The 411
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News and information about Rantoul Township High School from the Principal, Todd Wilson
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Thank You for Your Service
RTHS graduates who chose to serve their country
Honor Roll
No More Editors
As I drove into work the day after the Cubs won the World Series I had a Chicago talk radio station tuned in on the car stereo. The broadcasters took a break from celebrating the Cubs victory and spoke on a different topic. They were speaking about a couple of different music personalities who had a controversial photo taken of them together during an awards ceremony. Of course the photo that was in bad taste did not necessarily bother the celebrities. However, it did seem to bother the organization that sponsored the awards ceremony. The photo ended up on their website and posted across social media. The organization decided to take down the photo from their website. As you might guess tongues started wagging about how wrong it was to get rid of the photos.
It was at that point that the two radio broadcasters said. "We are in this place because we have no more editors." I really did not care what the photos were. I was not even a bit curious about them. The broadcasters words hit home with me. As a high school principal I began to think about the issues I deal with related to social media. Then it hit home, it's because we don't have editors anymore. An editors job was to clean up the words or actions of a person or group of people so it was acceptable to all audiences. They were our filter.
Social media has greatly contributed to the editor's demise. Instant gratification has become a sign of the times. Filters have fallen off. Many kids and some adults no longer think about what they put in print. The words just flow and then the post button is hit, and there you have it, unedited words. Often times these words are meant to hurt someone else or get them fired up. Let me tell you it works. I see it on a daily basis. Kids come to us, often after they have made a bad choice to ask us to help clean up their mess. Adults write stinging words in an email that they would never say to someone in person. I can't help but think that if every person had an internal editor the world might be a better place.
I know it is not totally the case that all kids and adults go unfiltered. I know that there are a lot of parents that work diligently to monitor their children's social media activity. I applaud them. It is an unending task. Kids are going to make bad choices. We have to be there for them to guide them in the right direction. Thank you for editing your children's words. I just wish that more folks would do it.
It was at that point that the two radio broadcasters said. "We are in this place because we have no more editors." I really did not care what the photos were. I was not even a bit curious about them. The broadcasters words hit home with me. As a high school principal I began to think about the issues I deal with related to social media. Then it hit home, it's because we don't have editors anymore. An editors job was to clean up the words or actions of a person or group of people so it was acceptable to all audiences. They were our filter.
Social media has greatly contributed to the editor's demise. Instant gratification has become a sign of the times. Filters have fallen off. Many kids and some adults no longer think about what they put in print. The words just flow and then the post button is hit, and there you have it, unedited words. Often times these words are meant to hurt someone else or get them fired up. Let me tell you it works. I see it on a daily basis. Kids come to us, often after they have made a bad choice to ask us to help clean up their mess. Adults write stinging words in an email that they would never say to someone in person. I can't help but think that if every person had an internal editor the world might be a better place.
I know it is not totally the case that all kids and adults go unfiltered. I know that there are a lot of parents that work diligently to monitor their children's social media activity. I applaud them. It is an unending task. Kids are going to make bad choices. We have to be there for them to guide them in the right direction. Thank you for editing your children's words. I just wish that more folks would do it.
Early College and Career Academy
RTHS has partnered with EFE #330 and Parkland to provide students with the opportunity to earn college credit as well as employment certification while still in high school through the Early College and Career Academy. Information and forms are included below. Students can enroll in Health Careers, Manufacturing, Criminal Justice, Computer Networking, and Automotive Technology courses. RTHS will pay for a student's tuition as long as a "C" or better is achieved. Click Here to visit the ECCA homepage to find out more information.
Useful Links:
ECCA FAQs
Steps for Applying
Program Guide
Application
RTHS has partnered with EFE #330 and Parkland to provide students with the opportunity to earn college credit as well as employment certification while still in high school through the Early College and Career Academy. Information and forms are included below. Students can enroll in Health Careers, Manufacturing, Criminal Justice, Computer Networking, and Automotive Technology courses. RTHS will pay for a student's tuition as long as a "C" or better is achieved. Click Here to visit the ECCA homepage to find out more information.
