Holiday Greetings from the faculty, staff, and administration at NHS. Hoping that you and your loved ones enjoy a happy and healthy holiday season.

The NEASC Follow-Up Committee and Standards Committees are making steady progress in preparing our next report due in October, 1999. Keep up the great work everyone!

Department Chairpeople, Program Leaders and Administrators, with faculty input, are preparing the fiscal year 2000 budget. Your constant support and increased involvement are necessary as we improve and develop programs and facilities to meet the needs of all students and to facilitate the attainment of student and school expectations as outlined in the Statement of Purpose. In order to maintain our accreditation through NEASC, the recommendations must be addressed. Financial support is mandatory to accomplish these goals. Please become involved through the NHS Association.

A Senior Project Committee continues to explore and develop content and performance standards for graduation. The goals of the Senior Project program are to engage seniors as self-directed, active, independent learners and role models, integrate curriculum, create a performance based forum for senior learning, involve the community in the students learning process, and raise school standards and expectations. If the initial draft of the program is ready for spring, 1999, a community based presentation and discussion will occur to analyze the program merits.

The NHS Association continues to take a meaningful role in the high school program through project teams. The following committees are developing objectives: Parenting and Education, Publicity, Fundraising, Computer Center, and Scholarship Program.

NHS is also exploring and piloting the Interactive Mathematics Program (IMP) designed to develop problem solving, communication, and reasoning skills through an interdisciplinary/integrated real world problem-centered approach.

The Athletic Boosters also continue to play a meaningful role in supporting the athletic program at NHS. Our winter sports teams are off to a wonderful start, and the football team is in the Superbowl on Sunday, December 6^th, at 6:00 PM at Cranston Stadium. Check out the calendar of events and join us as we cheer our Mariners on to victory.

We are making outstanding progress on several key school goals:

• To develop a collegial culture through constructs such as Action Research Teams and Critical Friends Groups to allow for the creation of individual, team, and schoolwide processes that increase student achievement and school accomplishment.
• To clarify the decision making process to maximize faculty and community involvement.
• To continue consultation with Bill Eyman in the areas of conflict resolution and group dynamics.
• To reorganize time and space in order to provide professional development opportunities and facilitate the attainment of student and school expectations as outlined in the Statement of Purpose.
• To provide professional development opportunities in the integration of technology throughout the curriculum.

A presentation of the status of these goals will be made at a future NHS Association meeting. Please consult the Mariner Forecast for future details. Until then, please contact David Andrews at 792-9400 with any questions and/or concerns.

Lastly, best wishes and many thanks to John Wedlock, our outgoing Superintendent. Mr. Wedlock will continue working with the district as a curriculum consultant. Many thanks to Mr. Wedlock for his outstanding contributions and support of the NHS program throughout the years.

Welcome incoming Superintendent John Holten!! We look forward to working with you and continued support from central office. Best wishes in your new role!

See you all next year!! My how time flies!!

In a memo last year, the Commissioner of Education, Peter McWalters, shared the following information:

BACKGROUND: ARTICLE 31, or the State Student investment Initiative, was born out of Rhode Islandís Comprehensive Education Strategy (CES), and was designed to accelerate efforts to make the recommendations of the CES real in Rhode Islandís public schools. In addition to providing $26.5 million in new state education aid ñ targeted in particular ways to drive change ñ the law calls for improving the performance of ALL students by setting high standards, encouraging broad public involvement in schools, and strengthening accountability through School Accountability for Learning and Teaching (SALT). Even before Article 31, both CES and SALT called for collecting and publicly sharing information about school and student performance. When broadly disseminated, this information will stimulate public interest, understanding, support and participation in schools. This information is essential to continuous school improvement and accountability. Now, Article 31 specifically asks the Board of Regents and the Commissioner of Education to publish an annual report that includes such elements as: the status of district and school performance; annual performance benchmarks; test results; demographic profiles; descriptions of school and district goals, initiatives, or achievements; effective teaching practices; level of parental involvement; and results of surveys and polls of students, parents, and teachers.

