West Senior High School > Principal's Page

February 3, 2012 E-Newsletter Message

Dear T.C. West Parents:

The Michigan Merit Exam for juniors is scheduled for March 6, 7, and 8, 2012. Components of the MME include national ACT plus writing, the ACT Work keys, and the Michigan Merit science and social studies exams.

Testing will take place during the morning. All juniors are expected to be on campus during testing times and will be excused from morning TBA programs, including Culinary Arts. If your student has a reduced schedule with no first hour, it is important that he or she be on campus before 8:10 a.m. on those days. Juniors that arrive early can also take advantage of a free breakfast in the commons. Attendance is very important during the testing window so please make every possible effort to ensure your student is present on March 6th, 7th and 8th. Bear in mind that these exams are mandated by State law for juniors, and students that are not present on March 6th, 7th, or 8th will have to be pulled from class to attend the make-up session in late March.

To ensure the BEST possible testing situation for your student, please make sure your child gets plenty of sleep the night before, has a good breakfast, and is on time. Encourage your student to do his or her best so they are well prepared for this set of tests. Advisory teachers will distribute more information about the Michigan Merit Exam during a seminar period in February. Juniors will also do the survey (non-academic) portion of the ACT during Advisory on February 15th.

For those of you who wish to find out more about the MME, visit the web site www.michigan/gov/mme. ACT information can be found at: http://www.actstudent.org/. If you have further questions about the Michigan Merit Exam or ACT, please feel free to contact Athens Principal, Joe Esper at 231-933-7591.

Finally, because of the classroom space necessary to properly administer the Michigan Merit Exams, seniors will not have classes in the morning on March 6th, 7th, and 8th. Seniors will participate in job shadowing opportunities, visit local colleges, and attend an end of the year activity in the auditorium on March 8th at 9:45 a.m. Seniors will report to campus at 2:00 p.m. on March 6th and 7th, school lunch will not be provided for seniors on these days.

Freshmen and sophomores will participate in the PLAN exam on March 6th and 7th. The PLAN is a precursor to the ACT and will give your student feedback on their progress compared to the National ACT College Readiness Standards. PLAN information can be found at: http://www.actstudent.org/plan/.

In addition to the PLAN test, freshmen and sophomores will have the opportunity to participate in a number of other activities on March 6th and 7th, including Jeff Hass’ “Building Bridges with Music” program and a visit to NMC/Maritime Academy/M-TEC (sophomores only).

More information will be provided by email, as we get closer to the testing week. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call.

Take care,

Joe Tibaldi
Principal

January 6, 2012 E-Newsletter Message

I would like to take this time to wish you a Happy Holiday season. Please make time to share this joyous season with family and friends.

I am very proud to say that, in the spirit of giving this holiday season, a number of school groups have reached out to those in need. The National Honor Society sponsored a clothing drive and West Side sale; Key Club organized a coat drive for needy students in the area and sponsored “Pennies for Pasta” for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society; Student Senate had a blood drive with Michigan Blood and sponsored a toy drive; our football program continued their “Toy Blitz”; and the staff collected money to buy holiday gift cards for West students. We are truly fortunate to have such caring students and staff at West Senior High.

Have a Happy Holiday season! I hope to see you at some of the winter events offered at school. Please remember that if you have any concerns, please feel free to call or email me at any time.

Sincerely,

Joe Tibaldi

December 2, 2011 E-Newsletter Message

We had an outstanding first trimester due to the combined efforts of students, parents and staff.

We continue to have students excel in the classrooms. In October, we recognized 155 10th grade students, 158 11th grade students, and 151 12th grade students for earning a 3.5 G.P.A. last year. Quite an impressive number! 26% of our students earned a 3.5 G.P.A. or better last year.

Congratulations to our two National Merit Semi-finalists, Eric Fegan and Trey Hines. These students scored in the top 5% of all students tested in the state of Michigan on the PSAT.

Last year, we had 401 students take A.P. exams and 78% earned a 3 or better on the test. This year, 764 students are enrolled in Advanced Placement courses. That is a 52% improvement from last year. A big thanks to the teaching staff for encouraging students to take rigorous classes but also to the students for taking challenging college level courses in high school.

Finally, congratulations to all of our athletes on a successful fall season. Special recognition to the Boys’ Soccer team for their 2nd consecutive Big North Championship, the Boys’ Cross-Country team on their second consecutive Big North Championship, the Girls’ Volleyball team on their District Championship, and the Girls’ Cross-Country and Boys’ Cross-Country team for qualifying for the state meet.

Thanks again for all your support. Please feel free to call with any concerns and we hope to see you at school, Madrigal Dinners or athletic events this winter.

Joe Tibaldi

November 4, 2011 E-Newsletter Message

I hope your son/daughter is having a great start to the 2011-2012 school year. Student involvement around school has been fantastic. This year’s “Bleacher Creatures” have been awesome at sporting events, and at the Homecoming Dance, we had over 1200 students attend, our largest attendance ever.

This year we are making a change in the third trimester Parent-Teacher Conferences format. All parents will be asked to attend a student-led conference. Over the years, we have struggled to have more than 50% of parents attend and with voicemail, email, and Parent Viewer, we feel that you can readily access your students’ grades on a day-to-day basis. When we had a Freshman Academy, we piloted student-led conferences and had over 98% of parents attend. Student-led conferencing is a student-driven conversation between the student and parent/guardians reviewing his/her growth over the course of the year. Students will use an electronic portfolio to guide the conversation. This twenty minute conversation will happen during the last conferences of the school year, which is Wednesday, May 2.

