Lower School Book Fair: The Lower School Book Fair takes place the week of March 10-14. Parent volunteers are needed on those days, as well as for set-up on Friday, March 7. If you are able to help, please contact Mrs. Karen McKeon via email or at 440-832-7841.

Class Baskets - Benefit Auction: The Class Baskets for this year's Benefit Auction - on Saturday, May 3 at the Upper School - will focus on technology and include an iPhone, a Wii and a PlayStation 3. Details about the baskets were sent home. All students who contribute to these baskets will receive a free dress down day. Thanks to all the parents who have already made contributions to these exciting auction items. Contact Rosemary McKinney 330-650-0726 or Beverly Godding 330-468-7880 with questions about baskets.

Benefit Auction Meeting: There will be a decorations planning meeting on Tuesday Feb. 12 at 1 pm at the Upper School. Anyone interested in helping create decorations for this year's benefit auction are welcome to attend. Questions or RSVP to Joan Heaney via e-mail or at 216-378-0779.

Free Parent Tech Classes: Join us on Thursday, Feb. 21 for a free parent technology course - MS Excel Advanced, from 4-5:30 pm in Room 303 at the Lower School. This course will cover advanced features of Microsoft Excel including advanced formatting, formulas, merging cells, creating graphs and creating templates. Parents, staff and friends of the school are invited to attend. For questions, contact Sally Garza via e-mail or at 440-832-7840. To see the complete list of free courses, click here.

Lifesavers Presentation: On Wednesday, Feb. 27, please join us for an evening with Bob Schuppel of The Family Center by the Falls. As a therapist who works extensively with adolescents and their families, Bob will present a special program on the topic "Helping Parents Develop and Enforce Age and Developmentally Appropriate Rules, Expectations and Consequences -- both Positive and Negative."  Bob is an excellent resource to teens, families and schools and we hope you will be able to join us for this special evening. Lawrence families (Upper and Lower) are welcome, as are friends and community guests. We will meet at 7 p.m. in the Garfield Theatre at the Upper School. For questions or to RSVP, contact Mr. Jason Culp.

  HEAD NOTES

This week we continue the discussion about transitions for our youngsters. Clearly this is a topic on the minds of many, and I thank those of you who took the time to send feedback about your experiences and concerns.  

When we think about our students transitioning to other secondary schools or matriculating to college we often search for and focus on data that compare schools, grading systems, curricula and test scores. Most of the rating and grading articles we read in magazines, however, do not give us useful information about how an individual might fit.  The ratings tend to look at numbers of applications, rates of acceptance, average test scores and other aggregate measures that tend to miss individual students.

Some of you wrote with questions about testing for Lawrence students. Your child may have a Multi-Factor Evaluation from a home school district which will supply you with standardized test data.  All students at Lawrence in grades 1-8 are given the Woodcock-Johnson Achievement Test at the end of each school year.  Results from this test can enhance the information you receive from report cards and teacher comments because it is standardized and does indeed compare individual performance on a particular test to the performance of the standardization group.

However, please approach test reports with caution! It is easy to place too much weight on test performances when we know that many of our students don't test well - and the tests sometimes don't match up to curriculum or activities at school.  Tests do tend to give a snapshot for a given set of skills at a given moment in time - but they are only estimates of what a child might know or be able to do. Sometimes the comparison of an individual child's performance on a range of skills and subjects within one test such as the Woodcock-Johnson gives a profile of strengths and challenges that is far more illuminating than comparisons to standardization groups.

Looking beyond the test scores and grades, we get to the "rub" as Hamlet would say. And when selecting the right school or college, as Polonius advised, "To thine own self be true!" So, beyond testing, what ought we to be thinking, asking and talking about among ourselves, with our kids, and with school administrators when considering transitions?

One critical area to look at is executive skills: What organizational tools are in my child's tool box?  Is my child familiar with the tools? Does she know how and when to use them? Does my child understand different ways subject area information is organized? How fluent and accurate is my child's written production? How well does he manage time and materials? How well organized is she? Does he monitor and assess himself? Does she use prior knowledge and generalize to new situations? Does he seek additional information or support as needed?

Once a child's unique strengths and challenges are identified, we can begin to determine if a particular school or college is a good fit. Although the list is not complete, the following questions will help you begin to narrow down your search:

What are the application requirements of the receiving school?
How big are the classes, and what is the structure in each?
Are classes self-contained or departmentalized?
What are the achievement levels of other students?
What are the reading, writing, and math requirements?
How much and what kind of homework is assigned?
What kind of exams are given, and how often?
How are students evaluated and graded?
Does the school or college have successful experience with different learners?
What is the social atmosphere? Are there cliques?  Is diversity honored? How?
How is the daily schedule organized?  
Are there large blocks of time for fewer class periods, varied rotations of classes?   
Do classes meet every day?
How will all this impact a student's learning?

What kind of accommodations and support services are available? Does the school offer extended time? Alternative assignments/test formats? Curriculum differentiation? Preferential seating or resource support? Are there tools and technology in place to assist my child, such as assistive technology, planners and study groups, tutors, editors, note-takers or readers? What does the school require in terms of documentation to access these services?

I know the assistance I have provided in this blog comes mostly in the form of questions, but it is by beginning to know which questions to ask that we can focus on the process each student and family will need to engage in when considering transition to another school or college - and ultimately make good decisions for our children.

Now, what about the students' perspective? What questions are they asking as they think about transitioning? Next week, I have asked one of our graduating seniors to write a guest blog on some of the issues she has faced in preparing to leave Lawrence for college this spring. She has written a very telling account of her journey, which I look forward to sharing with you all.

Lou wishes to note: This and upcoming week's blogs have been the result of a collaboration with my dear friend and close colleague Sandi Tadaki, who serves as the Interim Head of School and Admissions director at ASSETS school in Honolulu.  Sandi has a wealth of experience in transition planning and diagnostics for students with learning differences and has contributed to my thinking and understanding of this complex issue.

Did this week's Head Notes column inspire you, puzzle you, or otherwise stir a response you would like to share? Let Lou know how you feel!  He welcomes all comments and correspondence via e-mail or phone (440-832-7820).