THE SALT SURVEY: For the purposes of this yearís annual report, much of the information will be gathered from responses to requests that you have received during the last few months and from Form 31. However, to prepare for next year and to be sure to collect information that is useful to schools, the Rhode Island Department of Education has joined with the University of Rhode Islandís National Center for Public Education (URI/NCPE) to develop and administer a comprehensive survey of students, parents, teachers and administrators. This SALT survey will help schools understand themselves; results will enable them to conduct analysis, and will provide the context in which improvement efforts can be shaped. The research links survey data from students, parents, administrators and teachers on school practices to student achievement results. This research instrument has been a useful decision-making tool for the Carnegie Middle Schools project, nationally and here in Rhode Island. The RIDE/URI partnership will adapt and elaborate the survey instrument to serve the specific needs of Rhode Island schools at all levels, to inform the SALT accountability process and to meet legislative requirements.

Parents will be receiving the parent survey, a copy of the student survey and consent form very shortly via a direct mailing. Upon arrival, please complete the parent survey and consent form and help us in our school improvement efforts. Students will be taking the survey the week of January 25, 1999. Thank you for your support in this endeavor. More specific information will be forthcoming in the January Forecast.

Exciting technology developments continue here at Narragansett High School. On Saturday, October 31, Narragansett High School hosted, with Narragansett Elementary School and the Pier School, a technology showcase. Students and teachers displayed Powerpoint presentations on subjects ranging from the Narrow River to literary interpretation of the Scriptures. Teachers and students then collaborated to work on general topics of computer interest in an informal setting. Many thanks to Carolyn Amitrano, Katie Barker, and Kris Senay for providing student expertise and also to Mrs. Good, Mrs. Nardone, Mrs. Valliere, Mrs. Webster, and Mr. Doyle for helping to make the morning a success.

Through the sponsorship of Tech Corps, a proposal for a social studies and science classroom to be wired for Internet connection became a reality. Plans are underway for connections to be completed by the end of the calendar year.

Watch soon for our "Design the Mariner Website" contest. Details coming soon!!!

Vision Screening will continue throughout the year. All students will have their vision checked by Mrs. Ryan during health class (grade 11 ñ 2^nd quarter, grade 9 ñ 3^rd quarter, grade 10 ñ 4^th quarter).

Parents and teachers: Please feel free to inform Mrs. Ryan if you suspect any vision difficulties with your child/student(s).

Anytime is a good time to inform the nurse of any new health related information about your child. The clinic # is 792-9403. Thank you. May you enjoy Happy and Healthy Holidays!

School Nurse/Teacher

To all parents/guardians: Mail order forms to purchase a yearbook will be forwarded to you directly by Jostens. The price will be $40. A wonderful birthday or Christmas present would be to tell your child that their yearbook is already purchased. Give them this wonderful surprise of memories!

We encourage you to support the Narragansett High School Class of 1999 by becoming an official patron and friend of the "Maritimes" yearbook for a nominal $5 donation. Donations may be mailed to Ann Marie Patterson, c/o Narragansett High School , 245 South Pier Road, Narragansett, RI 02882 or left in the main office at the High School addressed to the "Maritimes" Yearbook staff. Please submit all orders by December 18, 1998.

For more information, please contact Mrs. Patterson or Miss LeBrun after 2:00 PM at 792-9400. Thank you for your support of the Class of 1999!

As of November 20, the students in Mrs. Andersonís Personal Finance Class are doing extremely well in the PROVIDENCE JOURNAL STOCK MARKET GAME. They just finished week 7 of the 10 week competition and two teams are in third and fourth place out of 145 teams throughout Rhode Island. The finance class has five participating teams all of which began with $100,000 to invest. The two top teams made more than $25,000 in the 7 week period so far. Mrs. Andersonís students are watching the market moves each day and hope that their stocks continue to excel! The top four teams in the State will be honored at an awards luncheon in Providence in January. The game will end December 4th^. The young investors experienced market ups and downs in the past weeks and learned valuable lessons.

The Narragansett High School Student Council would like to thank all those students, faculty, parents, and community members that stopped by the N.H.S. to donate blood. The Rhode Island Blood Center has contacted the Student Council to express appreciation for a successful drive. 37 community members donated blood. The Student Council would also like to thank everyone who donated time or refreshments.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, November 10th and 11th, Katie Barker, Liam Houlihan, Marissa Meyers, Rob Palazzo, Ben Parente, Ken Procaccianti, and Kirra Woods had the opportunity to go on an overnight leadership conference to Camp Fuller. The conference was sponsored by the Rotary Club and was also attended by students from South Kingston, North Kingstown and Prout. Through various activities and situations, students were able to strengthen leadership skills in small groups, teams and communities. The activities included such things as icebreakers, solving scenarios and a lecture by Agnes Doody, a highly respected professor at U.R.I Through these various activities, participants learned leadership characteristics, problem-solving skills, and communication skills. The students will utilize these learned skills throughout their lives. Special thanks to the Rotary Club.

