SSIS eNews

MS/HS PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCE INFORMATION

November 3-4, 2011

This fall we will again be organizing our MS and HS SSIS Parent/Teacher Conferences in "Arena Style." This format has been used successfully here at SSIS as well as at many other schools. If you are not familiar with how Arena Style Conferences work, I'd like to explain below how they work:

There is no need for you to schedule any conference in advance.

Conferences will be held in the gym located in the MS building. Teachers will be seated around the edges of the gym far enough apart so you can hold private conversations with them.

Parents are strongly encouraged to bring their son or daughter with them, even if they do not want to attend. A conference with their middle or high schooler in attendance is a much more powerful conversation, with much higher rewards; middle and high school students should be involved in conversations regarding their academic progress. Of course, if you would like to meet a teacher without your child present, that is also acceptable. Teachers may also ask to meet with parents alone as appropriate.

Parents will be seated to wait in turn to talk to the teacher(s) they wish to. Lines move relatively quickly, especially if you watch for openings for each teacher you wish to meet. Each conference will be limited to 10 minutes. Should the conference not finish in 10 minutes, the teacher will ask parents to reschedule on another date or come back later when the teacher is free.

Should you see any teacher free, they are free to meet with you at any time during the conferences.

If you expect that the conference will last beyond ten minutes, or if you wish to have a more private conference, parents are asked to contact the teacher before or after the regular conference days by email, or phone the Counseling Assistant (Ms. Hang, counseling assistant, ph. 5413-0901) to schedule a conference at another time.

The conference times will be as follows:

Thursday afternoon, November 3, from 4pm - 8pm. The last conference will begin at 7:50pm.

Friday afternoon, November 4, from 8am - 2pm. There will be a lunch break for faculty at 11:30am until 12:15pm. The last conference will begin at 1:50pm.

Guidance Counselors, Mr. Tom Goetz (HS) and Ms. Bonnie Bertoia (MS), MS/HS Associate Principal Ms. Rhonda Isley, and MS/HS Principal Mr. Paul Johnson will be available should you wish to speak to us. Due to coaching/activity responsibilities, the following teachers will not be available for conferences on the days listed below. Parents should email them to set up a time for a phone or face-to-face conference:

• Ms. Dot Wittry, MS PE
• Mr. Gary Johnston, MS Math/Science
• Mr. Mike Murphy, HS PE
• Mr. Jeff Ratliff, Yearbook/Tech facilitator

In order to reduce lines and waiting time for everyone we are requesting that parents of students that are able to come only in the evening to come on Thursday evening.

If you are able to come during the day on Friday, then you are encouraged to please do that. This will help us balance the number of needed conferences between the two days.

Should you need a translator for Vietnamese or Korean, you will need to arrange to bring one with you. This can be your child, if you wish. With the large number of parents who might need translators, we are unfortunately not able to fill this need. Administrative Assistants (secretaries) will not be available to translate.