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Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com
July 11, 2014
Community stunned by departure of NHS principal PEGGY SPEAR Clayton Pioneer
The Northgate High School community is reeling from the sudden resignation of its popular principal, and some parents claim that he was forced to leave the post he held for six years. In a letter to parents emailed last week, John McMorris announced he was resigning his position. “It is with great regret that I announce to you that I have resigned as principal of Northgate High School,” McMorris wrote. “For six years, it has been my biggest honor and highest accomplishment to be your principal. Together, we have moved Northgate forward and created a strong, collaborative and supportive community between all the stakeholders of our school.” It was his success and the sense of community he fostered
that makes the sudden resignation so surprising and troublesome, according to Linda Loza, a staunch supporter of McMorris and whose two children attended Northgate. Loza is heading up efforts to create a Northgate Unified School District, made up of the high school and other schools in its feeder system. “I am just sad and livid,” she said. “I have no doubt that John’s departure was the result of bad blood between he and high ranking members of the teachers union.” McMorris came under fire earlier this year for taking payments of $40,000 over two years to run the school’s Model United Nations program. While payments like that are not rare for the Northgate PFC, according to former PFC president Monica Fitzgerald, it raised the ire of members of the Mt. Diablo Educational Association.
According to sources close to the situation, McMorris received notification from Mt. Diablo Unified School District that he would be reassigned, but that it would not be in a principal’s role. “It’s my opinion that McMorris empowered parents, and that scared the union and the district,” Loza said. Over his tenure, McMorris is credited with turning around a lackluster yet high achieving school into a local powerhouse,
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thing right. I think it was a witch hunt.” MDEA President Guy Moore, a Northgate parent, had no comment on McMorris’ resignation. At press time MDUSD Superintendent Nellie Meyer had not responded to requests for comments from the Pioneer. Parents expressed sorrow when they heard the news. “He really turned Northgate around,” said Debbie Schwartz, whose daughter is a Northgate
junior. “It’s a totally different school than when my son started school eight years ago.” McMorris said that his next step will be developing curriculum and instruction materials as well as teacher training on Global Studies for schools across the country. It is unclear when a new principal will be selected, but in the past, the district has appointed an interim principal while conducting a more formal search.
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with the support of parents, students and most of the staff. Test scores rose, more Advanced Placement courses were offered, and the school’s athletics and performing arts showed dramatic improvements. A recent report from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges commended Northgate for its “outstanding leadership and direction.” “That’s what makes McMorris’ departure so sad,” Loza said. “The school was doing every-
School is out, summer break is in full swing, and as I write this article, I hope that our school community is enjoying some well-deserved fun and relaxation. Clayton Valley Charter High School never really takes a vacation as it requires yearround effort to succeed in education. The school is still bustling with staff closing the books on last year, supporting students with summer school, and already preparing for the 2014-15 school year. I am very proud and excited to share that as part of ongoing efforts to support our mission of building “first class citizens, with a world class education,” we are offering four different professional development opportunities to our staff this summer.
