Sorting Students Into Houses

Hello House Leaders,

I was pleased with our Heads of House meeting today; we got a lot done. I'm excited that we're so close to starting up this whole thing!

The new ideas Jackie and Mel had for Sorting students into Houses were fantastic; just exactly what we needed. I was never really completely happy with the process as we had discussed it over the summer, but I think this new system will (eventually) be perfect, as it combines elements of the earliest discussions we had about Sorting based on characteristics in some way with the process that, till today, we were going to employ. Of course, we'll have to work out the kinks and smooth it out a bit, and I'm sure we'll learn some things from this year for next year. Let's all try to remember that we still have to view this as a work-in-progress.

Obviously, I think one of the most important facets will be the questions. Even though we're still going to employ a stochastic element in the Sorting process, having the starting foundation of the questions, I think, balances the ideal of uniformity with at least a nod to alignment via traits. But I completely agree with Jonathan that it's important that the questions not be too obvious. I mean, if we ask questions like, "Do you prefer medical/legal dramas, sci-fi shows, reality shows, or sitcoms," it will be too easy to figure out. On the other hand, I guess we could always put a few questions like that on the forms just to make them think they've figured it out, but then we only look at the real questions. What does everyone think of that?

Of course, once we have the results from the questions, there are still the details of how we're going to translate that. The rating scale we discussed could work, although I still think that's where we need to insert the random element; right after the ratings are determined and before the categorization. I understand JP's point about the potential for imbalance if we do it then; but like I said, I also think the problems with putting the random factor in before that step could potentially cause much larger problems; by analogy, it would be like starting a voyage with your bearing half a degree off. At first, it won't make much of a difference, but the longer you travel, the further off you get from where you meant to be! If we put in the random element too early, it basically defeats the purpose of the whole new process. (At least, though, we all agreed that we can't do the random component after the categorization.)

So we only have a week or two to figure this out...let's get some ideas flowing!

UPDATE

Shawn has talked to Coach, who has given his approval.

Shawn would like to meet with us (bloggers) at some point next week. At our Wednesday TCP meeting, he plans to hand out Mel's executive summary; and invite anyone who is interested to come to a discussion/meeting on Thursday or Friday.

His suggestion is then that we take the first couple of weeks of school to gear up, and start it rolling in about the second week.

See everyone next week!

Heads of Houses

There are five of us involved here and only four slots for heads of houses. I'm sure each of us would volunteer to step aside from the "head of house" role but, seriously, only one of us can.

Let's assume our ideas get the approbation necessary. Now what? We need house heads. We need house names. We need house traits. But, first, we need house heads.

Noah mentioned this need earlier and we've all felt it. Let's flesh this out.

Executive Summary

Proposed ECHS House System
Executive Summary

Rationale:
As our school has grown, we have managed to maintain a high level of focus on academics and to maintain our unique culture. We sense it slipping in many subtle ways. We want to preserve our culture and improve our performance and create an even better atmosphere in which to teach and learn. We see the house system as a way to do so.

Mission Statement:
The house system at ECHS exists to create opportunities for edifying bonds between and among students and faculty, to foster student mentoring, to facilitate and improve discipline, and to perpetuate the Charterian spirit: a spirit of loyalty, creativity, respect, intellectual achievement, perseverance, courage, kindness, good judgment, humility, fairness, and citizenship.

House Establishment:
· At the onset, the houses (we propose four for purposes of clarity and competition) shall be established on a club-level based on student interest. Membership is open to all students and faculty.
· Faculty will volunteer their time to serve as house leaders. Faculty members involved in this discussion at this writing include (in alphabetical order) Endermann, Lansing, Panlasigui, Takagi, and Waterhouse.
· The teachers chosen as heads of house shall divide all interested students into homogeneous groups.
· The houses shall each seek to especially embody two or three of the traits listed above as part of what it means to be a true Charterian. The focus of each house shall, of course, be academics and service.
· Student leaders shall rise and take leadership roles in the houses—mentoring other students and planning activities.

House Activities:
Houses shall have three sorts of activities: academic, social, and service. Each house shall have students mentoring and tutoring other students. Each house shall meet socially-to share lunch occasionally or have some sort of activity at the discretion of the house itself and ECHS administrative authority. Ideally, this will serve as a “senior buddy” system often mentioned in staff meetings, younger students will be brought into the unique ECHS culture and see clearly our focus on academics and edifying relationships. Each house shall have service activities and commitments similar in nature to the commitments required of NHS and CSF. These projects shall reflect the foci of the various houses.

House Cup:
At the core of the house system is the House Cup competition. Students are awarded team points for excellence in academics (scores on exams, success on papers, etc.), behavior (positive service on campus in and out of the classroom), and service (special projects in the ECHS community). Houses also receive points based on the outcomes of regularly scheduled house competitions which may be charter Olympic style events or academic competitions. This is done under the supervision of the ASB and requires minimal funding.

House members lose points for their house for rule infractions and negative behaviors—tardies, cell phone violations, dress code violations.

At specific intervals, academic semester or academic year, the House Cup is awarded to the house with the most points during that interval of time.

Meeting Summary

JP, Mel and I met with Shawn on Thursday to discuss the House System. (With the arrival of the brand new Takagi last week, Jonathan was unable to attend.)

We discussed the basic idea in general terms; and then Shawn had some specific questions and concerns. His concerns were some of the same concerns we have had in discussing all of this; and as an administrator, he just wanted to make sure those issues were addressed. We discussed them and addressed the issues that arose; the discussion was positive and productive.

Among the items discussed were: the overall purpose of the House System; the potential benefits, academic and social, of the House System; the general structure of the Houses; the kinds of programs and activities the Houses would run; and the perpetual issue of the House names.

There was a general consensus about using E, C, H, S names, with the mild protest of Mel who dislikes acronyms, but likes the rationale for using such names; and some discussion about which E, C, H, S names to use. The names and themes Jackie proposed were discussed as possibilities. Everyone liked the idea of the themes she had developed, but different people had different feelings about some of the names. (I think we'll be engaging in friendly debate over the issue of the names until the week we have to have them.)

SIDE NOTE: As a suggestion...perhaps we should determine who the four Heads of House are going to be, assign the core values to each of them, and let the Heads pick a name following certain guidelines, with the stipulation that the other Heads of House have to approve the names? I don't know if it matters that everybody like ALL the names so much as it matters that the teachers in the House like their own House name.

Mel volunteered to write a one-page executive summary for Shawn which he can present to Coach by means of explaining and getting final approval. (It would take me longer to write a one-page summary than to write a 20-page explanation, so I'm grateful to Mel for taking on this task.)

We also discussed a general plan for getting it started at the beginning of the year; that general plan being:
1. Advertise in the Charter Notes and around campus during the first week of school
2. Hold a meeting/assembly in the first two weeks for anyone interested to come for
information and to be given the basic rules.
3. Establish a deadline for signing up.
4. Sort students into Houses. (Jackie's method of random assignment from categories looks
like the front-runner.)
5. Hold a meeting/ceremony in which the results of the sorting are revealed.
6. Start up all the House activities!

If anyone who was at the meeting cares to add anything I missed, please feel free; or if anyone who wasn't at the meeting has any questions, go ahead and post them, and I'll answer them to the best of my ability.

MEETING UPDATE--IMPORTANT

The meeting to discuss the House System has been rescheduled. It will be on the same day, but a new time.

So...

Thursday, July 3

at

1:15 pm.

Thanks!

Just For Your FYI Information

Hey, Gang,

I just printed out this blog in preparation for Thursday's meeting, which I'll try to make, and discovered it fills 58 pages--not including the logrolling in the comment section. Or this post.

Just thought you might like to know.

Mel

The Paperwork

Well-designed paperwork should be unobtrusive, efficient and have a purpose: paper should serve people, not vice versa. Once paperwork escapes these boundaries it becomes a force unto itself and becomes a pain to manage. We will need paperwork to run the House system effectively, but we can keep it to a minimum. At some time in the future, perhaps we can go paperless; but initially, the low tech route lets us concentrate on other aspects of the system and provides a simple way to validate House points. Because we all know the real purpose of this paperwork: to validate points.

I'm approaching the paperwork with three precepts in mind:

1. Students are ultimately responsible for acquiring validated points for their respective Houses. (Can't we all see Noah or Mel sweeping an outstretched arm toward the door and roaring, "Bring me points before the tolling of the last bell, or there will be consequences!"?) In other words, as I used to ask my daughter, "What's the use in having kids if they can't run errands?"

2. Teachers, administrators, coaches, or other staff members who want to award (or detract) points should have a simple way to do it; otherwise, they will not bother.

3. We should guard the sensitive nature of detracted points by using staff members to collect them.

Students who are House members should have blank forms with them at all times. These would be small, quarter-sheet-sized forms that students could present to teachers for points on exams or essays, or give to coaches to validate points scored in an athletic event. Students should be doing this on a regular basis in a timely manner (same day is best) for all approved activities or situations. Once the adult signs and dates the paper, the student gives it to the appropriate House officer for processing.

