HERITAGE HIGH FACULTY BULLETIN
Week of March 4, 2013
Baltimore City Public School System
Andres Alonso, Ed. D.
Chief Executive Officer
200 East North Avenue
Baltimore, Maryland 21202
Heritage High School
2801 St. Lo Drive
Baltimore, Maryland 21213
Stephanie Farmer, Principal
410-396-6636
410.467.5560 Fax
sfarmer@bcps.K12.md.us
www.baltimorecityschools.org/425
The MISSION of Heritage High School is to offer an educational program that provides students with
literacy skills; math and science principles; and knowledge of technology applications, literature, and
history that prepares them to pursue a college education or to enter the work force fully prepared for
whatever path they choose.
VISION
We envision Heritage High School as a learning community in which:
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All students are provided with educational and technical experiences through diversified
instruction to prepare them for post-secondary college or career training experiences.
All students are provided with experiences to facilitate their growth into useful productive
citizens.
CALM GOALS = SUCCESS at HERITAGE HIGH
What do we look at for student success @
What must students do?
Heritage High School?
Non-negotiable commitments
Be cooperative, responsible, and adhere to all rules.
C= Culture
Be here and on time every day.
A= Attendance
Be literate and prepared for college and work
L= Literacy
Be able to apply math skills in real-world applications
M = Math
It's all about educating our students............
We will continue instructional walk-throughs this week. If you do not receive feedback within 48 hours
please contact Ms. Farmer. This week our focus will be:
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All of the Teach Key Actions
Co-teaching
Socratic Seminar
Important Dates:
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March 4- Faculty Meeting
March 5-Renee McCrae Assembly-Arts Integration
March 11-Department Meetings
March 14th-Guest Speaker series at Notre Dame University “Black Language in
White Space”
 March 21-Final Exams are Due (Please adhere to assessment guidelines.)
School Performance Index (SPI):
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Congratulations to Heritage High School for receiving a 2 on SPI. The SPI is the
measuring index to evaluate schools. The index is based on growth. It is on scale 1 to 5,
one being the highest. The SPI will be the new measuring tool instead of AYP.
Let’s keep this accomplishment in mind throughout the year in order to move forward.
Updates:
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SOCRATIC SEMINAR- - Resources for the Socratic Seminar CPL will be uploaded to
our discussion board on Fridays. Please look forward to wonderful resources and
discussion posted by your colleagues
 BRIDGE FIELDTRIPS- It is that time of year again where we start Bridge Field Trip
Days to assist Seniors in completing as many possible projects as possible. Bridge Field
Trip Days will start on Weds, March 6th and run every Weds until Weds, May 8th.
 TEACHING, EMPOWERING, LEADING & LEARNING (TELL)-School-based
staff across the state are encouraged to participate in the 2013 TELL survey. This
initiative of Governor O’Malley is designed to provide the state, school districts, and
schools data on the positive teaching and learning conditions necessary for increasing
student achievement and teacher retention. There is information in your mailbox to
discuss how to complete the survey. COMPLETE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!
 FORMAL OBSERVATIONS- Teachers who have not yet indicated the class period
that they want to be observed to send that request by email to Ms. Farmer by close of
business on Friday, March 1. Each teacher has already been assigned a date. All formal
observations must be completed by April 1. (PAST DUE)
 CITY SCHOOLS CLIMATE SURVEY- City Schools wants to know what is and isn’t
working well at your school. Please take a few minutes to tell us what you think by filling
out the anonymous, confidential survey sent via e-mail. Once many staff members,
parents/guardians, and students at your school have returned their school surveys, school
and district leaders will receive a summary of the responses—which they will share with
school communities, and use to identify successes to build on and challenges to address.
 STUDENT CONTACT INFORMATION-The office B104 is trying to update any
information that is incorrect in SMS. If any staff members have any updated phone
numbers or addresses could they please e-mail or contact Mr. Burke, Ms. Harris or Ms.
Wilson. Your assistance is greatly appreciated.
 ATTENDANCE COMPETITION-Heritage has entered the attendance competition.
The high school that shows the greatest improvement in 9th-grade attendance between
March 1 and April 12 will win a party at Peerce’s Landing, a $1,000 grant and gear from
Under Armour.
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Assessment Guidelines:
These guidelines relate to the construction of all unit tests, mid-year exams, and final exams.
Please note that one unit exam and your final exam(s) is due for submission and review by
the Assessment Committee on March 21, 2013.
