Eagle Express

Winter Edition VII

Memorial Early College High School

Website: https://mechs.comalisd.org/
Location: 1419 I-35BL, New Braunfels, TX, USA
Phone: (830) 221-2900
Twitter: @memorial_hs

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"The Home of Academic Excellence"

February 12th

2023

Mon/A

Tues/B

Wed/A

Thurs/B

Fri/ Student Holiday!

(Mon/ Student & Staff Holiday!)

Memorial ECHS Norms

Work for the Team

Have a growth mindset

Engage in learning

Practice Professionalism

2022 - 2023 Tutoring Schedule

Staff Directory

A / B Days

I appreciate when different entities “peel back a few layers” of their institutions by explaining their operations in layman's terms. For example, I recently received an email from the Teacher Retirement System (TRS) that reviewed their mission, investment strategy, risk management, benefits, how the pension fund operates, and the qualification formula. The simple language (and graphs) allowed me to better understand their purpose and the intentional utilization of “best practices” deemed by the state of Texas.

I wanted to replicate this by sharing what we call “Tier 1 Instructional Look Fors” that guide our teaching in an effort to meet all student’s learning needs in each of their classes.

There are five (5) elements:

Purposeful, Strategic Questioning - Teacher is asking questions that encourage the use of academic vocabulary, promote inquiry, and extend learning.
Peer to Peer Collaboration - Students are clearly communicating with each other by using effective speaking and listening strategies.
Productive Struggle - Students persisting through increasingly challenging tasks within their zone of proximal development.
Effective Relationships - Students and teachers engage in mutually respectful interactions.
Critical Writing - Students explain, ponder or evaluate a topic in writing, in order to increase their depth of knowledge.

An added layer to remind us of the above, set clear expectations for classrooms, and to guide us in the use of this “best practice”, the Instructional Leadership Team generated a rubric for our staff to gauge ourselves. This rubric (Tier 1 “Look Fors” Performance Descriptors) is based on four categories for each of the 5 above mentioned elements:

ACCOMPLISHED

SATISFACTORY

BASIC

LIMITED

We assess ourselves often to ensure "best practices" are in place at any given moment.

We supplement this and a wealth of other strategies, processes, and procedures to teaching with continuous professional development (“PDs”) to support staff and to facilitate the use of “best practices” and their optimization. There are mandatory district level PDs that occur all year long to support all teachers (for each subject area and each level of that subject). And we have a weekly, mandatory “in-house” PD every Tuesday that is led by our two (2) Campus Instructional Coaches (CICs), Traci Hernandez and Ashley Keip. The Instructional Leadership Team (Principal, Academic Dean, and CICs) generate the curriculum for a weekly Collaborative Team Cycle (CTC) with the sole purpose of continuous improvement to drive student learning base on the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (click me for TEKS website), unit maps, and assessment data the informs us of student performance (individually and as a group). This CTC is an “ongoing student-centered collaborative process that results in a collective efficacy…teams work together in recurring cycles of collective inquiry to develop actionable strategies to engage students and maximize performance”.

Albeit, this is a snippet of our professional practice and I hope this glimpse assists you in understanding who we operate as caring educators, tending to your sons and daughters in these formative years of their lives. We would fail in any part of the above if we did not prioritize the need to establish strong, trusting relationships with each student and if we did not prioritize the goal of developing “good humans” that will be our future doctors, small business owners, electricians, defenders of our country , and such. And remember, we have a tremendous staff and exceptional students.

Thank you for your trust and collaboration. Please continue to reach out to us if we need to collaborate for our student’s academic success and/or well-being: Staff Directory

8th Grade Recruitment

02/22/23 - 8th Grade Parent Information Night at 6:00 PM (cafe)

The word is spreading about the hardest working students and our extraordinary school!

We have had a large number of students apply via our Lottery-based system.

*The Lottery Application Window opened on February 1st and will close on March 3rd*

Here is the link for the Lottery for any interested 8th Grade parents/guardians:

MECHS 8th Grader Lottery application site

Any current 8th graders interested in possibly joining next year's Freshman cohort are invited to visit our website for additional information or simply call the front desk.

Robotics Team

The Jaegernauts have been working hard since last year in preparation for the “Fit District Belton Event'' March 9th - 11th in Belton, Tx. Please wish Coach Cardiff and the team good luck in their next competition. Click here for more information on this competition: FIRST event

Also, thank you for the $1,000 donation to the Jaegernauts from the Bexar STEMulate and to Mrs. Fellbaum for facilitating the donation. The Robotics team uses their limited resources and space well and “every penny” counts!

The FIRST in Texas is a non-profit which inspires students to become “science and technology leaders” whose mission is to build STEM skills while strengthening the school-to-STEM career pipeline for Texas and inspire the next generation of innovators.

Go Jaegernauts!

PTSA

PTSA will soon need people to serve on the nominating committee for executive board members. If you are interested in serving, please let us know. This includes student members! Once nominations are complete, elections for Board members will be at our April meeting. If you are interested in serving please let us know!

*Mark your calendar for our “PTSA Family Night”, February 28th!*

Bring the whole family and come create memories with us! Free refreshments for all.

Hello Parents,

We hope you and your students are having a great New Year! This month for our Teacher Appreciation Lunch some of our hardworking parents were able to get the lunch donated from Olive Garden and Crumbl Cookies!

