The end of the first quarter, not the semester, was two weeks away. The most recent grade reports of students reluctant to do homework revealed many with grades below 50%. I did the math in my head. These students would need 80% or higher during second quarter in order to pass the semester. For some it was mathematically impossible to pass.

She was failing almost everything. I had nothing to lose so I told a freshman she was not allowed at school unless she was on time. Here’s what happened.

In 2019, I summarized the work of The Freshman Academy in a Tedx talk. This provides a good overview of how the adults approach our work with freshmen.

This is a good summary of my work at Washington High School from my principal’s perspective. This is a regular video series created to recognize the work of District staff.

What are you doing with the most cost-effective resource in your building for supporting academic success of your freshmen? We put our strong students to work in very strategic ways!

Check out our promo video for our summer program we call Connections. We secured the help of Josh Novak to shoot and produce this helpful tool to let freshman know that Connections is worth 10 days of their summer!

Victory is not found in a grade but in doing the little things over a long period of time. Doing five things every day is what 100 freshmen will experience this summer at Connections at Washington High School. Here is an overview.

The name is mine. That’s about it. Everything else is simple, straight-forward organizational skills with a little twist.

In two weeks 450 freshmen will enter our building for a District mandated visit. If it were a holiday, it would be New Freshman Day. The visit is only 90 minutes long and we already have 2000 people in the building. Space is limited. So what’s the goal?

It’s spring. I read the paper this morning for the first time on my 3-season porch. Which means I’m thinking about fall. Which means I’m thinking about the class of 2021. Which means I need to ramp up . . . again.

I get six minutes to change the world.

I host a lunch for freshmen four days a week in a classroom.

The student goes home and the backpack is left unzipped. Video games, Netflix, cell phones, and cable TV medicate and empower the student after a day of high school. Maybe after a day of failure.

Here are the facts. They are obvious facts as most could guess these realities without the data, but I have the data. It is also interesting that I have never seen these school realities in black and white. Maybe educators have thought they were so obvious that no one needed to go through the effort.

Since the fall of 2008 I have sought to persuade freshmen to do their homework. As of today, I am looking to partner with them. The difference is dramatic but the results could disappoint.

Every successful student knows the feeling.

To enter the arena of competition between content and student, the engaged learner prepares for it. The night before class the student completes the assignment and mentally rehearses the ideas to come.

I’m always amazed at what freshmen can do when the environment is right.

We took 24 freshmen who are failing or nearly failing classes and gave them the option to stick around school for an extra five (5) hours. As I said goodbye to them this evening, they were rounding out 12 hours of being in the building.

The most important skill freshmen need to know is how to get from HERE to THERE. That’s it. Movement. If a freshman has mastery of this skill, they can do almost anything.