News from Failure Is NOT An Option

Albert P. Brewer High is on the move!  Failure Is NOT an Option is changing the way students and teachers think about assignments.  Last week we initially had 250 students on the ICU list with missing assignments.  On Thursday, the day ICU meets after school, only 13 students had missing work.  That means that 98.5% of all student work was turned in prior to ICU when those remaining 13 did their work!!  Slowly, but surely, a shift in thinking is occurring. 

 Our initiatives are based on sound research into schools that are working the best.  The ideas of Failure Is NOT and Option and ICU are recommendations from the progressive Highs Schools That Work national programs.  The process of Failure Is NOT an Option replaces an outdated and regressive student response of simply accepting a zero and not turning in assignments. Students at BHS have turned in thousands of assignments that without ICU would not have been completed. To date, literally hundreds of calls to parents have been made.  The response is almost 100% positive.   Indeed, how can a parent argue for their child not turning in assignments?  How can students turning in all assignments not improve grades and increase learning?  How can students passing courses, increasing learning, and experiencing success not reduce the dropout rate?

I appreciate the support of hundreds of parents with whom I have talked.  I encourage you to continue to support Brewer and our mission and vision of not accepting failure as an option.  I also appreciate a majority of the faculty that have been supportive and encouraging.  Finally, I must thank the Morgan County board members whose progressive views and dedication to children voted to extend to me a three-year contract.  We simply MUST put the needs of students above all else.

We had 40 students take College Board Advanced Placement exams this year.  Mrs. Oden and Mrs. Gilchrist have done an outstanding job with the programs.  Next year, we plan to add 3 more AP courses that include AP Biology, Chemistry, and Macroeconomics.  Our emphasis at Brewer will remain on raising the bar and offering more chances for our students to excel and be more than prepared prepared for the next level of education. I have said many times that we have the potential to be a school that will be recognized as producing students of the highest quality.  I am confident we are on the right track for extraordinary improvements.  In order to realize the results we all want for our children, we will continue to take steps that increase vigor and produce higher performance.  I am totally committed to seeing Brewer High School be all that it can be.