CURRICULUM INSTITUTE In early June we held what has now become our annual Curriculum Institute. This year’s focus was on the transition to the new Common Core State Standards. While our staff has had opportunities over the last year to become familiar with the new standards, our summer institute allows for much deeper analysis and planning to occur. One of the main focuses of the Common Core is on literacy and critical thinking across the curriculum. As a result, a significant amount of time was spent on drilling down into how to implement effective close reading techniques and argumentative writing to help support content literacy across all curricular areas. CHARACTER COUNTS SEMINAR Also in June, the staff focused on the other half of our mission statement, character education. For three days, teachers were able to partici-
pate in a “Character Counts” Seminar. Character Counts is a nationally recognized character education program developed by the Josephson Institute. The curriculum is centered on six character “pillars” – Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring and Citizenship. Teachers were presented with practical ways to integrate these concepts into their existing content curriculum. There was also lengthy discussion about how this program could dovetail perfectly into the “Do the Right Thing” initiative that the City of Clayton and CVCHS already support. MODEL SCHOOLS CONFERENCE This year, more than 30 CVCHS teachers, staff and administrators will attend the national Model Schools Conference put on by the International Center for Leadership in Education. Dr. Bill Daggett, one of the most influential and important educational leaders
in the world today, is the president of the ICLE. Daggett is the father of the “rigor, relevance, and relationships” motto which is at the heart of CVCHS. EDTECH INSTITUTE Sixteen years ago a current high school junior was born… and so was Google. It is difficult to even grasp what the world will look like in another 16 years. In 2013 technology is no longer just a tool, it is a way of life, underpinning our society. CVCHS’s EdTech institute (also an annual event) is dedicated to assisting teachers in preparing our students for the 21st century. The training provides for a deep knowledge of how to efficiently and seamlessly integrate our content, our pedagogy, and technology to design and implement high quality instruction that is rigorous and relevant. David Linzey is executive director of CVCHS. Contact him David.linzey@claytonvalley.org
Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness July 4 is a very important day for all Americans as well as a very important day in the United States history. The 4th of July, Independence Day, has been celebrated since 1776, making our country 238 years old. I asked my neighbors what they think we celebrate on the 4th of July. I asked the young, the old and the in-between. My grandmother, Cathe Dods, says that the 4th of July is a “celebration of our country’s freedom.” Carolyn Wetzel, my neighbor who is younger than my grandmother, says the 4th of July is about celebrating “our
NATALIE PURSCHE
DVMS CORRESPONDENT independence.” Heather Pacak says it is her “favorite holiday because of fireworks” and my friends’
father, Tim Hintzoglou, says the 4th of July is a “chance to celebrate our freedoms.” My younger brother Wyatt says it’s “America’s birthday” and my friends, Matthew and Kellie Hintzoglou, say the 4th of July is meant to celebrate “our founding fathers” and their amazing work to “turn 13 colonies into a country.” Young, old and in-between, we all agree that on the 4th of July, we celebrate our independence from Great Britain and the freedom that has cost so much in human lives. Independence Day honors the Revolutionary War and all of the patriots who
have fought for our freedom, making us “the land of the free and the home of the brave. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Happy 238th Birthday America, and many more! Natalie Pursche is in the sixth grade at Diablo View Middle School. She is an avid reader, enjoys writing, and loves to spend time with her friends and family. Send comments to natalie@claytonpioneer.com.
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Love is a weird thing. And people have unusual ways of showing it. But one of the hardest things to do is to get out of it. In “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before” by Jenny Han, 16-year-old Lara Jean Song Covey gets over all the boys she’s ever had feelings for by writing them “I-don’t want-tobe-in-love-anymore” letters.
She pours her heart out onto paper, puts it (or them) into an envelope, seals it, addresses it, but she doesn’t send them. Instead, she puts them all into a teal hatbox her mother gave her before she passed away and hides in on her top shelf in her closet. In all, there are five boys Lara Jean has ever written about. Josh, her next-door neighbor and her big sister (Margot)’s boyfriend; Peter Kavinsky, Lara Jean’s first kiss; Kenny, a boy she met at summer camp; Lucas Krapf, just because
he’s handsome; and John Ambrose McClaren, Lara Jean’s eighth grade crush. On the first day of her sophomore year, everything is going spectacular until Lara Jean is confronted by Peter and is scolded about the letter she “sent” to him. Panicked, she runs home just to find that her box along with all five letters are gone and if Peter got one, that means it won’t be long until Josh, Kenny, Lucas, and John
receive theirs. Throughout the rest of the story, Lara Jean’s life slowly falls apart in some places and comes together in others. With Margot gone to college in Scotland and no one to turn to, Lara Jean steps back and watches as her love life crumbles to the ground. This book is unique because there are five different ways it could end and you have no idea how it’s going to conclude because things are constantly changing and stories are alternating non-stop. This novel is so real and brutally honest. Han has knocked it out of the park once again. Emily York is a sophomore at CVCHS.