Teachers and administrators should have access to a basic form to record points that they wish to award or subtract. We can have them available in the staff work room, or place them in the mailboxes at intervals during the semester. When the form is completed, it can go to a collection box in the library or staff work room for processing. The teacher does not necessarily need to know what House membership a student holds for this system to work (explanation below).

Points subtracted for first period tardies, detentions and/or Saturday school (if we decide on these areas) should be reviewed and processed by House staff members only to protect student privacy. I know - the students usually know who's in the hoosegow before we do, but the proprieties must be maintained! I do not think that we should subtract points for anything more severe than Saturday school. To me, a suspension is too serious to be considered in the realm of House points.

So, we have three streams of input: students working independently, teachers placing forms in a collection box, and information from the school tardy/detention records. House Scribes will process student forms as a matter of course for their own Houses. For the other two streams, I propose that we establish a rotating schedule of a week's duration in which the House Scribes take turns in collecting and distributing the teachers' forms and information from the school records. We can have a simple summary sheet for the week that is given to the other House Scribes, signed by the one doing the work.

A similar summary sheet can be used to record wins and losses for lunch time games or competitions with copies to each House.

Each House will be responsible for its own documentation, but for the sake of time, I think that each House Scribe should maintain an accounting sheet for each category that is established under the point system. (Noah's previous post listed five possibilities.) That way, if there are any questions, we do not have to wade through all of the point accounting, just the points for a particular category.

Also, for the sake of time, I propose that at the end of each semester, the points are reviewed, validated and accepted by all Heads, and the summary sheets for all categories closed out. This will allow the Scribes to toss all the supporting paperwork detritus and clear their files for the new semester. If there are any disputes at the end of the year, we have only the spring semester records to review, not both semesters.

It's a little premature at this point to write about the forms themselves, but when the time comes, I'll be glad to draw up some simple designs for the different forms. Incorporating House colors on some of these forms will make the job easier; adding crests and mottos will make it more fun.

On a side note, I have a few ideas about document designs for the membership drive which I discussed with Noah. If we plan the paperwork carefully, sorting through it should not take long at all.

HOUSE SYSTEM MEETING--IMPORTANT

To any and all teachers interested in being part of the discussion about the House System, we will be having the meeting with Shawn on:

Thursday, July 3, 2008

at 1:15 pm

in Jonathan Takagi's classroom.

Shawn has also asked us to bring a brief synopsis of the House System to the meeting. I'll write one, but you all know about me and "brief," so if anyone else wants to write one, that's fine, because I'll probably bring the full-blown version, too.

Hope to see everyone there!

House Functions, Events and Activities--Proposal

Each House will have its own functions, activities and events that it shall largely determine on its own. This section is intended to outline some suggestions for what Houses might want to do. I also think there should be some minimal expectations for each House, and I will propose what I think is reasonable for those minimal expectations; however, this is one of those areas where Houses should be given broad discretion.


I. House Functions. The primary purpose and function of each House can be summarized as three major goals: to foster student academic growth through a system of support and aid; to foster student personal growth by encouraging development of productive interpersonal relationships; and to foster student civic growth by encouraging active and positive involvement in the community. These goals shall be referred to below as academic, interpersonal, and civic.

A. Academic goals. Each House shall consider as a primary goal helping each of its student members to attain his or her full academic potential. The faculty members of the House shall obviously have every intention of so doing as teachers at ECHS. In addition, however, each House is encouraged to develop additional programs. At a minimum, each House should have at least one program designed to help students achieve academically. Following are some suggestions for the types of programs each House may consider developing.

1. House tutorials. The House provides a location on campus, with at least one teacher, where students can come and do work, ask questions, etc. Of course, each teacher has his or her own tutorial per school policy; but this would be a place where students might come to work together on projects; to study for tests; to talk to a House teacher about general or specific school questions, etc.

2. House mentors. Faculty members of the House provide mentoring and general academic counseling to students in their House; perhaps one for each grade level. Teachers would not be asked to know or do more than they already do; they would not, for instance, be asked to take on the role of the school's academic counselor, who would still play the instrumental role that she does in helping students succeed. This would be in the form of advice, encouragement, and offering whatever information and service teachers can provide in this regard. Of course, all teachers are expected to do this anyway; this would just formalize it a bit, and give students a specific place they can go with questions or for advice.

3. House tutors. Student members of a House who have excelled in a particular subject can be asked by the House to serve as tutors in that subject. The House may provide a location for tutoring sessions; or students may meet more informally. However, students in the House would know that there were students who had succeeded in a subject, who were available to help them with homework questions, etc.

4. House study/homework groups. Student members of a House would be encouraged to meet informally for the purposes of doing homework and studying anyway; but the House could also provide specific times and places for groups of students to meet and study or do homework, with a teacher or a student tutor available to answer questions; or simply have a set time and place for students to gather informally to work together. This could be in a classroom, the library, at lunch tables, or anywhere the students could gather to work together; with a teacher or tutor present as available (or if the teacher is needed to supervise the classroom, etc.).

5. Other functions. Each House would be encouraged to explore not only the above options, but to come up with their own ideas and programs for helping their members achieve academic success.

B. Interpersonal goals. Each House, as a social structure, should provide its members with opportunities to interact with each other in positive contexts that foster personal growth, help students develop lasting and productive relationships with each other and with staff, and build a sense of community. Although each House is encouraged to develop its own programs, below are some suggestions for possible activities the Houses may consider.

1. House Nights. Houses would meet in the evening for a planned event; probably on Fridays since it would not be a school night, but it could be on other days if the time were reasonable. On a House Night, any number of events could be planned. Some suggested examples would be:

• House Movie Night in the theater.
• House Game Night--snacks and games in the Student Union.
• House Dinner--Either have House members contribute toward buying food, or have a potluck in which each grade level, for example, brings a different kind of item.

Most of these options would be fairly inexpensive. No real expense would be involved in showing a movie; students could bring snacks to a game night; and with a dinner, either everyone would pay the same small amount, or bring food to share. And of course, many other fun and creative options are possible. Houses would be encouraged to come up with their own ideas.

However, with an average of four Fridays in a month, it would not be too difficult for all four Houses to have at least one or two House Nights each month, in terms of facility availability.

In fact, Houses might even consider having dual House Nights: House A & B Movie Night this week; House C & D Movie Night next; House A & D Game Night the next week; and House B & C Dinner Night the next; and so on.

2. House Lunch. Periodically, the Houses could eat together at lunch. They might just all bring their own lunches; or it could be something like the House Dinner on a lunch scale instead. There would not have to be anything more to this than just having everybody sitting, eating, and talking together.

3. House Days. Houses may consider meeting on the occasional Saturday for some sort of social function. This could be for any number of purposes, and could potentially be on campus or off campus. As an example of a possible on-campus event, a House could hold an intra-House basketball playoff tournament to find a team for the inter-House competition, followed by lunch if desired. As an example of a possible off-campus event, the House might meet at Dixon Lake, or a Chinese buffet for lunch, or the Wild Animal Park, or...whatever they want to do.

4. Other activities. Houses are encouraged to come up with their own creative ideas for activities they may want to do together as a House.

C. Civic goals. Of course, Houses should always encourage their members to participate in community service activities sponsored by the school at large. The community clean-up, for example; or for House members who are part of NHS and CSF, the service activities for those clubs. However, each House should provide opportunities for its members to be involved in the community in other ways, as well. Below are some ideas Houses may wish to consider.

1. Community service projects. Again, students would be encouraged to participate in school-sponsored community service; but each House should consider developing its own projects. Preferably, these projects would come from members of the House bringing ideas and needs to the House. For example, if a student has an elderly neighbor who needs help with yardwork, etc., the House may provide a team to help with that. If a group of students in a House wanted to work on an environmental project, the House could provide help. Eventually, each House would ideally develop two kinds of projects:

• Ongoing projects (NHS's Town and Country project would be an example)
• One-time projects (helping at an event, or with a specific situation)

Ultimately, the goal would be for these projects to be student-generated and student-driven.

2. Community outreach. Each House should encourage its members to be involved in the broader community. Volunteering for help at Heritage K-8 events and functions would be one way that the Houses could reach out to the Charter extended family; or even helping to sponsor events for Heritage students. Houses could also become involved in projects intended to reach out to the elderly; or to other younger kids; or to any other groups.

3. Other community service. The Houses would be encouraged to come up with their own creative ideas for reaching being involved with, reaching out, and offering service to the community.

House Competition events and the House Cup--Proposal

I'll get right into it with no introduction except this sentence.


Annual House Competition

Each year, the Houses shall have a year-long competition, based on the point system, for the House Cup, which shall be awarded to the House that wins the Annual House Competition.

