I hope all of you had a great weekend.  It always seems that they go so fast.  Thank you to all of you that wished me a Happy Birthday.  I am thankful to know each of you and I am always grateful for the love that you show.  Naaman is such a caring loving learning community.

We will officially welcome our new assistant principal Angela Nolan beginning today.  If you see her please give her a big Ranger welcome.  We are sad to see Ms. Gladu leave but we are excited about the future with Mrs. Nolan.  We are still working through all of her duties as we continue to make this a great transition.

Some of you asked why I spoke to the students directly Friday about social media.  As I’ve mentioned to you before, if we do not prepare the students for life and what’s next in life then we have failed them.  I love social media and I fully embrace Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat.  They are part of all of our lives.  It’s the new normal.  I do, however want them to be responsible on these platforms.  Social media can be a lot of fun, but they can be tons of trouble when they are not used properly.  As a learning community it is up to all of us to educate them on proper social media use.  I want them to have fun, but it troubles me when they invite unnecessary drama into their lives because of it.  The smart device has opened their world up to incredible learning opportunities when used properly.  We just have to work hard to protect them from the negative influences that can accompany that.

Accountability info

Big news is coming down the pipe about the utilization of substitute assessments on STAAR exams.  Many of you are already aware that the PSAT and SAT and a few other exams can be used to substitute for the STAAR test.  This year we may change up how we substitute assessments for STAAR.  This is big news!  More info to come!

Beyond that nothing takes the place of exceptional tier 1 instruction.  Your good instruction is what makes the most growth in our students.  We will soon begin a robust intervention plan for many of our students.  We have to get our students across the finish line with their STAAR tests.  Simple as that.  We all have to work hard to make this happen.

Shout outs

The pep rally was a lot of fun!  It was great to recognize all of our spring sport participants. Our students always look forward to these type of events.  Sometimes I am like why are they so happy.  But, I can remember pep rally days at Hearne High School.

A big shout out to Mrs. Forbes and the Horticulture group who worked with the TNLA group on their day of service to re-establish the “NF” bed that was lost due to construction.  If you have a moment go out and check it out.

Shout out to all the men and women that signed National Letters of Intent this past week.  I am excited about the future of each of them.

Shout out to the softball and baseball teams who are now in full swing.

Our girls basketball team will be in action tonight (02/12) against Skyline at North Mesquite HS. They kickoff at 7 pm.

The boys basketball team clinched a spot in the playoff spot for the first time since 2012!!! Go Rangers! We are still waiting on information about who they’ll play and where.  Stay tuned!

Shout out to the boys Soccer team.  Another big win Friday night over South Garland!  Keep it up guys!

We all have another opportunity to make this week great!  Let’s do this!

We Are Naaman!