Discipline incidents are going down at both Londonderry High School and Londonderry Middle School, according to reports presented to the school board by school staff.
Londonderry High School House 4 Assistant Principal Katie Sullivan and Londonderry Middle School Assistant Principal Wendy Hastings gave the school board reports on discipline at the two schools at the board’s Feb. 19 meeting.
“Semester one at LHS was very rewarding,” Sullivan told the school board.
She noted the October pep rally had no discipline issues, and numbers were down for discipline issues for the semester because of a visible administration team, the presence of a school resource officer who helps with harassment and bullying issues, and a staff that holds students to high accountability standards.
“The things the administration would like to continue to work on is the security and safety of the building, moving the students to class with less socializing in the halls, walk throughs, and the bell to bell teaching that we try to stress with our teachers,” Sullivan said.
She said the first semester saw 16 “frequent flyers” or repeat offenders with five or more discipline infractions.
“With that 16, five have moved to adult ed in the second semester and are doing extremely well, and two were placed in our STEPS (Students Tackling Emotional and Personal Struggles) program and nine are currently involved with either their managers or their house office,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan said assaults and fighting are up a little.
“We had one very bad day in late September when there must have been a full moon,” she said. “We had three incidents in one day, all over one boy. They broke up and went back, broke up and went back, and broke up and went back, and just really made the halls an unsafe situation. One bad day kind of spiked those numbers.”
She said that they have worked hard with bullying and harassment to keep numbers low. When students come in to talk, they do a lot of peer mediation before the problem gets to the point of a discipline infraction.
“We had a total of 359 incidences for semester one, which compares to 528 from the last semester of the same time frame,” she said. “The breathalyzer was not used during semester one, there were the 16 frequent flyers who were responsible for 27.3 percent of discipline totals, and 87.7 percent of the students at Londonderry High School did not have a discipline incident during semester one.”
She said the total number of attendance failures was 66 for quarter one and 92 for quarter two, and average daily attendance at LHS is 96 percent. She also noted that 93 percent of the students passed their semester one exams and 97 percent of all courses were successfully completed.
“Over the last six years, our discipline numbers have dropped by 22.8 percent,” Sullivan concluded.
Board member John Robinson asked about a weapon incident and Sullivan said the issue involved a student who had a pocketknife that
he had forgotten, and brought it to the attention of staff. “We took it and gave it back to the parents,” she said.
Board Vice Chair Nancy Hendricks asked about misuse of electronic devices.
Sullivan said they were pleased that the number keeps going down, and said the reason is that teachers are staying on top of kids texting in the halls and library and checking email.
Board member Leitha Reilly and Superintendent Nathan Greenberg said much of that was probably parents texting their kids.
Hastings said the school had a total of 185 incidents in semester one, which compares to 242 incidents at the same time last year.
LMS had six frequent flyers – students who had four or more infractions who were responsible for 15 percent of the discipline totals. Hastings said 89 percent of the students did not have a disciplinary incident during semester one, meaning 120 students were seen with a disciplinary concern.
Hastings reported 12 cases of bullying, a decrease since last semester of three. As for roughhousing and disturbing school atmosphere, the staff is “cracking down” on incidents of student misbehavior, she said.
“We have no cases of alcohol, tobacco or drug use during the first semester. We have one report of a weapon. The student turned the weapon in and did not use it in a threatening way,” Hastings said.
Hastings added that misuse of electronic devices has gone down significantly.
Hastings said 26 students are in the “big buddy” program, in which 17 volunteer staff members meet with students at least once per month. These, she said, are students who are in need of an adult connection in the building to ensure success.
She said 82 trained seventh and eighth grade students are “peer mentors” who help new students make social connections at the school. Hastings said she thought it important to thank the elementary school administrators. “We truly cannot thank them enough for making our job in the Middle School easier,” Hastings concluded.
either their managers or their house office,” Sullivan said. Sullivan said assaults and fighting are up a little. “We had one very bad day in late September when there must have been a full moon,” she said. “We had three incidents in one day, all over one boy. They broke up and went back, broke up and went back, and broke up and went back, and just really made the halls an unsafe situation.
One bad day kind of spiked those numbers.”
She said that they have worked hard with bullying and harassment to keep numbers low. When students come in to talk, they do a lot of peer mediation before the problem gets to the point of a discipline infraction. “We had a total of 359 incidences for semester one, which compares to 528 from the last semester of the same time frame,” she said. “The breathalyzer was not used during semester one, there were the 16 frequent flyers who were responsible for 27.3 percent of discipline totals, and 87.7 percent of the students at Londonderry High School did not have a discipline incident during semester one.”
She said the total number of attendance failures was 66 for quarter one and 92 for quarter two, and average daily attendance at LHS is 96 percent. She also noted that 93 percent of the students passed their semester one exams and 97 percent of all courses were successfully completed. “Over the last six years, our discipline numbers have dropped by 22.8 percent,” Sullivan concluded.
Board member John Robinson asked about a weapon incident and Sullivan said the issue involved a student who had a pocketknife that he had forgotten, and brought it to the attention of staff. “We took it and gave it back to the parents,” she said. Board Vice Chair Nancy Hendricks asked about misuse of electronic devices.
Sullivan said they were pleased that the number keeps going down, and said the reason is that teachers are staying on top of kids texting in the halls and library and checking email. Board member Leitha Reilly and Superintendent Nathan Greenberg said much of that was probably parents texting their kids.
Hastings said the school had a total of 185 incidents in semester one, which compares to 242 incidents at the same time last year.
LMS had six frequent flyers students who had four or more infractions who were responsible for 15 percent of the discipline totals. Hastings said 89 percent of the students did not have a disciplinary incident during semester one, meaning 120 students were seen with a disciplinary concern.
Hastings reported 12 cases of bullying, a decrease since last semester of three. As for rough housing and disturbing school atmosphere, the staff is “cracking down” on incidents of student misbehavior, she said. “We have no cases of alcohol, tobacco or drug use during the first semester. We have one report of a weapon. The student turned the weapon in and did not use it in a threatening way,” Hastings said.
Hastings added that misuse of electronic devices has gone down significantly.
Hastings said 26 students are in the “big buddy” program, in which 17 volunteer staff members meet with students at least once per month. These, she said, are students who are in need of an adult connection in the building to ensure success. She said 82 trained seventh and eighth grade students are “peer mentors” who help new students make social connections at the school.
Hastings said she thought it important to thank the elementary school administrators. “We truly cannot thank them enough for making our job in the Middle School easier,” Hastings concluded.