Points earned for academic performance, and points earned or lost for student behavior, have been discussed in a previous section.

This section shall deal with the Competition Events that will also earn Houses points toward winning the Annual House Cup.


I. Types of events. Any type of competitive event that can be objectively scored may potentially be included as part of the House Cup competition.

A.Some such events that have already existed in the past can potentially be incorporated into the House Cup. These include:
1. Charter Olympics events
2. Homecoming flag or touch football tournament
B. Other activities that involve competitive activities that already exist may be approved for related events or tournaments for the House Cup. These include:
1. Academic league matches
2. Sports competitions
3. Chess, debate, or other clubs that involve potentially competitive activities
C. Other types of events may also be part of the House Cup competition. All such events must be approved by the Heads of House as far in advance of the event as possible; preferably in time for it to be included on the regular schedule of House Cup events, to be discussed below. These events could include:
1. Events based on activities students have done in the past, such as "Wall Ball" and "Ultimate Frisbee."
2. Events based on other sources, such as spelling bees, talent competitions, or indoor or outdoor games.
3. Events created by students or staff (with approval through appropriate channels) for the purpose of inclusion in the House Cup.

II. Approval of Events. The four Heads of House must approve the full calendar of events for the House Cup. This calendar can be modified by addition, deletion, or rearrangement of events at the discretion and with the agreement of the four Heads of House, at any time they see fit. However, the general practice should be to allow as much time as possible for each House to prepare to compete to its best ability in the event.

A. There shall be three classifications for events.
1. Single-team competitions shall be events in which each House may enter a single team into competition. Examples would include most team sporting competitions.
2. Multiple-team competitions shall be events in which each House may enter multiple teams into competition. Examples would include games or sports played with small groups of students forming single teams.
3. Individual competitions shall be events in which individuals from each House may independently enter the competition, such as a spelling bee. For the purpose of these classifications, events in which either individuals or groups of students may independently enter, such as a talent show, are classified as individual competitions.

B. The Heads of House, at a time and by a method of their choosing, shall approve an initial schedule of competition events as early in the school year as possible; preferably, it should be done before the school year begins. Events pre-approved by the Heads of House require no further approval process; however, pre-approval during one year does not guarantee that the same or a similar event will occur the next year, as the Heads of House set the schedule.
1. A suggested method for approving a calendar of events as early possible would be for each Head of House to propose a competition schedule for one quarter of the school year, then to review each other's proposals. Alternately, the Heads of House may request volunteers, which may include one or more Heads of House, to draft a proposal, to which they will then provide input.

C. Proposal of new events. If any student or staff member of a House has a proposal for a new event to add to the House Cup competition, the following procedure should be followed.
1. Submit a brief written explanation of the event to the Head of House. This is not to include all the details and rules; merely a description of the event, with a general overview of how it would work.
2. The Head of House shall seek clarification, if needed, from the person submitting the proposal, before presenting the idea to the other Heads of House.
3. The Heads of House shall jointly and informally decide if they will choose to reject the proposal, accept the proposal, or seek further information.
a. If the Heads of House require further information, the person submitting the proposal should be prepared to report in written or verbal form as much detail as possible about the proposed event, including all the details and rules of the event.
b. If the Heads of House accept the proposal, the event may or may not be scheduled for the current House Cup, at the discretion of the Heads of House; but it will be considered a pre-approved event, so that it may appear at some point in the future.
c. If the Heads of House reject the proposal after the first stage, the person submitting the proposal may request a meeting with the Heads of House to explain the proposal in whatever way he or she feels best suits the proposal. This may include bringing other people to the meeting to express their support for the proposal.
i. If the Heads of House still reject the proposal, the person submitting the proposal may request that the House Scribe(s) retain a copy of the proposal so that the Heads of House can review it again, if they desire, or so that the person making the proposal can submit it again at a later date with a shortened procedure.

III. Judging of events.

A. Whenever possible, General Faculty Members of non-competing Houses should serve as the facilitators and judges of competition events. For example, if House A and House B are competing in a basketball tournament, the judge(s) should come from House C and/or House D. In all cases, judges are expected to be fair and impartial, and to enforce the rules both in letter and in spirit of first ECHS, second the Houses, third the House Cup, and fourth of the competition event itself.
1. Judges shall be entitled to add or deduct points for individual behavior of students--exceptional in the positive or negative, separate from points earned by the competition event itself. For example, uncommon sportsmanship may be awarded points, while displays of poor sportsmanship may earn point penalties.
E. If sufficient General Members are unavailable to act as judges, unaffiliated teachers who have chosen to participate in the House system, while not being connected with any House, may serve as judges. They will be expected to maintain the same fairness and impartiality as the affiliated teachers.
F. If there are insufficient General Members and unaffiliated participant teachers, the faculty leaders of the House may serve as judges.
1. The Regents shall be the first choice. Given that they are the position intended to closely relate to students, their fairness and impartiality must be impeccable.
2. The Scribes shall be the second choice. Given their authority over the House Cup competition itself, their fairness and impartiality must be unimpeachable.
3. The Heads of House shall be the last choice. Given their position as the exemplar of the House, epitomizing the ideals of ECHS and their Houses, their fairness and impartiality must be utterly beyond reproach.
G. If the only option for judges includes members of competing Houses, the Heads of House or their representatives must agree that this is acceptable. Scores cannot later be contested with a basis of unfair judging if the Houses concerned approved of the judges present. If the judges are not approved, the event may be rescheduled or canceled, at the discretion of the Heads of House.
H. The judge of an event may entertain any appeals of a decision that he or she chooses; however, the only appeals he or she is obligated to entertain are from students directly competing in the event; with preference to a student team leader if applicable.
1. The judge may bar any player or spectator from the competition area if he or she feels the integrity and/or quality of the competition is suffering due to the individual's behavior.

IV. Scoring of Events. There shall be two basic methods that competition events shall earn points toward the House Cup.
A. Points earned by the rules of an event may be translated to points for the House Cup.
1. Each event shall be scored internally according to the rules of the event. For example, if a basketball game is being played, the standard rules of scoring for basketball shall be employed.
a. Points earned by the rules of the event may be directly converted to House Cup points. For example, 64 points earned in a basketball game may be awarded as 64 points for the House Cup.
b. Points earned by the rules of the event may be modified before conversion to House Cup points, to make more equal the value of events in which point scores are typically higher or lower than other events by a significant margin. For example, points earned during a soccer match might be multiplied by 3 or 4 (or some other predetermined modifier) to translate to House Cup points. In all cases, the Heads of House must determine and announce this modifier well in advance of the event.
c. For a tournament-type event, additional points may be awarded for placing at different levels in the tournament. For example, a House that wins first place in a volleyball tournament may earn 50 points, plus the total number of points accrued during the tournament; the second place team may win 30 points plus their accrued points, and so on. All such scoring schemes must be determined and announced by the Heads of House well in advance of the event.
B. If an event has no standard rules for scoring (examples could include chess games, talent competitions, spelling bees, etc.), points shall be awarded based on performance in the event.
1. There shall be no set requirement for how many places will earn points and what those points will be. It shall be up to the Heads of House to determine how these events will be scored.
a. As an example, it might be determined that the winner of a spelling bee or chess tournament shall earn 100 points for his or her House; the runner-up shall win 80 points; third place shall earn 60 points; and so on. Or it may be determined that the winner earns 200 points and no other places earn points.
2. In all cases, the Heads of House must determine and announce the scoring scheme for the event well in advance of the event.
C. Generally, the points awarded in events may not be protested. Appeals may be made to the judge of the event; however, the judge is only obligated to consider the appeals of competitors. The judge(s) of the event shall have the sole and final authority to render decisions on the awarding of points. After the fact, points may be protested by the process outlined in the section on the point system.


V. Calendar of Events.

I was going to actually propose a draft of a calendar...but after a brief chat with Jonathan, I'll just post the following, and then we should all contribute every zany idea we have to come up with an event calendar.

A. As a general philosophy, the mixture of events in the competition should:
1. Offer as many opportunities for the maximum number of students possible to participate
2. Represent a balance between "academic" competition (academic league matches, spelling bees, math competitions, etc.), "sporting" competition (soccer, basketball, volleyball, etc.), "game" competitions (chess, board game tournaments, capture the flag, etc.), "talent" competitions (like...talent competitions, art contests, battle of the bands, etc.) , and goofy "Charterian" competitions (Charter Olympic events, things I might make up, etc.). Also, any other categories we think of later.
3. Represent a balance between individual and team-based events, but again offering maximum opportunity for participation.
B. In general an average of one competition event per week would be ideal. Note that not all Houses would necessarily be involved in every event. If we did a "Muggle Quidditch" tournament (but called it something else to appease the anti-Potterians), for example, then each House would eventually play all the other Houses; but those matches would be spread out across the semester or year. The same would be true of Academic League tournaments, basketball tournaments, ferreting out student lurkers on the blog (Mr. O.D.), etc. The schedule, then could alternate weekly (or by whatever period) between "bigger" and "smaller" events.
1. We would forego competition events during hectic or problematic weeks; like finals weeks, STAR testing, the week of Thanksgiving and Saxon Day, etc.

