It is November 3, 2014, and I am doing something I have never done before.  I am officially typing my first blog.  The thought raced through my mind of what to blog about. What do people want to know? What would interest anyone to read about?  The answer came to me as I began to type:  What have we done so far this school year?

Since September 2, 2014, I can go through a quick list of accomplishments for NECA staff that have impacted NECA students:

• Launching of Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS).  PBIS celebrates students meeting the expectations that we have of them in school.  Our acronym is ROARS which stands for Respect-Ownership-Attitude-Responsibility-Safety.  We just celebrated students receiving 1,000 tickets last Friday, October 31st.
• The  beginning of Pro Start at NECA. Pro Start is an industry recognized culinary arts program. Our goal is to teach students the skills needed to be successful in the restaurant industry if culinary arts is a path that they choose for themselves.
• Another new program is Hospitality and Tourism Management.  We want students to learn about the career ladder within this exciting industry as another pathway for students once they graduate.
• NEC's 2nd Annual College Fair on Tuesday, October 28th.  Representatives from local colleges and universities came out to meet with students and share the opportunities for what it takes to succeed in college.

In addition to the above, I didn't want to forget to mention our Early Learning Center (ELC) staff. They have worked tirelessly towards National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) accreditation.  We have sent in the necessary paperwork and will have observations in the near future of their work.

It has been a busy start of the school year but I am looking forward to the next month ahead.  Quarter 1 ends on Friday, November 7th and we look forward to the start of Quarter 2 on Monday, November 10th.

Tonya Allen

NECA Principal