May Update

The school year reaches May and begins to draw to a close. However, this is the busiest time of year for the school to display the students’ talent in many areas. Our annual Open House will be held on Thursday, May 16 from 6:30-8:00 and is preceded by our underclassman awards at 5:30 p.m. Although CST testing has concluded, another set of high stakes testing in the Advanced Placement curriculum begins on the 6th of May for two weeks.

For seniors, activities include senior awards night on the 22nd, senior picnic on the 24th and culminates in graduation on the 30th beginning at 5:30 on Karlson Field.

Next year’s school will begin on August 14, 2013 with our registration. New freshmen will complete their Tiger Transition activities and registration on the day prior, the 13th. School starts on the 21st of August!

Enjoy the rest of the year and your summer Tigers!

January 2013

I had the pleasure of attending the Booster Crab Feed on Saturday, January 26. What an amazing night of community support for Analy High School. It was also great to have the student athletes working the event. Thank you to the organizers and workers of the event!

Big thanks Analy alumni Matt Nix for stopping by last Thursday to talk and work with our Video and Theatre classes. Matt is a writer.producer for the TV show Burn Notice and has other projects in development stages. We appreciate his time in giving back to the school where he got his start!

Today, as I write this, we are setting up to host our first Career Day in many years in partnership with Sebastopol Sunrise Rotary. Over 40 different jobs are being presented to students and we also thank Efren Carrillo for providing the keynote speaking.

Great things happening to support our kids that we want everyone to know!

Go Tigers!!

August 31

Thanks to everyone who came to Back To School night last night. We were amazed by the positive energy to start the school year and appreciate all of the parental support. What a great school to work and be a part of each and every day.
We are working on some schedule modifications that will add five sections to alleviate some of the large class sizes that various teachers have. These changes should go into effect on Thursday of next week and balance some of the large numbers out.
I would also like to share that we are moving towards have online grades and attendance through a web based program called Aeries.net. Currently, we have ten teachers trained as pilot group and will be opening their parent portal to view the information later this month. Our goal is to train the staff later this semester and have all staff using the program in the second semester. Stay tuned for more information on this development!
Other than that, the campus is looking beautiful and relatively trash free. Students have been very positive and the opening of school has been bumpy but we are settling into a good daily routine.

GO TIGERS!!

Welcome Back to the 2012 School Year!

Here we are at the start of another school year! This year at Analy is going to be like no other in recent years. Why? Think of the following reasons:
1. An unprecedented rise in the freshmen class which at the time of this writing is 421 students! That is amazing considering previous year enrollments have not eclipsed 340 students.

2. The making of MAKE: you may or may not know about project make but it is here on campus with two classes of this engaging elective. Think of it as a twenty first century shop class where technology meets hands on creativity in designing and developing projects. I love that students are engaged in the activities and are not bound to any standards other than their own goals.

3. Continued facility improvements: We have installed solar panels for energy usage and re roofed several buildings to prevent leaks. Now we are moving on to development of two major projects for our campus: a stadium remodel and a new band room building.

More to come as we open school this week. Lots of excitement and optimism on campus already!
Go Tigers!

October 2011

The first quarter has come to a close so parents can expect to see report cards arriving in the mail in the next week. So far the year has gone very well with student spirit at a very high level. This can be attributed to our spirit week that ended with a victory over El Molino in the Apple Bowl.
This year we are also working hard on our Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation that we need to complete every 6 years. Parents and students will hear that acronym frequently this year as we continue to find out where we excel and where we need to develop in our self study.

August 22

We are starting Day 4 of the school year and all indications how it will be a great school year.   Students and staff have shared the same enthusiasm for being back on campus.   I have attached an article that was in the Press Democrat on Sunday about our Newsweek designation as a Top 500 school.  I believe my job is one of the best a person could have in working with such great students, staff, and community.  Much to be thankful for at Analy.

http://sebastopol.towns.pressdemocrat.com/2011/08/news/at-analys-helm/.

GO TIGERS!

February 22

School has resumed from the five day winter break. Student activities on campus are the focus this week for much of the student body. On Saturday night, we will host the Turnabout Dance from 8-11 in the main gym. Tickets are on sale now until the end of the week.
Much of the buzz on campus centers around our basketball teams. Our girls host a first round game on Tuesday night and with a win can join the boys in an exciting doubleheader on Friday night for NCS playoffs in the main gym. Congratulations to both teams on their successful seasons entering the NCS playoffs.
Go Tigers!

February Blog Update

After a hiatus, the principal’s blog has returned. I will try and have weekly updates of events and notifications that might be of interest to parents and students.
Our ASB is hosting a blood drive on Friday and is looking for some additional donors to help. See Ms. Apkarian in her office or room 4 for details.
West Sonoma County Board Meeting in the Analy Library on Wednesday night at 6:00.
Boys and Girls Basketball wrap up league play. The girls are on an incredible win streak of 16 games and have clinched the SCL championship. The boys are currently in second and should receive a high seed in the NCS playoffs. Girls host Elmo on Tuesday and boys host Windsor on Friday.
Staff is beginning to prepare for our WASC visit next year. I would like to thank Walt Hays for being our WASC chairperson. This behind the scenes coordination takes in an incredible amount of organization and time; he certainly can rise to this task!
GO TIGERS!

June 1

Finals week is here!  Thursday is final day of school which means graduation for the Class of 2010.    The Ceremony will take place on Karlson field at 6:30 by ticket admission only.  We are very proud of the accomplishments of our graduates and look forward to celebrating with them on Thursday evening.

The school will remain open through the end of June and close for the month of July.  The offices will reopen on August 1 in preparation for the 2010-2011 school year.  Registration day is scheduled for Tuesday, August 10 and school opens on Wednesday, August 18.

Have  a great summer and we are looking forward to a great year ahead!

GO TIGERS!

April 12

After a restful spring break, we are beginning our STAR/CST testing this week on Tuesday and Wednesday.  The testing will continue next week on Tuesday and Wednesday as well.  These tests are critical for our annual Academic Performance Index (API) score.  Analy has always performed well on these exams and I am hoping to exceed our score of 813 from last year.  We are providing snacks for the students at the designated break times to keep them energized.

I had a discussion with a parent about the role of a principal in a high school.  I thought it might be interesting to share my thoughts with this person to the general public about what my goal is as the instructional leader of this campus.  First and foremost, I want students to be challenged to perform at high levels and to reach goals they set for themselves.  A principal supports teachers and students in their relationship to attain the necessary knowledge to achieve in each course.  A goal I have set for myself is to know each and every student on a first name basis which is a constant work in progress with 1200 students.  I feel that my relationships with individual students can not only impact their success at school but in the overall positive school climate.  I started in education to help young people as a teacher and feel that I can continue to do so as their principal.  I would hope that students find me visible and approachable enough on campus to come up and say “Hi” at any time.  Of course, there are many other things that make a principal effective but those are some of the things I believe in on a daily practice.

Please feel free to let me know what you think or believe in response….

GO TIGERS!