VI. The House Cup.

A. At some pre-determined date, such as the week before second semester finals, the official competition period shall end.
B. At this time, the House Scribes shall verify the standings of the Houses. The House with the most points shall win the House Cup.
C. The House Cup itself should be an actual physical artifact; a trophy of some kind, preferably in the shape of a cup. It should be nice though--not a cheap plastic faux metal. I would prefer silver colors to gold colors, as silver is closer to the black and white of a white tiger. (That, and I like how silver looks better than gold.)
D. The House Cup should be awarded to the House--namely, to the Head of the winning House--at some (preferably pompous) sort of ceremony.
E. The House Cup shall then remain in possession of that House--either in that Head of House's classroom, or else on display somewhere prominently with the House's heraldry or whatnot, until it is awarded the following year.



As an afterthought...I do think it would be sort of neat if each House had its own area of campus somehow...but I don't know how we could. There are no obvious divisions, except the field, the theater/gym, and the senior lawn. But I'm in favor of the senior lawn remaining that; and the field and the gym don't and shouldn't be the domain of any single House. It just might be kind of a challenge to foster the whole "House" mentality without having some kind of physical location attached to it...any ideas?

Name Proposal

In regards to possible house names, I have heard the following three main suggestions of what the overall theme of the names should be:

1. The names of famous Charter founders
   
   
2. The names of different types of tigers
   
   
3. The names of different tiger attributes
   

I must say I am not fond of the first suggestion. I think it would be hard to get students to buy into the idea of joining Cooper House, or Montana House. Besides, how would we make logos for those names?

If we choose to name the houses after different types of tigers, then I think we’ll have problems when it comes to the overall ECHS identity of the White Tiger. We don’t want the House logos and names to compete with the school mascot…

I think the best idea is the third one – the house names should be based on different tiger attributes. This idea benefits the overall identity of the school, and symbolically leaves the White Tiger mascot as the umbrella of the whole system.

The four house names could be Black Stripe, White Fang, Cat’s Eye, and Tiger Paw. It kind of speaks to the idea of all the houses together forming a “whole” tiger (though, of course, they don’t – because a tiger consisting of just floating stripes, fangs, eyes, and paws would be rather gruesome and incomprehensible).

These names also lend a very vivid set of logo ideas.

If we decide to go with different types of tigers for the house names (which again I don’t think we should do) then I think these are the best ideas: Maltese, Bengal, Saber Tooth, and Siberian.

Again, I like the idea of tiger attributes being the names given to each house, rather than naming the houses after people or different types of tigers.

Heads Up

To all bloggers and any interested lurkers (if there are any teachers lurking here), prepare for the nigh-inconceivable: a brief post by me.

Shawn has said that at some point before school starts (and I would assume, well enough in advance of the start of school to make it fruitful), he would like all of us who are interested in being part of this House System to meet with him so we can all have an in-person group discussion and lay things out a bit more firmly, talk about plans, potential problems, how to get people on board, etc.

I don't know when that will be...but I will use this as an opportunity to encourage everyone to keep thinking about things and posting your ideas! Whenever more concrete information about the meeting is determined, it will be posted here--so keep an eye out for it.

Point System--Proposal

Here we go again!

Just think of it with one of Jackie's metaphors....

Actually, this was originally going to be longer, because I was going to include the parts about the competition events and the House Cup...but I decided this path was sun-dappled enough.

(I'm sure that somebody's going to quibble with something in here!)

Each year, the Houses shall hold a year-long competition based on points earned and lost throughout the year by various means. The winning House shall be the keeper of the House Cup for the next year. This section shall enumerate a proposal for the point system. Upcoming will be a section on competition events and the awarding of the House Cup (which I have alluded to in the duties of the Scribe).

I. Annual House Competition—Point System

By their performance and behavior in class, on campus, in competition events, at school functions, or at House functions, students can either earn points or lose points for their House.

The general philosophy for the point system shall be to emphasize the awarding of points for excellent performance or meritorious conduct over the deduction of points for unacceptable behavior. However, all student House Members, upon accepting membership in the House, shall acknowledge acceptance of membership as acceptance of the rules of the House System, including the deduction of points for unacceptable behavior. Therefore, while using positive points as a reward is the emphasis, negative points shall be employed as a consequence at the discretion of staff Members of any House.

1. Who can award or deduct points

• Administrators. Note that administrators are not to be considered the members of any single House, but of all Houses. They shall have the full authority to award or deduct points according to the rules outlined below to students from any House.
• All faculty members of any House have the authority, and are encouraged, to award points to students of any House, or to deduct them when appropriate. Affiliated teachers are expected to show no partiality in so doing; and in particular, when awarding points to students from their own House, or taking points from students of other Houses, teachers are requested to do so judiciously, to avoid the appearance of favoritism and to ensure the integrity of the system.
• Unaffiliated teachers. Any teacher who wishes to remain unaffiliated with a House, but still wishes to participate, shall have the authority to award and deduct points for students from any House. Unaffiliated teachers are requested to demonstrate the same level of impartiality as affiliated teachers. NOTE: Unaffiliated teachers shall be encouraged to eventually affiliate themselves with a House; however, a teacher can remain indefinitely unaffiliated with the approval of all four Heads of House. (I’ll probably detail this in a “miscellaneous items” section in the document, eventually.)
• Non-faculty staff members of ECHS, comprising the support staff and custodial staff. These staff members may or may not be affiliated with a House, at their discretion. (I’ll probably put this in the miscellaneous section, too.) However, in that they hold, as adult members of the staff, a position of authority, they shall have, if they choose to exercise it, the same authority as teachers to award or deduct points for students. In order to exercise this authority, they must be cognizant of the rules of the point system, and shall be held to the same standard of impartiality as the teachers.
• Coaches of teams and advisors of clubs. As adult authorities associated with the school, coaches and club advisors who are not also teachers shall have the authority, if they choose to exercise it, to award or deduct points. In order to exercise this authority, they must be cognizant of the rules of the point system, and shall be held to the same standard of impartiality as the teachers.

2. Who cannot award or deduct points

• Students are never to be allowed to directly award points to other students. However, if a student witnesses behavior worthy of points or penalty and no one with authority to enact point changes has witnessed it, the student is encouraged to report the behavior through the appropriate channels. All student members below the rank of Adjutant, to include the General Members of all Classes, shall report to the Adjutant of the appropriate House. The Adjutant shall then, if appropriate, report to his or her House Captain, who shall then, if appropriate, report to his or her House Regent, who shall make the final determination if points are to be awarded. NOTE: It should be an unspoken rule that when a student from one House reports the positive behavior of a student from another House, that the Regent at the very least seriously consider also awarding points to the student who reported it, for his or her sense of honor and sportsmanship. Reports of negative behavior, as they have the potential of being self-serving, shall not generally be afforded the same consideration, except in cases that are both unusual and extreme, requiring genuine leadership or sacrifice on the part of the student making the report. In either case, the discretion of the Regent shall be the determining factor. The Regent may, of course, consult with the Head of House, or the original witness, as he or she deems necessary.
• Chaperones at school or House functions who are not also either a teacher, a staff member, or a coach or club advisor. However, chaperones shall be encouraged to report whatever they wish, positive or negative, regarding the behavior of a student, to any faculty or staff House Member, who shall have the authority to award points. If no faculty member of the student’s House is available, the report can be made to any faculty or staff member who has the authority to award points. Alternatively, the chaperone could also inform the student’s House Captain or Adjutant, who could then make the appropriate report to the Regent.
• Teachers who have voluntarily recused themselves from the House System may not temporarily decide to award or deduct points. If such teachers should change their mind and become either a House member or an unaffiliated participant, they may do so; however they shall not be authorized to award or deduct points for any event occurring prior to the date of their change in status. In addition, in such cases, teachers shall be requested and required to maintain the selected level of participation for a minimum of one school year in order to discourage casual “point-wrangling.”
• Teachers who have been censured and whose authority to award and deduct points has been temporarily suspended may not award or deduct points. The conditions for this unlikely situation shall be outlined in a later section.

3. Awarding points for academic performance

There shall be several acceptable situations in which teachers shall be officially authorized to award points for academic performance. The integrity of the system relies on each teacher using his or her discretion as to when awarding of points is appropriate, and the number of points that is appropriate. Note that it shall not be necessary for all teachers to award points in exactly the same way. It is perfectly acceptable for one teacher to be liberal in giving points and another to be stingy; as long as they are impartial and consistent in their liberality or stinginess.