Useful Links:
ECCA FAQs
Steps for Applying
Program Guide
Application
High Expectations Are the Standard at RTHS
Every Wednesday at RTHS there is a meeting that takes place in the board room however the meeting is not held by the board of education. Every Wednesday the Educational Leadership Team (ELT) meets. This is a team comprised of teacher leaders from all of the different subject areas in the school and two representatives from the administration. Our purpose is to ensure all students learn by making educational decisions and providing support for our staff. So far this year we have looked at a few very important topics. The first topic was scheduling of class periods. The second topic was the grading scale. The third topic was the number of credits a student at RTHS needs in order to graduate. I believe it should be noted that last year our graduation rate was 79%. We were definitely not satisfied with that number.
One of the reasons we looked at these topics was because we wanted to ensure that we had high expectations for our students. The graduation requirement seemed to be a perfect item to look at when we talked about high expectations. Initially going into the discussion we asked if our bar was set high enough. Are we challenging our students enough? Should we raise the number of credits a student should have in order to graduate? In order to make a decision we decided to gather some data. Three different groups were surveyed about their thoughts on the subject. Parents, students and teachers were asked to complete the survey. We mulled over the results and found that the parents and students were not in favor of raising the credits to graduate. Not surprisingly, the teachers were in favor of raising the bar. The reasons both pro and con ranged from “the credits are just right” to “we should raise the expectations because every kid should pass every class.”
There was a divide in the room after looking at the data that we collected. There was not conclusive enough evidence to make a decision either way. What we decided was that we needed to gather different data than we had previously gathered. It was decided that we would ask other area high schools what their requirements were. I am not sure how many of us were ready for the discovery that we made.
During the time period that we were having these discussions an article was published in the News Gazette about graduation rates. RTHS had one of the lowest graduation rates in the area. This news fueled our desire to do what was best for students even more. After all, our purpose is to ensure that all students learn. According to the information in the paper we were not getting that job done. At least that is not what the numbers told us.
Getting back to the comparison of area high schools…This is some of the information we discovered. Over the course of 4 years, RTHS students take more classes than any of the other schools we looked at (7 schools in total). In fact an RTHS student will take 8 more classes in 4 years than the next closest school. In 4 years at RTHS a student has the opportunity to take 64 classes. The next closest school was 56 classes. One school that we looked at only had the opportunity to take 48 classes. Seeing this piece of information made us very pleased with the opportunities that we provide to our students at RTHS. In order to graduate from RTHS a student must pass at least 89% of the classes that he or she takes. One of the schools identified as having the top graduation rates in the area required the students to take 56 classes over the course of 4 years and pass 77% of their classes. At another school that we looked at the students only needed to pass 71% of the classes they take. There were schools that required their students to pass 95% of the classes they take. However, RTHS students had to pass more classes because of the number that they take over all. A student at RTHS needs to pass 28.5 credits out of 32 offered. The other 2 schools only required their students to pass 26.5 credits and 21 credits respectively.
After looking at this information we were very pleased with where the bar is set for our students. The students at RTHS are challenged by a rigorous curriculum. In addition to the rigor of the courses, RTHS student are held to one of the highest standards in the area in order to graduate (89% of classes taken). Additionally, the students have more opportunities to take classes than any of the other high schools that were looked at. In fact, RTHS students take at least 8 more classes in the course of 4 years than the next highest school that was looked at.
The next time someone reports a figure such as graduation rate I would hope that people look for more information than simply the percentage of the students who graduated. I hope after reading this the question that is asked is what does it take to graduate? After doing the research we now know the RTHS has set a high standard and we are proud of that standard.
