Palisade students have a habit of seeing the administration team as harsh, stern, and strict. However, our Paw Post team is creating a new narrative for the relationship between staff and students. We are introducing a new series called “10 Minutes with Admin”, highlighting updates within our school through conversations with our school’s administrative leaders. This will help students recognize the impact of our principals and the reason behind some of our new policies, regulations, and rules.
Palisade High School assistant principal Mrs. Caster covered a few topics, including our switch to Google Classroom and the construction within our building.
“This summer we were the recipients of some bond work, so our school got fire suppression sprinklers put throughout the entire building… we also have a security vestibule being built out front, and so most of the construction was done while we were on summer break, but some of it went a little bit longer,” states Mrs. Caster, beginning the discussion about the construction within Palisade High School. Mrs. Caster adds,“The auditorium was also one of the last rooms to get the fire suppression because they had to build a whole scaffolding… so they could work up that height.” To members of band, orchestra, or theatre participants, the theater is just finished and is being cleaned up to prepare for the musical, concerts, etc.
Mrs. Caster also elaborated on the outside construction of our school, and its purpose.
“Outside you’ll see a lot of construction with some different security elements being built, so some gates and some walls… some fencing, just to make our campus more secure so that there is only one entrance.” states Mrs. Caster. After this change, the doors will be locked after the bell rings and late students and guests will have to present an I.D. to the attendance secretary. Mrs. Caster commented that this will change the current rule, eliminating the possibility of people coming in and skipping the check-in process. “Once those fences and gates our built, the campus will technically be a closed campus,” finishes Mrs. Caster.
In terms of new policies and rules this school year, Mrs. Caster said that for the most part there are not any. The dress code, which does not allow certain garments such as drug and alcohol representation bandanas, or bare midriffs, will continue to be a firm structure.
Finally, to close off the discussion, Mrs. Caster spoke upon the switch from Schoology to Google Classroom. “Ultimately, it comes down to funding from schools. The district is really navigating a pretty tight budget, and so they were looking at what programs, what resources can we continue versus what do we need to trim to be able to have a budget that’s operating in the black… Google Classroom is really where resources and materials are located where StudentVUE is the official grade.” Next year, Schoology will be completely cut off, so this year is being used to guide everyone into that switch.
The staff and administration at Palisade put a lot of work in behind the scenes to ensure our school is educational, safe, and organized. If you see a teacher or admin in the hallways, be sure to thank them for all their hard work!