This section outlines the general guidelines for suggested maximum point awards in given situations. The teacher is always free to award fewer points than the maximum. If the teacher feels it is warranted, he or she may exceed the maximum recommendation; however these instances should be exceptional, in both circumstance and frequency. Excessive awarding of points may result in an intra-House inquiry, or a request from another House for an inquiry, or ultimately an externally arbitrated inquiry. In the extreme case, an inquiry could result in censure and temporary suspension of point-awarding privileges.

• Performance on tests.
• As a general rule, points awarded for performance on a test should not exceed the difference between the student’s percentage and a pre-determined standard set by the teacher for the class. This pre-determined standard is, in no case, to be a percentage that equates to lower than a letter grade of “B,” as “average” grades should not be awarded as worthy of special merit.
• For example, if a teacher determines the point standard is 85%, then students who earn 90% would be eligible for 5 points; students who earn 100% would be eligible for 15 points.
• The pre-determined standard must be set by the teacher at the beginning of the year and announced to all the students in the class. The standard may not be altered from test-to-test, as this could be used to manipulate point totals.
• It should go without saying that if a teacher awards points to even one student on a test, that all students who are eligible for points must also be awarded. Further, the same standard must be applied. For example, if a teacher decides not to award the maximum recommendation for even one student, then the same standard should be applied across the board.
• The teacher will have the authority to award points for test performance lower than the standard in special circumstances of a student who has performed well above their average, or whose performance is worthy of recognition for some other unique reason.
• The teacher may award points for other special circumstances as well; for example, to the only student in the class to get full credit on a difficult bonus question.

• Truly exceptional work on a class assignment.
• This should not include bellwork or ordinary homework assignments. No special awards should be given for meeting minimum expectations.
• This may include long-term assignments, such as a research paper or semester project. To qualify as “exceptional,” the work should show significant achievement, innovation, or initiative, etc.
• This may include larger, albeit regular assignments, if the performance is exceptional. 100% on a lab report or an A+ on an English essay would be reasonable examples.
• The assignment of points should follow a scheme similar to that of test performance; or else have a set plan that the class knows: 10 points for an A+ on an essay, for example.
• What merits qualification as “exceptional” shall be at the discretion of each teacher; however, “exceptional” should never be defined in such a way as to make more than 20% of the class “exceptional,” and normally, no more than 10% of the class.

• Significant participation in class.
• This should not include ordinary participation in class, such as responding to a question directly asked, asking an ordinary question, or taking notes.
• This may include above-the-ordinary contributions, such as volunteering an answer to a particularly challenging question, posing a particularly insightful question, or helping another student (within reasonable and allowable boundaries).
• The teacher shall use his or her own discretion to determine what merits “significant” participation; but in general, should not be excessive with it.
• Further, the teacher should allow equal opportunity for all students to offer participation, and not always simply call on the one student whose hand shoots up before the teacher even finishes asking the question. If that one student consistently participates in a significant manner, the teacher should be judicious and moderate in the awarding of points to that student; i.e. make him or her “work for it” a little more.
• In general, the number of points awarded for these types of participation should be small—no more than 5 points for significant contributions; no more than 10 points for exceptional contributions.

4. Point awards for behavior.

• Simply following school rules is not sufficient for receiving point awards. The minimum expectations are not to be awarded, as though they are exceptional. Points should be awarded for behavior only in the case of exceptional behavior befitting of a student of ECHS, a Charterian, and a member of the House.

• Following are some examples of behaviors that may merit point awards:
  
• A student going out of his or her way to help someone else
• A student going out of his or her way to help address a problem he or she was not involved in creating
• A student going out of his or her way to display conduct befitting a student of ECHS
• A student going out of his or her way to embody Charterian ideals
• A student going out of his or her way to embody the ideals of his or her House
• A student demonstrating uncommon sportsmanship in a competition event
• A student demonstrating uncommon school spirit or unity (acts of uncommon House spirit should not be awarded)

• Other positive behaviors can also be rewarded. This list is not to be considered exhaustive; as there is no way to produce an exhaustive list of potentially awardable behaviors

• As a general rule, behavior earning positive points should go above and beyond the average expectations

• As a general rule, points should be awarded in a philosophy consistent with the following system:

• 1-5 points for incidental acts that require little extra effort
• 5-10 points for acts that require a bit of effort or inconvenience
• 10-15 points for acts that require significant effort or inconvenience
• 15-20 points for acts that require exceptional effort or inconvenience

• For acts of a truly special quality, more than 20 points may be awarded.

5. Point penalties for behavior

• Any infraction of school rules shall result in an automatic assessment of a penalty
  
• Minor violations of school rules shall be assessed not more than 5 points as a penalty. For the purposes of this system, a tardy and the resulting detention shall count as a minor violation.
  
• More significant violations of school rules that could not be classified as serious breaches, such as minor dress code violations, shall be assessed a maximum of 10 points as a penalty.
  
• Use of a cell phone during school hours shall be assessed a 10-point penalty.
  
• Significant dress code violations shall be assessed a 10-point penalty.
  
• Serious breach of school rules shall be assessed a 10-point penalty. Further penalties will be assessed if and only if, in the unanimous opinion of the Head of House, House Regent, and House Scribe, with input from the House Captains and the officer of the offending student’s class, additional point penalties are both merited and will provide a significant element to the disciplinary action the student faces.
  
• Behavior unbecoming of a student of ECHS, a Charterian, or a member of the House, even when such behavior does not technically violate school rules, shall be subject to the assessment of point penalties. The severity of the penalty shall depend upon the circumstance and the discretion of the person assessing the penalty; however, in these instances, as deemed appropriate, the penalties can be more severe than for typical discipline issues, since the point penalty is the prime deterrent, other than the teacher simply lecturing the student. This type of behavior includes, but is not limited to:
  
• Disregard for House rules or procedures
• Disrespect toward another student
• Denigration of another House
• Displays of negative attitude

• As an example of the above situation, let’s say that a Head of House deducts 20 points for a student from his own House making derogatory comments toward a student from another House. The student protests, “20 points! That’s not fair!” To which the Head of House replies, “You’re right. Let’s make it 30 points for your obvious disregard for our House and its rules. In our House, such behavior is not tolerated.” And the student says, “But you’re taking points from our House!” To which the Head of House replies, “And we’ll make it an even 50 points if you continue to argue with me. Yes, from my own House!” (Minerva McGonagall is my hero. This parenthetical statement will be edited out of the official document.)

• Unsportsmanlike behavior in a competition event shall also be subject to point penalties. Minor infractions, to be penalized by 5-10 points, shall include unpremeditated lapses, or comments or actions made in the heat of the moment. More serious infractions, to be penalized by more than 10 points, shall include obvious instances of intentional unsportsmanlike conduct, or premeditated attempts to cheat. On-the-spot attempts to cheat may be punished by mere disqualification from the event. In all cases, the severity of the penalty should fit the severity of the offense.
  

6. Points earned in competition events

• Points may be earned for the House by competing in sanctioned competition events. Event qualification is outlined in a later section.
  

• There are two general procedures by which points may be assigned to Houses for their performance in competition events.
• A fixed amount of points for placement in an event for which scoring may not be possible (or at least, normal). For example, 50 points for first place, 30 points for second place, 20 points for third place in a chess tournament.
• Points awarded based on actual scores; for example, every point scored in a basketball tournament or an academic league style tournament is a point for the House.

• For events in which points are awarded based on scores, additional points may be awarded for placing at different levels in the tournament.

• Points may also be awarded to individual students for their performance in a competition event; however, they may only be awarded by members of a House other than the student’s.

• Points may be awarded or deducted for student behavior in a competition event, as outlined in previous sections.

7. Special Circumstances

In the event that there are special or unusual circumstances not covered in these policies, points may be awarded or deducted in any reasonable amount by any person qualified to do so. Abuse of “special circumstances,” however, is to be considered reason for inquiry with the possibility of censure, and suspension of point authority.

8. Protesting of point awards and deductions

(NOTE: I don’t anticipate most of this would ever be necessary…but you know me. I had to try to cover all the possibilities!)

A. Intra-House issues

1. Generally speaking, students and staff of a given House may not protest point changes made by members of the same House.

a. If a student believes that a General Member of the faculty from his or her own House is abusing the point system, he or she must bring it to the attention of the Adjutant; who must decide whether the issues have merit. If the Adjutant decides the issues have merit, then the reporting student and the Adjutant should bring it to the attention of the Captain.

i. If the Adjutant does not feel the issues have merit but the reporting student is still not satisfied, he or she should bring it to the Captain with or without the Adjutant.

b. If the Captain feels the issues have merit, he or she, and the Adjutant and the reporting student, should bring the matter to the House Regent.

i. If the Captain does not feel the issues have merit, the Adjutant and/or the reporting student may bring the matter directly to the House Regent if they are not satisfied with the Captain’s decision.

c. The Regent shall determine whether the issues have merit. If the issues have merit, in the Regent’s view, he or she should proceed as a staff Member suspecting abuse by a General Member, as outlined below in #2.

i. If the Captain, Adjutant, and/or reporting student are not satisfied with the Regent’s decision if such decision is that there is no merit, they may bring it directly to the Head of House, who will have the sole and final say over whether the issues have any merit, and whether or not to proceed.