Every Wednesday at RTHS there is a meeting that takes place in the board room however the meeting is not held by the board of education. Every Wednesday the Educational Leadership Team (ELT) meets. This is a team comprised of teacher leaders from all of the different subject areas in the school and two representatives from the administration. Our purpose is to ensure all students learn by making educational decisions and providing support for our staff. So far this year we have looked at a few very important topics. The first topic was scheduling of class periods. The second topic was the grading scale. The third topic was the number of credits a student at RTHS needs in order to graduate. I believe it should be noted that last year our graduation rate was 79%. We were definitely not satisfied with that number.
One of the reasons we looked at these topics was because we wanted to ensure that we had high expectations for our students. The graduation requirement seemed to be a perfect item to look at when we talked about high expectations. Initially going into the discussion we asked if our bar was set high enough. Are we challenging our students enough? Should we raise the number of credits a student should have in order to graduate? In order to make a decision we decided to gather some data. Three different groups were surveyed about their thoughts on the subject. Parents, students and teachers were asked to complete the survey. We mulled over the results and found that the parents and students were not in favor of raising the credits to graduate. Not surprisingly, the teachers were in favor of raising the bar. The reasons both pro and con ranged from “the credits are just right” to “we should raise the expectations because every kid should pass every class.”
There was a divide in the room after looking at the data that we collected. There was not conclusive enough evidence to make a decision either way. What we decided was that we needed to gather different data than we had previously gathered. It was decided that we would ask other area high schools what their requirements were. I am not sure how many of us were ready for the discovery that we made.
During the time period that we were having these discussions an article was published in the News Gazette about graduation rates. RTHS had one of the lowest graduation rates in the area. This news fueled our desire to do what was best for students even more. After all, our purpose is to ensure that all students learn. According to the information in the paper we were not getting that job done. At least that is not what the numbers told us.
Getting back to the comparison of area high schools…This is some of the information we discovered. Over the course of 4 years, RTHS students take more classes than any of the other schools we looked at (7 schools in total). In fact an RTHS student will take 8 more classes in 4 years than the next closest school. In 4 years at RTHS a student has the opportunity to take 64 classes. The next closest school was 56 classes. One school that we looked at only had the opportunity to take 48 classes. Seeing this piece of information made us very pleased with the opportunities that we provide to our students at RTHS. In order to graduate from RTHS a student must pass at least 89% of the classes that he or she takes. One of the schools identified as having the top graduation rates in the area required the students to take 56 classes over the course of 4 years and pass 77% of their classes. At another school that we looked at the students only needed to pass 71% of the classes they take. There were schools that required their students to pass 95% of the classes they take. However, RTHS students had to pass more classes because of the number that they take over all. A student at RTHS needs to pass 28.5 credits out of 32 offered. The other 2 schools only required their students to pass 26.5 credits and 21 credits respectively.
After looking at this information we were very pleased with where the bar is set for our students. The students at RTHS are challenged by a rigorous curriculum. In addition to the rigor of the courses, RTHS student are held to one of the highest standards in the area in order to graduate (89% of classes taken). Additionally, the students have more opportunities to take classes than any of the other high schools that were looked at. In fact, RTHS students take at least 8 more classes in the course of 4 years than the next highest school that was looked at.
The next time someone reports a figure such as graduation rate I would hope that people look for more information than simply the percentage of the students who graduated. I hope after reading this the question that is asked is what does it take to graduate? After doing the research we now know the RTHS has set a high standard and we are proud of that standard.
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Did you know?
9th hour at RTHS is study hall. Students get 30 minutes a day to work on homework, visit a teacher for help, or get subject specific help in one of our intervention study halls. The intervention study halls are math, science, social sciences and literacy. Each intervention study hall has 2-3 teachers assigned to it, so students can receive help. These study halls allow students to make up assessments, get help with homework, or catch up on a topic that they may not have grasped the first time. In order for students to attend one of these intervention study halls all they need to do is ask for a pass from their teacher and sign in at the door. Students are encouraged to attend these study halls so they can stay on track. |
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