Our 2025-2026 Coalfield School Story edition has been a whirlwind the first few weeks. It always takes a few weeks to work out all the bugs and get into a routine. We are blessed at Coalfield with a flexible staff who are always willing to do what needs to be done. I am so thankful for each of them. We are also blessed with great kids/young people with which we get to support. The fine folks in our community are another blessing to our school as well. I truly appreciate all the support and encouragement from each of you.
In these first few weeks, I have challenged myself, our staff, and our students to finish this school year as the strongest school in our district in academics…Currently, we are not. In doing this, we assembled students and I challenged them to be intentional about their learning. This will require them to be at school and fully engaged in the learning process. I have asked that our teachers cut out any “Fluff” in grading. (Notebook grades, participation grades,etc.)In other words , if it does not fully assess what a student knows about a particular state standard being taught, do not give a grade for it. This will allow for a true reflection of what a student understands about each state standard on which they will be assessed. This may mean fewer grades will be given. It is very important that students take advantage of the opportunities given to learn. (Engaged in the classroom, retesting when necessary, advisement, and etc) Board policy requires 1 grade per week or a total of 9 grades on each report card. I have challenged our teachers to teach state standards from the high-quality instructional materials provided by the district. These materials provide conceptual learning (not just memorizing facts or procedures but fully engaged in discussing and thinking about a concept) type activities that can better help them understand concepts being taught.
I also want to challenge parents of our students to join us in this effort to be the strongest academic school in our district. Some things you can do are sign up and regularly check parent portal, communicate with your child’s teacher, encourage students to be at school, and encourage them to always give their best effort on assignments and any test they take.
I appreciate the support of everyone in this effort
to be the best school we can be for our students!