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There should be a balance of selected response questions and prompts that require short
written answers (no more than one paragraph) and/or essays (between three to five
paragraphs). The goal should be approximately 2/3 selected response items and 1/3
prompts requiring written responses.
For selected response items, none of the possible answers should be obviously incorrect.
Two of the items should be distracters.
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The writing prompts should clearly require students to ground their responses with
evidence, either from a text included on the assessment or from knowledge or skills
developed in the unit or course. The writing prompts should include a rubric consistent
with rubrics that have been used in the unit or course to assess student writing.
All assessment items should be aligned with objectives/standards for the unit or course.
The goal is that most, if not all, assessment items will require students to use higher level
thinking skills (interpretation, application, analysis, synthesis, and/or evaluation).
If true/false items are included, they should be phrased as a short answer writing prompt
requiring students to explain why they feel the statement is true or false.
There should be no fill-in-the-blank items.
Staff Member of the Month:
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Congratulations to Mrs. Banks for being named Staff Member of the Month! Mrs. Banks
will be able to park in the Staff Member of the Month parking spot for the rest of
February. Please do not park in the spot.
We will have a new nomination at the end of January. A new Staff Member of the Month
will be named March 4th.
Praise and Polish
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There is a Praise and Polish Box in the teachers’ lounge. Please use the box to celebrate
or make suggestions.
Reminders
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SPEAKER’S SERIES-Notre Dame University is offering a speaking series. The first
session is called “Black Language in White Public Space”. The session will take place
on March 14th at 7pm. Registration is required at events.ndm.edu.
NEW STUDENTS- We work with an extremely transient population. The school is not
required to notify teachers when students are newly enrolled in your class. In most cases,
we do send notifications of schedule changes but for new students they are sent with a
new schedule. Teachers can request new student information from the Registrar, Ms.
Harris.
CHANGE OF CLASSES: As we work together to provide a safe and effective school
culture, we are asking that all teachers and available staff members to step into the
hallway and invite students into the classroom.
CELL PHONES- According to Baltimore City Public Schools, cell phones are not
permitted in schools. Students should not be allowed to charge his/her cell phones in
classrooms.
ASSEMBLY-Arranged by Ms. Barger, on March 5th we will have performance/slam
poetry artist, Rene McRae, treating our students to a performance. The 9th and 10th
graders will participate in the assembly from 12:30 -1:30 and our 11th and 12th graders
will participate from 1:50-2:50.
ASSEMBLY COVERAGE-A schedule will be coming via e-mail with responsible
parties to cover assemblies.
PARCC ASSESSMENT: In 2014-2015 the students will be required to take a new
assessment to meet graduation requirements. This assessment is based on the Common
Core standards. For more information on the assessment explore this link:
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http://www.parcconline.org/parcc-assessment-design
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TAKING LEAVE: Substitutes are reserved for teachers who are missing an entire day
of school. Substitutes are not available for small amounts of time. Please try to make all
appointments, if possible outside of the school day. Noting that this is not always possible
please be mindful that if you need to leave briefly during the day or in emergencies for
appointments will need to find coverage for his or her classes. Otherwise, teachers taking
doctor’s appointments or other appointments will have to take a half day. When leaving,
teachers should sign in and out in the staff leave log in A-100.
OMPS- Observations are here! Please make sure you send your pre-conference
information for observations. This should be completed in OMPS.
ATTENDANCE- It is imperative teachers take accurate and timely attendance.
Recorded attendance is legal documentation. We have had two key incidents this week
and because of teachers did not take accurate attendance. There could be severe
repercussions. Taking accurate and timely attendance is a part of professional
responsibilities. The discrepancies that have been noted are unacceptable. The CST
members have been attempting to drop student services for our no-shows but it has been
to no avail because students have been marked present who are no-shows. In addition, a
lawyer came from information and identified inaccuracies in attendance. Staff members
who are not in compliance with submitting attendance will receive a Letter of Concern or
a Letter of Reprimand.
Coming Soon:
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Teacher Schedules for School Year 2013-2014
PTG Guidelines
March Professional Development Calendar
Student Climate/Teacher Survey
School-Based Option Ballot
KUDOS
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Congratulations to our Chess Club. We are tied for 1st Place in the City.
Congratulations to the Girls’ Varsity Basketball Team for making it to the second round
of the State Playoffs.
It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.
Frederick Douglass