements for the Eighth Grade Graduation on June 12th. The suggestion was made at the time to change the name of this event to “The Eighth Grade Moving Up Ceremony” in order to distance it from possibility of mirroring the High School Graduation. Another change from previous practice will be to present the Eighth Grade Student Awards (Humorous) during the Dance immediately after the ceremony rather than making it part of the ceremony itself. Since the students are really presenting them to one another it seemed a more appropriate venue. Several parents have stepped forward to take charge of this logistical challenge. The Eighth Grade Ceremony will take place in the gym and include a cake and punch reception after the ceremony.

The HS Principal met with parents of the Junior Class on April 15th to conscript volunteer help in making arrangements for the Senior Awards Ceremony to follow the Baccalaureate service on June 4th. Several parents have stepped forward to take charge of this logistical challenge. The Senior Awards Ceremony will take place in the ES Multi-purpose room and include a cake and punch reception during the ceremony.

Curriculum and Instruction

The RHS continued the Nav. 101 curriculum during April. On April 10 the students introduced the concept of Student Led Conferences to the Parent Community. Students 7-12 participated in Student Led Conferences with their parents. During this time students provided their parents with an over view of the Navigation 101 Program as well as sharing with them samples of their course work from the 3rd Quarter. Teacher feedback on the student/parent participation rate and the positive comments made by both parents and students about the conferencing format was very encouraging. Time was also provided for parents to meet with teachers to answer questions about their child’s academic progress.

On April 15-18 the 10th graders and several other grade level students (primarily seniors and juniors) took the next portion of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL). Todd Phillips, Melinda Simons and Nancy Giddings were the proctors for the four days of intensive early morning assessment. These series of examinations focused on assessing levels of student proficiency in the areas of Math and Science. The Junior High also began their WASL assessments during this time as well focusing on Math and Writing. The Junior High will continue WASL assessments during the week of April 21-25. The final week of April will be reserved for make up time for students unable to be assessed during the regularly scheduled examination period.

Abigail Hodges, a junior at Republic High School, will compete in the State Solo Competition at Central Washington University in Ellensburg on Saturday, April 26. Ms. Hodges won the alto category at the Regional Solo and Ensemble Competition, which was held in Spokane in early February. That previous win qualified Ms. Hodges for advancement to the statewide competition.

Students

On April 12th student athletes, coaches and parent volunteers took time out, from the weekend, giving back to their school community. Armed with rakes, shovels, brooms and their own hands, they generated a “spring clean up” around the school athletic fields. The student effort has been coined “Athletic Service Day”. We hope to see it become an annual spring event for our athletes and any other students who wish to participate in the future.

A total of six students (JH-HS) have been suspended over the course of the past month for a variety of irresponsible behaviors including but not limited to: failure to serve Detention, being late to class, rough horse play resulting in injury, and destruction of school property.

Facility
Athletic Service Day - The HS Girls Softball outfield area was raked, player-dug outs cleaned and litter picked up both under and all around the bleachers. The HS Boys Baseball outfield area was raked, bleacher areas were “picked up”, as well as, groomed, the pitchers warm up area was re-built, outdoor garbage cans were emptied, and the infield area was raked and groomed. The old, metal framed, baseball-batting cage (eye-sore) was physically hauled off to the back of the Voc. Ed. building to be dismantled and recycled into new soccer goals by our Voc. Ed. Welding Class. The HS Track course and Football field were raked, with extensive time given to cleaning and repairing the running broad jump mats and pit area. The Football bleacher area litter was picked up and the stairs on both ends of the field were swept of debris and winter dirt. The walkways around the “Quad area”- between the high school and junior high buildings - was thoroughly swept out and hosed off, along with a thorough cleaning of the grassy quadrangle area between the buildings. The HS Greenhouse (yes, we have a green house!) was totally “gutted out” and all the surplus and discarded furniture that had been stored there was stacked and readied for disposal. Allowing us to use the green house next year for its original purpose in supporting our school science programs.

Respectfully submitted
Mr. Paul C. Kubena, RHS Principal