2. In the case of staff Members suspecting abuse by a General Member of their own House, the first step shall be to approach the individual directly.

a. If satisfaction is not obtained via this one-on-one discussion, the matter should be brought to the attention of the Head of House, who shall discuss the matter with both the person bringing it to his or her attention, as well as the individual in question.

b. If satisfaction is not obtained via this discussion, the matter shall be brought to all the faculty Members of the House, and discussed, with all interested parties allowed to speak.

c. A vote of censure shall then take place. A vote of censure must be either unanimous among the three Leaders; or else two of the Leaders and the majority of the General Members must vote for censure.

d. Upon being censured, the individual in question may be suspended at the discretion of the Head of House from point-awarding privileges, for a period of time determined by the Head of House, but not to exceed four weeks.

e. In making a decision about whether to suspend privileges and for how long, the Head of House must consider the statement of the individual in question, as well as the full input of all the House faculty members.

3. If the individual in question is one of the three House Leaders, the matter must be treated as an issue with that Leader; and the procedures for dealing with problems with that office must be followed.

B. Inter-House Issues

1. Generally, protesting point changes made by teachers from other Houses is not allowed, as it undermines the authority of the teachers in question, and dilutes the meaning of the whole point system.

2. If, however, an issue of abuse of the system is suspected by a student, he or she must report the issue through the appropriate chain of command of his or her own House, as enumerated in the procedure for Intra-House issues above.

3. If it gets to the Head of House of the reporting student with a decision of lack of merit, the issue cannot proceed further.

4. If the Head of House of the reporting student believes there to be an issue, he or she is to request that the Head of House of the suspected offender initiate an Intra-House inquiry.

a. As this is now also an inter-House issue, the Head of House of the reporting student should be made privy to the process of the other House’s inquiry. This is to be accomplished by whatever method the two Heads of House agree on, from mere access to the results of the discussion, to active participation in the inquiry.

5. If the intra-House inquiry ends up censuring the suspected offender, the reporting House may have no more input to the process or knowledge of its results than the other House desires to share, as it has now once again become strictly an intra-House issue.

6. If the intra-House inquiry absolves the suspected offender, and the Head of the reporting House is satisfied with that absolution, no member of the reporting House may pursue the issue further.

7. If the intra-House inquiry absolves the suspected offender, and the Head of the reporting House is not satisfied that the result was correct, a full hearing of the House leadership must be convened. The format of this hearing is to be an informal version of a jury trial.

a. The suspected offender shall be the defendant
b. The Head of the suspected offender’s House, or another officer if the Head of House is unavailable, shall be the defending attorney.
c. The Head of House for the reporting House shall be the prosecuting attorney.
d. The Head of one of the uninvolved Houses shall act as the judge.
e. The Head of the other uninvolved House shall be the foreperson of the jury.
f. The remainder of the jury shall consist of the remaining officers of the uninvolved Houses, as well as any General Members of the uninvolved Houses needed to fill the jury.
i. Alternatively, the Heads of the involved Houses may agree to a smaller jury.
g. The jury can demand censure with a 2/3 vote.
i. Suspension of point-awarding privileges will be left to the Head of the defendant’s House
h. The jury can demand censure with suspension of privileges with a unanimous vote.
i. The jury may not demand a specific term of suspension; but it must be at least one week
i. Whatever the verdict, when it is rendered, the matter is closed.

House Characteristics and True Charterians

The kids and I watched Order of the Phoenix last night and I mused a bit on previous posts. I think we can all agree to accept Noah's ideas as, at the very least, a point of departure (if not a point of arrival as well). What we need to fill in are some definitions.

Need Number One: A Mission Statement.
We have been brandishing terms like "true charterian" and "charterian spirit." It would behoove us to turn this into a mission statement. Here is a poorly and quickly written mock up of the mission statement.

The house system at ECHS exists to create opportunities for edifying bonds between and among students and faculty, to foster student mentoring, to facilitate and improve discipline, and to perpetuate the Charterian spirit: a spirit of loyalty, creativity, respect, intellectual achievement, self-discipline, and .....

I chose rather vague and soft words here for the purpose of your feedback. Please note, I was never a big fan of mission statements and have always prided myself on making fun of them. Now, as I consider myself among the founders (though the least important one) of this system, I can see the efficacy. It is like a thesis in an essay or a science experiment.

Now, to bring it back to Harry. We haven't defined the characteristics of these houses--which should in some way address the mission statement--and will determine, to a small extent, the teacher leadership. I have taken the liberty of grabbing quotes from the first Harry Potter novel--little poems summarizing the houses. I have provided, though I know you can do this better than I, a little interpretation of the characteristics and how we can adapt them to our purposes.

House One:

"Here you are in Slytherin,
Where you'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folk use any means
To achieve their ends."

Obviously, the only things we can encourage here are loyalty (real friends) and problem solving skills--two parts of the mission statement I proposed.

House Two:

"You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
There daring, nerve, and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart"

Bravery--courage to break the norm and be yourself: I could sign off on that. Chivalry is obviously referring to a tradition of good manners, a learned sense of propriety.

House Three:

"Here in wise old Ravenclaw,
If you've a ready mind,
Those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind."

This would be the intellectual house (why is Hermione NOT a Ravenclaw?) and this focus on academics is PURE Charter. Given a subjective vote, I'd throw some top students into this house with the "jocks and cheerleaders" and let the former raise the focus of the latter.

House Four:

"You belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid to toil."

Hard work? Loyalty? Honesty? Sounds like we should all be Hufflepuffs.

Obviously, we have a ways to go. I have a lot of fun joking about sorting hats and coming up with silly names for the houses--oddly, I didn't see a place for sarcasm or flippancy among our core values--but writing this post has shown me how incredibly valuable this system can be for the Charter community.

1. We can set down in concrete terms what it is we stand for and what it is we value.
2. All houses will have the purpose of developing and expressing ALL of these values.
3. Each unique house will have a different emphasis within these values.

Let's suppose we settle on four or eight values. Each house can emphasize one or two of these values. As the values are interdependent, the other values will develop.

I await your response.

The Draft

I recently reviewed one of my personal guilty pleasures--The Incredible Mr. Limpet. You've seen it? It was part of a genre of films in the mid 1960s in which the protagonist was a military liason. Indeed, it's sort of a feel good, piscatorial version of It's a Wonderful Life. But, I digress. (Which, I'm told, I do often.)

At any rate, our protagonist, Henry Limpet, tries to sign up for the Navy, in the days leading up to WWII. He is denied based on his poor vision. His harpy of a wife stops him from persuing his aquarium hobby and, on an excursion to Coney Island, he falls off the pier and becomes a fish--and a secret weapon which defeats the Nazis. But, I digress.

The idea which sticks to me is the idea of a draft. As we start this house system, we all know our top talent--the top-drawer seniors. Noting, of course, that they may have some limited access to this blog (if they look at my profile and get past the fact that I list a Brautigan novel as one of my favorites), we could easily divide them into four groups, contact them, and enlist them. They could draft from a list of juniors and sophomores. The freshmen? Well, I have checked and there are a number of legacies (siblings of former and current students and children of teachers). If they are interested, we could draft from that list as well.

It is not important the order in which they were chosen and those we chose as leaders would be honor bound not to reveal such secrets. The point is that the students would know that they were chosen--and that's bound to feel good. Honestly, I think that we would each come up with about five or six names that we would choose to lead these houses at this important stage. Why not lean on these great young people to help us establish the tradition?

House Structure-Student Members-Proposal

House Structure--Student Members

I. Assignment of Students to Houses

There are two general philosophies for methods of assigning students to Houses. Each general philosophy has its own strengths and its own drawbacks. There is also a third option that combines elements of both philosophies. The two general philosophies are random and non-random methods; the third possibility would involve some method of non-randomly dividing students into groups, and then from each group, randomly assigning students to Houses.

1. Random methods

Any random method would be sufficient for the purpose--drawing names out of a hat, essentially. The real issue is not how to make something random, but what are its strengths and weaknesses.

Strengths

• Minimizes the possibility of certain cliques or other student groups all ending up in the same House

• Minimizes the likelihood of a single House being the "popular" one


• Minimizes the likelihood of a single House dominating in competition events due to the random distribution of students
  


• Most impartial method

Weaknesses

• Less possibility for Houses to comprise students who naturally fit House characteristics


• Due to the above reason, it would make it more difficult for Houses to develop a certain character
  


• Will almost certainly guarantee that family members will not always be a part of the same House. This is not necessarily a problem; family members wouldn't have to end up in the same Houses. But if Houses have certain characteristics, there should possibly be a greater likelihood that families would end up in the same House.
  