Counselors have begun sophomore and junior interviews in the second quarter. Students will have the opportunity to work on the EXPAN college and career search software in the IBM Lab, the library, and/or the Guidance resource room.

Notification has been sent home of failures for the first quarter. Students have only the second quarter to improve these grades. Failed courses at the end of the semester will need to be repeated next year or in summer school. Counselors have spoken to all students with failures in the first quarter. The Honor Roll will be published in the January issue of the Mariner Forecast.

Seniors who are applying to college are reminded to watch deadlines and return completed applications to the Guidance office.

A Financial Aid Night will be held for parents on Wednesday, December 9th, at 7:00 PM in the media center. Information will be provided about available financial aid resources. Parents of college bound students are invited to attend.

January 23 Dec. 18 Dec. 19-30

The following colleges will be represented:

12/2 11:00 AM Arthur Angeloís School

of Cosmetology

12/7 10:00 AM Plymouth State College

The N.H.S. Athletic Booster Club would like to thank the following students for their help in our recent membership phone-a-thon:

Their diligence and enthusiasm helped us to recruit new members and to remind past members to send in this yearís membership. A reminder to all who pledged that your check can be dropped off at the high school office or mailed to the high school. With the basketball and wrestling season approaching your gold membership at $50 includes 2 season passes to all home games, silver membership is $25 and receives 1 pass to all home games. We are looking for volunteers to work in the concession at the girlsí home basketball games. Please call the high school office and leave your name if you are interested. Thanks again for your support.

The NHS Association has organized a Scholarship Fund. Duncan Hannah, Mary Beth Schmit, and Jean Nardone will serve on the Scholarship Fund Committee. This committee will invest the Associationís funds to raise money to fund the NHS Association Scholarship. All seniors are invited to apply for this scholarship which will be advertised in the student Daily Bulletin next semester.

At our December meeting, Sharon Webster of the English Department will speak on her Theodore Sizer Fellowship award. The intent of the fellowship is to provide teachers with support while they develop programs "to strengthen the connection between the classroom and home." Ms. Webster received a $5000 award which supported her work and research this summer to complete the planning of her program so that it could be implemented this fall at Narragansett High School. In the first year, Ms. Websterís program will involve parents as mentors for students in the College & Career Communications classes. Her hope is to expand the program to all students interested in having mentors and to recruit mentors from the entire adult community in its second year. In addition, the school will receive an additional $1000 this fall to help implement the program. Training will be provided for mentors. Parents who may be interested in becoming mentors should contact Ms. Webster at 792-9400, or through e-mail at nhsbookworm@yahoo.com.

Please come and support our students at our next NHS Association meeting on December 8, 1998, at 7:00 PM in the Media Center.

Any questions, please call:

The Narragansett Youth Task Force in cooperation with the Student Assistance Counselor is offering an After School Activity Program. Research has indicated that the hours of 3-6:00 pm are high-risk times for adolescents to indulge in high-risk activities. The purpose of the After School Activities to offer the students a variety of things to do that were not available in the past. Below is a list of activities that are presently being offered. If your child is interested in any of these activities, have them contact Mr. Croteau in the guidance office.

CANDLE MAKING:

ÖMiss Liess Monday/Wednesday

CARTOONING/DRAWING:

ÖMrs. Adams Tuesday/Thursday

MUSIC LESSONS:

ÖMr. Andrea Tuesday/Thursday

SIGN LANGUAGE:

ÖMs. Baskins Monday

CLASSIC MOVIES:

ÖMr. Croteau Tuesday

AVIATION:

ÖMr. Andrea Monday

ÖMrs. Boyle Thursday

A workshop dealing with Social Skills will be presented in December and in January. Dr. Emerson will discuss the Balanced Reading Program. Check with your school for specific date, time and location.

The following web sites feature information on nationwide scholarship programs:

Also, you may obtain information on federally funded programs by calling 1-800-433-3243.

Congratulations to Christine Sullivan, former Chairperson of NSEAC, on being elected to the School Committee. We wish her the best and will miss her as our Chairperson.

GOOD LUCK CHRIS!!