We believe student-led conferencing will increase student ownership and parent involvement. Students will have the opportunity to showcase their work, growth, and achievement. These conferences will also help improve communication and presentation skills, which will be a life-long skill for our students. They will also be creating an electronic portfolio through Advisory and will be able to take this portfolio with them for college and job interviews.

If you have any questions or would like more information, please do not hesitate to call or email me.

I hope to see you around school or at extra-curricular events.

Joe Tibaldi,
Principal

October 7, 2011 E-Newsletter Message

I hope your son/daughter has had a great start to the 2011-2012 school year. It is exciting to see students so happy and engaged in learning around school. We truly are fortunate to have such wonderful students to work with at West. The entire staff encourages you to visit the high school and attend the numerous co-curricular activities offered at West Senior High School. Your participation in these events, and attendance at school related meetings (like the next West Parent Advisory Committee meeting on Monday, October 31^st) sends a powerful message on the importance school involvement has in your home.

I would also like to take this time to introduce Mr. Danial O'Berski to you. Danial is the new assistant principal at West Senior High, replacing Konrad Molter, who is now the principal at Glen Lake Community School. We are sad to see Konrad leave, but excited to have Danial join the West Senior High Administrative Team.

This is Mr. O'Berski's first year as Special Education Principal at West Senior High. Before coming to West Senior High, Mr. O'Berski was the director and lead instructor at TCAPS' Off Campus Education. Off Campus provides social support and educational opportunities to the district’s expelled and at-risk student population. Dan was raised in Traverse City attending Traverse City Central High and NMC, where he has been an adjunct professor since 2004. Mr. O'Berski attended Oakland University for his undergrad and the University of Buffalo School of Medicine and Ferris State University for his graduate studies. Dan lives in Old Town with his wife and new son – he’s perfect! She loves to garden. He loves to run!

We are proud to have Mr. O'Berski join the staff at West Senior High.

Joe Tibaldi, Principal

September 16 - E-Newsletter Message

Welcome to the 2011-2012 school year at Traverse City West Senior High School!! I hope your summer was relaxing and that you were able to spend quality time with family and friends enjoying all the Traverse City area has to offer.

This summer has been a very busy one at West Senior High as we continue to fine tune our “Neighborhood” configuration at West. The move to Neighborhoods, or Smaller Learning Communities, was done to provide all students with a more rigorous and relevant curriculum through increase relationships with each other and the staff. We will continue to increase communication home to parents as all 9^th and 10^th grade students will work with a team of teachers in math, language arts, science and social studies and all students will have an advisor.

Along with the Neighborhood concept, all students will again have an Advisory class twice a week. For 9th grade students, the Advisory class will center around the questions: How can I develop the skills to help adjust as a high school student? The 10th grade will focus on the question: What can I do to become an effective/contributing member in my school community? The 11th grade question is: What can I do to better prepare for my post-secondary life? And finally, 12th grade will focus on the question: How can I best serve others and myself?

Again, these changes will provide a more rigorous curriculum with more relevant experience done in a highly personalized environment. The Traverse City West Senior High School motto of “Where knowing and being known matter!” will produce increased student results and a student better prepared for the transition to post-secondary education or careers.

For the first time in three years, our ACT composite scores slipped from 21.2 to 21. We did see improvement in math from 20.4 to 20.6 and science stayed the same at 21.4. As 77% of our students received a 3 or better on Advanced Placement exams, with the National average being between 50% and 60%, we are extremely pleased with the following scores of 3 or better: 88% in Studio Art 2D 100% in Studio Art 3D; 81% in English Literature and Composition; 92% in Calculus AB; 100% in Calculus BC; 77% in Chemistry, 100% in European History; 76% in Psychology; 83% in United States Government Politics; and 73% in World History. Obviously we are very proud of our students!!

Throughout the summer, I took some time to read some of the current research on parental involvement at school and its impact on student achievement. Guess what? Very little has changed! Research still points out that the more parents are involved with the school, the higher the academic success of the student. Our students have had great success at TC West Senior High School, but there is always room for improvement.

I sincerely believe that your active involvement can make this a better place for students, staff, parents and community members. Please consider volunteering in the Noon Activity Program (NAP). Be an Academic, Athletic or Music Booster. Attend the monthly West Parent Advisory Committee (WPAC) activities and come to co-curricular events. Visit a class and use Parent Viewer to keep current with classroom assignments and your student’s grades. Use the TC West Senior High web site (www.tcaps.net/wsh) to access daily announcements, and email or call me if you have any questions or concerns.

Since our opening in 1998, we have worked hard to establish a school environment based upon mutual cooperation, respect, and high expectations for all. We believe the foundation of this positive school culture rests within our Standards of Practice. The Standards were mutually developed and are reviewed annually by parents, students and staff to serve as a guide for our school. We believe that a continuing commitment by everyone puts our school standards into practice and plays an important role in the continued success of T.C. West Senior High School.

TC WEST SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

STANDARDS OF PRACTICE

We will treat all people with dignity, honesty, respect and trust.
We will be positive contributors.
We will foster a safe and orderly environment.
We will provide all students opportunities for success.
We will demonstrate quality work.

Thank you for sending us such great young adults! I hope to see you throughout the school year at our events and activities.

Joe Tibaldi, Principal

We cordially invite you to attend the following West Parent Advisory meetings for the 2011/2012 school year:

Monday, September 26
Monday, October 31
Monday, November 21
Monday, January 30
Monday, February 27

All meetings take place in the library and begin at 7 pm. These meetings are open to all parents and we encourage your attendance. This important group helps us to make decisions that affect all students.

We hope to see you there!