We still are needing some Eagle Eats for teachers, if you are interested in contributing please check this link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E45A9A729A2FDCE9-eagle

Thank you for all you have been cooking and donating this year so far and have a great Valentine’s Day!

Upcoming Events

February 16th -- Monthly Staff Luncheon
February 21st -- Marble Slab night 5:00-7:00
February 25 -- Enchanted Forest Dance 5:00 - 8:00
February 28th -- Family Night & PTSA meeting 530 - 7:00 (see attached flyer)
February 24th -- last day for student entries for “MECHS MERCH” t-shirt design contest! (More information will follow separately on Monday!)
March 7th -- Willie's Spirit Event -- 11:00 am. - 10:00 pm
May 9th -- Sonic Spirit Night 5:00 - 8:00

If your STUDENT would like to volunteer during Family Night we have some open spots remaining, here's the link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E45A9A729A2FDCE9-volunteer1

Next year's PTSA:

Our nominating committee would love to hear from you if you would like to nominate someone for next year's PTSA board or if you would like to volunteer. Email them at mechspta@gmail.com

As always, please feel free to contact us with any questions!

Amy White

President 2022-2023

Meet our Memorial ECHS PTSA Board: 2022 - 2023 Board

https://www.joinpta.org

https://www.facebook.com/Mechsparents/

https://instagram.com/mechsparents?igshid=YzAyZWRlMzg=

Region 13s - VASE

We will be participating in showcasing our student’s art at the Region 13 (South) VASE show on 02/25 at Pieper HS starting at 2:00 PM. I hope you are able to swing by this event that will be recognizing exemplary high school student artwork from throughout Texas.

Click here to learn about the Texas Art Education Association (TAEA) and their Visual Art Scholastic Event (VASE): TAEA website

Northeast Lakeview College/Institute of Higher Learning

The Administration Team will join the NLC staff on their campus during our monthly Partnership meeting on the 16th in order to tour their campus and build our institutional knowledge of our new IHE partner and to build relationships.

Please visit their website for more information: NLC website

Academic and Career Advisor/Counseling News

Please click here for the February Newsletter

*Seniors

Scholarships and grants are helpful ways to fund your college education, providing money for tuition or other educational expenses. To find and apply for scholarships, sign up for:

Going Merry (https://www.goingmerry.com)

It’s free, with thousands of national, regional, and local scholarships.

*Juniors

Our SAT School Day is set for March 1st. Please click here for the

SAT Boot Camp info on 02/27.

9th - 10th grade - There are opportunities for every grade level.

To sign up, go to: https://app.goingmerry.com/sign-up#students

“Going Merry” has a mobile app available on iOS or Android.

Humane Society campaign

From NHS:

The National Honor Society is hosting a service competition between the four grade levels:

In order to win, your grade level will need to have the most donations of items from the Humane Society “wish list”.

The wishlist is located on posters around the school and is linked here: https://www.hsnba.org/get-involved/wishlist-items/ .

If your grade level donates the most, you can vote for a teacher “to pie” Mr. M!

Please turn in all donations by February 17th in the buckets in front of the school.

Enchanted Forest Dance

The Student Council is hosting an Enchanted Forest Dance on Saturday, February 25th (5:00 PM - 8:00 PM) in the Commons. Tickets are $10. If you buy two tickets simultaneously, it will be $18. However, tickets at the window will be $15, so be sure to purchase your tickets early!

Tickets will be sold in the commons during A and B lunches.

2022 - 2023 Yearbook Ads

Interested in a yearbook advertisement to celebrate your student?

Here are the step-by-step instructions to purchase 2022-2023 Yearbook Ads:

Click here - MECHS Yearbook Homepage
Login or “Create an account”
Find the “Yearbook Recognition Ads” tab
Input your students name
Choose the size of your ad
Choose the layout of your ad
Customize your ad
Review and complete your ad purchase

All ads must be completed and purchased by February 9th, 2023.

Student ID policy

All students and staff are required to wear their IDs visibly at all times for school safety. Thank you for reminding students daily.

The cost for replacement/duplicate ID cards is $5.00. Lanyards are available for $3.00 and sleeves for $1.00. Students may also purchase their own lanyard as long as the ID is visible.

Parking Permits

All registered students who have a valid Driver’s License and Proof of Insurance may purchase a Parking Permit by submitting a completed Parking Permit application with the $30 fee and parent/guardian signature.

Please note, new drivers are not able to park at school until they have purchased a Parking Permit ahead of time and once they have affixed their permit to their vehicle's windshield. Space is limited and we have assigned parking spaces, your cooperation is appreciated.

Comal County Sheriff's Office Parent Night

Join the Sheriff’s office for a Parent Night of “What Parents Should Know” campaign to learn more about “vaping, fentanyl, and opioids”.

Here is the date and location for the last community presentation, starting at 6:00 PM:

*Mar. 23 CLHS - Library

Important Dates

02/14 - Superintendent Student Advisory Meeting

(11:30 AM / @ Support Service Board Room)

02/16 - Northeast Lakeview College “Partnership Meeting”

(with Admin Team)

02/17 - Teacher Prep & Planning (Student Holiday)

02/20 - Presidents’ Day (Student & Staff Holiday)

02/22 - 8th Grade Information Night