2. Non-random methods

Non-random methods that have been proposed include separating students with some sort of selection process, perhaps using a personality quiz or some set of predetermined questions. Other non-random methods might include House faculty members choosing their House Members; however, this method should probably be rejected to avoid favoritism and intentional "Empire-building." Thus, the strengths and weaknesses below refer to the question-based selection methods.

Strengths

• Since it would be based on individuals' characteristics, it would sort students by similar personality traits, thus increasing the likelihood of group compatibility


• Would be more likely to select students to each House that would fit the characteristics of that House


• Due to the above reasons, would facilitate the development of House personality and characteristics


• Increased likelihood that family members would be in the same House; though would not make it automatic, since it would still be based on individuals
  

Weaknesses

• Since it is non-random, increased likelihood that cliques or certain groups would be placed together into a House


• Unless this problem were overridden by some procedure, the selection process would not necessarily divide students evenly into the Houses


• Depending on the quality of the method, it could be unfairly biased


• After a time, students would likely be able to decipher the selection method and engineer their placement into the Houses

Combination Methods

1. Random selection from criterion-based categories--In this method, the general idea would be that students would be separated first into groups based on some sort of selection criteria. For example, AP-level students; CSF and NHS students; student athletes; etc. After this sorting process, students from each selection group would be randomly assigned to Houses. The philosophy of this method would be to maximize the separation of cliques and other student groups, while assuring a random and thus theoretically, the most fair and impartial separation otherwise. For example, a purely random method could still potentially result in a number of athletes in a single House, giving them an edge in competitions based on athleticism, as well as any of the accompanying social issues of having a large number of athletes in one House; or a House could end up with a number of AP-level students, giving the House an edge in academically based competitions, as well as any accompanying social issues. As further examples, a single House could end up, randomly, with a higher proportion of trouble-making students; or students who are likely to always be exuberant participants

2. Criterion-based selection modified by random selection--In this method, all students would be given some sort of selection assessment, like a set of questions, for example. In order to minimize the students' ability to decipher it, you could give each student just a few questions selected from a much larger bank of questions, and give different questions to each student. You could use, say, four questions. Any student who answered all four questions in favor of House A would be placed into House A. Any student who answered three questions for A and one for House B would be selected by a random method with a 75% probability of House A and a 25% probability for House B. Any student with two questions for House A and two questions for House B would be selected by a random method with 50% probability for each of the two Houses. Any student who answered questions for more than two Houses, regardless of the distribution of those answers, would be randomly selected to a House by a process with 25% percent probability for each of the Houses. Note that this is merely a suggestion of distributions; an actual method could differ in a number of ways.

With either of these methods, oversight of the process by the faculty House Members would be required. By assent of all four Heads of House, random redistribution to equilibrate the populations of the Houses, or to break up potential problem groups of students, could then be performed. If it is a matter of numbers, the needed number would be pulled randomly from the House(s) with an excess, and then randomly assigned to the other Houses. If it is a matter of splitting a certain group up, then the same number of students from other Houses should be randomly drawn, and all those students randomly redistributed into the Houses.


Regardless of the method finally approved and used, the Heads of House will have the sole and joint authority to approve the final outcome of the process. Note that "trading" members of the House is never to be permitted; but if a Head of House has a legitimate concern about the distribution of the Houses, it is the responsibility of all Heads of House to address that concern, at least by discussion until the concern is resolved, or in the extreme case, by re-selection of the Houses. However, unless the process chosen shows itself to be egregiously inequitable, the same process must be used within a single year. It shall, however, be within the purview of the Heads of House to modify or totally alter the selection process for the following year.


NOTE: As in the faculty section, the proposal in the next section is NOT the names of the positions, but the positions themselves. The names could be changed to anything.


II. Student Members

A. Senior Class

1. House Captain--There shall be two House Captains, one boy and one girl, chosen from the Senior class of each House. The House Captains should embody the spirit and values first of ECHS, and second of their House. They are to be the paragon of what it means to be a Charterian first and a member of the House second.

• The House Captains are to be appointed by the Head of House, from a list of recommendations made by the House Regent, made with input, as required, from the House Scribe, who shall solicit information from other faculty members of the House as needed.


• Though other students may be considered, the previous year's House Prefects and House Pages should be considered automatic candidates for the position of House Captains.


• The House Captains shall be expected to actively look after members of their own Houses; in both a protective as well as supervisory capacity. In other words, it shall be the duty of the House Captains to assist other students in the House in whatever capacity is needed and in which they are able. Students should feel free to come to the House Captain with various concerns or problems; and the House Captain is expected to help if he or she can, or to bring the issue to the attention of a faculty Member of the House if possible. As proud student leaders of the House, the House Captains should also not just serve as examples of the proper attitudes and behaviors, but also censure members of their own House for improper comportment.
  


• The House Captains shall not have the power to add or deduct points themselves; however, they are the only student members of the House who shall have the authority to report to the Regent a recommendation that such point alterations occur. It shall be, in all cases, the final decision of the Regent, whether points should be awarded or subtracted. If the House Captain feels there is an ongoing problem in being heard by the Regent, he or she should bring this to the attention of the Head of House.
  


• House Captains should be made to feel free to bring issues of concern or merit to the Regent of any House, including other Houses than their own. For example, if a Captain of House A witnesses exceptional behavior on the part of a student from House C, the Captain is welcome and encouraged not just to praise that student, but to report the observation to his or her Regent. Likewise, if a House Captain witnesses improper behavior, he or she is expected and encouraged to censure the student, and report the issue to the appropriate House Regent.


• The House Captains shall be expected, at all times, to embody and emphasize both the academic and civic expectations of ECHS. The House Captains must never show favoritism in dealing with students from their House, or partiality in dealing with students from other Houses.
  


• The House Captains shall, additionally, be requested to attend all official House meetings and functions. In addition, the House Captains may be asked by the Head of House, the Regent, or the Scribe, to attend House leadership discussions.
  


• The House Captains will be expected to provide support and assistance in any capacity in the operation of the House, whether in day-to-day activities or at events.


• The House Captains shall participate in the selection process of students and teams for competition events in the House Championship. This participation is to be in the form of input to the Scribe, who will oversee the process; but the Scribe should take this input into account in rendering any final decisions.


• The House Captains should have some form of insignia or special symbol designating their positions, that can be worn with regular clothing or a uniform on such occasions when a uniform is worn.


• The House Captains shall, at their own discretion or at the behest of the faculty House leadership, call for and conduct meetings of the student House leadership.
  

2. House Adjutants--There shall be two House Adjutants, one boy and one girl, chosen from the Senior class of each House. The House Adjutants should epitomize what it means to be a Charterian first and a member of the House second.

• The House Adjutants shall be appointed by the Head of House from a list of recommendations made by the House Regent, made with input, as required, from the House Scribe, who shall solicit information from other faculty members of the House as needed.

• Though other students may be considered, the previous year's House Prefects and House Pages should be considered automatic candidates for the position of House Adjutants.


• The House Adjutants shall assist the House Captains in their duties when called upon to do so.


• As the House Captains are leaders of the entire student population of the House, the House Adjutants shall serve as the leaders and representatives of the Senior Class of their House. It is the House Adjutants, in other words, who should bring the concerns of the Senior Class to the House; as well as provide a means of communication between the Senior Class and the House.


• Like the House Captains, the House Adjutants are expected to look after the welfare and behavior of the members of their House. However, while the Adjutants shall be authorized to censure or praise student behavior, they may not make recommendations to the Regents for point modifications. However, the Adjutants should, if they alone witness such positive or negative behavior, bring it to the attention of the Captain; who can then decide whether or not to bring it to the attention of the Regent.


• The House Adjutants are expected to embody both the academic and civic expectations of ECHS, but to emphasize, in student interactions, the academic expectations.
  


• The Adjutants will be expected to attend all official House meetings and events, and to offer spirited, but appropriate, participation, as well as encouraging the participation of the other members of their House.


• The House Adjutants may be asked to attend House leadership meetings by one of the faculty members of the House.


• The House Adjutants will be expected to attend meetings of student House leadership called by the Captains, and to facilitate those meetings as requested by the Captains.


• The House Adjutants should have some form of insignia designating their position.

3. General Members--All other House members of the Senior Class shall be designated as General Members. The General Members are expected, at all times, to uphold the ideals and expectations first of ECHS, then of the House.

• General Members will be expected to assist the House Leadership, both faculty and student, when requested.


• General Members are expected to always demonstrate proper House spirit--being proud of their House and its accomplishments, but never denigrating members of other Houses; always remembering that no House is complete in and of itself, and that all Houses are necessary parts of the whole of ECHS.


• General Members are expected to participate, following the principles of good conduct and sportsmanship expected by ECHS and the House, in competition events for the House Championship.


• General Members shall be expected to accept the censure as well as any internal disciplinary measures of the House for inappropriate behavior. NOTE: This will be outlined in another section; but internal House discipline is never to exceed the level of discipline that would be merited by the behavior from the policies and procedures of ECHS; and in general, should not consist of anything more than the equivalent of a detention. However, Members may be asked to complete tasks for the House as part of a disciplinary measure. All Members, upon joining the House, must agree to this stipulation. These tasks would not be allowed to be unduly arduous, and would likely involve clerical work that benefits the House--for example, helping the Scribe to sort documents, or typing up the minutes from a student House leadership meeting.


• General Members shall be expected to demonstrate esprit de corps, and accordingly, should have some sort of insignia affiliating them with the House; and to wear the insignia or whatever uniform is designated by the House for the appropriate occasions.


• In addition, each General Member of the Senior Class shall be requested and required to pair up with a Freshman Member of the House, to serve as a mentor and resource for the freshman's progress through ECHS, and as a guide for the traditions, practices and expectations of the House. In the event that there are more Freshman Members than Senior Members, the House Captain shall appoint some Senior Members to "adopt" two Freshman wards so that no Freshman Member is left without a Senior mentor. Alternatively, the Captain may appoint a Junior Member for the same purpose.


• Further, there may be some rights and privileges, determined by each House, that are given to members of the Senior Class, that are not extended to lower classes.
  

B. Junior Class

1. House Prefects--There shall be two House Prefects, one boy and one girl, chosen from the Junior class of each House. They are to epitomize what it means to be a Charterian first and a member of the House second.

• The House Prefects shall be appointed by the Head of House from a list of recommendations submitted by the House Regent, with input from the House Scribe and other faculty House Members as needed.


• Though other students may be considered, the previous year's House Squires should be considered automatic candidates for the position of House Prefects.


• The House Prefects shall assist the House Captains and House Adjutants in their duties when called upon to do so.


• The House Prefects shall serve as the leaders and representatives of the Junior Class of their House. It is the House Prefects, in other words, who should bring the concerns of the Junior Class to the House; as well as provide a means of communication between the Junior Class and the House.


• Like the House Captains and the House Adjutants, the House Prefects are expected to look after the welfare and behavior of the members of their House. However, while the Prefects shall be authorized to censure or praise student behavior, they may not make recommendations to the Regents for point modifications. However, the Prefects should, if they alone witness such positive or negative behavior, bring it to the attention of the House Captain; who can then decide whether or not to bring it to the attention of the Regent.


• The House Prefects are expected to embody both the academic and civic expectations of ECHS, but in student interactions, to emphasize the civic expectations.


• The Prefects will be expected to attend all official House meetings and events, and to offer spirited, but appropriate, participation, as well as encouraging the participation of the other members of their House.


• The House Prefects may be asked to attend House leadership meetings by one of the faculty members of the House.


• The House Prefects will be expected to attend meetings of student House leadership called by the Captains, and to facilitate those meetings as requested by the Captains.


• The House Prefects should have some form of insignia designating their position.

2. House Pages-There shall be two House Pages, one boy and one girl, chosen from the Junior class of each House. They are to epitomize what it means to be a Charterian first and a member of the House second.

• The House Pages shall be appointed by the House Regent, with input from the House Scribe and other faculty House Members as needed.


• Though other students may be considered, the previous year's House Squires should be considered automatic candidates for the position of House Pages.


• The House Pages shall assist the higher student House leadership in their duties when called upon to do so.


• The House Pages shall serve as the primary student voice of the House to the student members of the House. The Pages will be asked, in other words, to disseminate information to the entire population of the House. The Pages are therefore given authority to request assistance in this regard from other House leaders below them, as well as all other House Members.


• The House Pages are expected to embody both the academic and civic expectations of ECHS. Although they shall be expected to hold the values and ideals of ECHS first and the House second, the Pages shall be expected, in interactions with other students, to express unflagging loyalty and support to the House, for the purpose of improving House spirit and morale. This is never to be at the expense of other Houses, however; nor is it ever to put a House above ECHS as a whole.
  


• The Pages will be expected to attend all official House meetings and events, and to offer spirited, but appropriate, participation, as well as to promote and encourage the participation of the other members of their House.


• The House Pages may be asked to attend House leadership meetings by one of the faculty members of the House.


• The House Pages will be expected to attend meetings of student House leadership called by the Captains, and to facilitate those meetings as requested by the Captains.


• The House Pages should have some form of insignia designating their position.

3. General Members--All other House members of the Junior Class shall be designated as General Members. The General Members are expected, at all times, to uphold the ideals and expectations first of ECHS, then of the House. General Members will be expected to assist the House Leadership, both faculty and student, when requested.

The General Members of the Junior Class shall have the same basic description, rights, and responsibilities as the General Members of the Senior Class; with the exception that members of the Junior Class shall not, unless the need arises due to a lack of qualified members of the Senior Class, be assigned a member of the Freshman Class to guide and mentor.

Further, there may be some rights and privileges, to be established by each House, that shall be granted beginning with the Junior Class, that shall not be extended to lower classes.

C. Sophomore Class

1. House Squires--There shall be two House Squires, one boy and one girl, chosen from the Sophomore class of each House. They are to epitomize what it means to be a Charterian first and a member of the House second.

• The House Squires shall be appointed by the House Regent, with input from the House Scribe and other faculty House Members as needed.


• Though other students may be considered, the previous year's House Apprentices should be considered automatic candidates for the position of House Pages.


• The House Squires shall assist the higher student House leadership in their duties when called upon to do so.


• The House Squires shall serve as the leaders and representatives of the Sophomore Class of their House. It is the House Squires, in other words, who should bring the concerns of the Sophomore Class to the House; as well as provide a means of communication between the Sophomore Class and the House.


• The Squires will be expected to attend all official House meetings and events, and to offer spirited, but appropriate, participation, as well as to promote and encourage the participation of the other members of their House.

• The Squires, in particular, shall embody Charterianism and House spirit, and to encourage them in their peers among the Sophomore Class.
  

• The House Squires may be asked to attend House leadership meetings by one of the faculty members of the House.


• The House Squires will be expected to attend meetings of student House leadership called by the Captains, and to facilitate those meetings as requested by the Captains.


• The House Squires should have some form of insignia designating their position.

2. General Members--All other House members of the Sophomore Class shall be designated as General Members. The General Members are expected, at all times, to uphold the ideals and expectations first of ECHS, then of the House. General Members will be expected to assist the House Leadership, both faculty and student, when requested.

The General Members of the Sophomore Class shall have the same basic description, rights, and responsibilities as the General Members of the Junior Class; with the exception that members of the Sophomore Class shall not be called upon to mentor and guide Freshmen House Members.

Further, there may be some rights and privileges, to be established by each House, that shall be granted beginning with the Sophomore Class, that shall not be extended to the Freshman Class.

D. Freshman Class

1. House Apprentices--There shall be two House Apprentices, one boy and one girl, chosen from the Freshman class of each House. They are to epitomize what it means to be a Charterian first and a member of the House second.

• The House Apprentices shall be appointed by the House Regent, with input from the House Scribe and other faculty House Members as needed.
  

• As Freshmen Members have not previously been at ECHS, each House should establish some system of recommendations and/or applications for students to become Apprentices. It may be, for example, that there is a period of time at the beginning of the year that no Apprentices exist, during which time the House holds an open application period, and Freshman Members can apply to the Regent for Apprenticeship. The selection requirements and methods are to be left to the discretion of the House.
  

• The House Apprentices shall assist the higher student House leadership in their duties when called upon to do so.


• The House Apprentices shall serve as the leaders and representatives of the Freshman Class of their House. It is the House Apprentices, in other words, who should bring the concerns of the Freshman Class to the House; as well as provide a means of communication between the Freshman Class and the House.


• The Apprentices will be expected to attend all official House meetings and events, and to offer spirited, but appropriate, participation, as well as to promote and encourage the participation of the other members of their House.

• The Apprentices, in particular, shall embody Charterianism and House spirit, and to encourage them in their peers among the Freshman Class.
  

• The House Apprentices may be asked to attend House leadership meetings by one of the faculty members of the House.


• The House Apprentices will be expected to attend meetings of student House leadership called by the Captains, and to facilitate those meetings as requested by the Captains.


• The House Apprentices should have some form of insignia designating their position.

2. General Members--All other House members of the Freshman Class shall be designated as General Members. The General Members are expected, at all times, to uphold the ideals and expectations first of ECHS, then of the House. General Members will be expected to assist the House Leadership, both faculty and student, when requested.

The General Members of the Freshman Class shall have the same basic description, rights, and responsibilities as the General Members of the Sophomore Class.

The rights and privileges granted to House Members of the Freshman Class are to be determined by each House.