Latest news with #Arndt
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
'Like in Harry Potter': Phoenix Camelback High School freshmen split into 'houses'
Phoenix Union High School District is building a stronger foundation for incoming students by restructuring freshman year. Students will now be split into different 'houses' to build closer relationships with teachers and staff. 'If you're going to be successful with 600 different kids from diverse backgrounds, speaking different languages from different countries, you need a more customized, bespoke approach,' said James Arndt, principal of Phoenix Union's Camelback High School. 'The best way to do that — shrink the school.' Camelback High School receives hundreds of incoming freshmen from 43 middle schools across Phoenix. Freshman houses will create a system where students don't get lost in the numbers and teachers can keep track of their progress, Arndt said. Freshmen will be divided into four houses. Each house will have four core teachers in algebra, biology, English and health who monitor students' grades, as well as counselors, social workers, an attendance liaison and the freshmen house coordinator. 'Think like in Harry Potter — there's Gryffindor and Slytherin and Ravenclaw,' said Arndt. 'Our teams are named Earth, Air, Fire and Water." Students under the same house will have the same teachers, which allows educators to communicate with each other and keep tabs on students, said freshman house coordinator for Camelback High School, Erika Wimble. Wimble gathers data on students' grades and attendance and distributes them to teachers once a week. Teachers will then use one of their free periods to discuss how their students are doing. The goal is to help students connect with their teachers and lay the foundation for the rest of their high school years, Arndt said. 'Camelback is a really, really big school, and high school in general is just really scary,' said Dezzarae Medina, 18, a recent Camelback High School graduate. Medina began her freshman year at Camelback later in the year and found teachers to be supportive inside and outside of school. As a straight-A student, she remembered an instance when her then-English teacher reached out after Medina got a B to offer after-school assistance. 'I felt like the support system my freshman year kind of allowed me to open up enough to feel OK to ask questions,' Medina said. Camelback High School first adopted the house model on a small scale in 2019, according to Arndt. After COVID-19, the school was allowed to implement the new program across its whole campus. They received additional assistance from the Center for High School Success, which connected with Phoenix Union to introduce the 9th Grade on Track program to the district. 9th Grade on Track measures how likely a student is to graduate and continue postsecondary education based on the number of credits they complete during their freshman year. To maximize success, Camelback moved its best teachers to freshmen classes as part of its restructuring, Arndt said. Wimble said she views the program as 'trickle-up education' since freshmen involved with 9th Grade on Track proved to have better grades in their following years. 'I had a senior teacher once tell me, 'I never want to teach freshmen, but I will support you in whatever you need, because if your freshmen are successful, my job is gonna be easier as a senior teacher,' said Wimble. There has been an increase in Camelback High School's "on track" rates, or what determines students' likelihood of graduating, from 39% for the 2019-20 school year to 76% for the 2023-24 school year, according to the Center for High School Success. Camelback High School has also seen chronic absenteeism decrease from 45% in 2019-20 to 25% in the 2023-24 school year, according to the high school's data. The Arizona Department of Education has also increased Camelback High School's state report card grade from D to B and has even been used as a demonstration school by the Center for High School Success for its 9th Grade on Track implementation. Seniors placed in freshmen houses have seen a rise in their ACT scores and received four times the number of scholarships at $22 million, according to Arndt. Arndt said the different freshmen houses would inspire some friendly competition among their teachers, but it was not something they wanted to directly involve their students to keep the new system positive. However, that didn't stop students from trying to better their peers. 'I feel like from first quarter to fourth quarter, we did improve a lot just by that little competition that we had between houses," said sophomore Daniella Lerma, 15. Teachers within Lerma's house would frequently check in on her and how she was balancing school and extracurriculars, which kept Lerma motivated throughout her freshman year. The freshman house also allowed her to connect with her peers and build friendships. 'It's a better start,' said Lerma. 'If I didn't have that support, I wouldn't be where I am today.' Coverage of education solutions on and in The Arizona Republic is partially supported by a grant from the Arizona Local News Foundation's Arizona Community Collaborative Fund. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix high school adopts Harry Potter model to help students improve
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Education notes: Sterling student graduates from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Jun. 7—MILWAUKEE — Sterling resident Mackenzie Arndt recently graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Arndt received a bachelor's degree from the university's School of Education. The commencement ceremony was Sunday, May 18. The ceremony awarded degrees to 2,919 students. Rock Falls student named to Pennsylvania Western University's dean's list ROCK FALLS — Rock Falls resident Claire Bickett recently was named to Pennsylvania Western University's dean's list for the spring semester. Bickett attends the university's Clarion campus. The dean's list honors students who earned a semester GPA of 3.4 or higher. The students also must complete a minimum of 12 graded credit hours. Dixon students named to Cedarville University dean's list CEDARVILLE, Ohio — Dixon residents Madisyn Rubright and Alivia Rubright were named to Cedarville University's dean's list for the spring semester. The dean's list honors students with a semester GPA of 3.5 or higher. The students also must complete at least 12 credit hours. Cedarville University is an evangelical Christian university that offers undergraduate and graduate art, science and professional field programs. For more information, visit Newman Central Catholic High School graduates earn over $3.3 million in scholarships STERLING — Newman Central Catholic High School recently announced that its graduating class earned more than $3.3 million in scholarship awards. The 42 students were involved in faith-based services, student leadership, athletics and fine arts. "These numbers are impressive, but they're only part of the story," Newman Central Catholic High School director of marketing and enrollment Gehrig Koerner said in a news release. "What makes our students truly special is how they balance their studies with service, sports, faith and friendship. They're ready to make an impact in our community."
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Education notes: Sterling student graduates from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Jun. 7—MILWAUKEE — Sterling resident Mackenzie Arndt recently graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Arndt received a bachelor's degree from the university's School of Education. The commencement ceremony was Sunday, May 18. The ceremony awarded degrees to 2,919 students. Rock Falls student named to Pennsylvania Western University's dean's list ROCK FALLS — Rock Falls resident Claire Bickett recently was named to Pennsylvania Western University's dean's list for the spring semester. Bickett attends the university's Clarion campus. The dean's list honors students who earned a semester GPA of 3.4 or higher. The students also must complete a minimum of 12 graded credit hours. Dixon students named to Cedarville University dean's list CEDARVILLE, Ohio — Dixon residents Madisyn Rubright and Alivia Rubright were named to Cedarville University's dean's list for the spring semester. The dean's list honors students with a semester GPA of 3.5 or higher. The students also must complete at least 12 credit hours. Cedarville University is an evangelical Christian university that offers undergraduate and graduate art, science and professional field programs. For more information, visit Newman Central Catholic High School graduates earn over $3.3 million in scholarships STERLING — Newman Central Catholic High School recently announced that its graduating class earned more than $3.3 million in scholarship awards. The 42 students were involved in faith-based services, student leadership, athletics and fine arts. "These numbers are impressive, but they're only part of the story," Newman Central Catholic High School director of marketing and enrollment Gehrig Koerner said in a news release. "What makes our students truly special is how they balance their studies with service, sports, faith and friendship. They're ready to make an impact in our community."
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Prologis CFO says ‘disconnected world' requires more warehousing
This story was originally published on CFO Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily CFO Dive newsletter. Prologis CFO Tim Arndt this week detailed a stark shift in the industrial real estate giant's outlook after April 2, when President Donald Trump fully acted on his longstanding pledge to enact global tariffs, noting in a Wednesday earnings call with analysts that 'even with the pause in some tariffs or resolution of others, customers simply lack a steady backdrop upon which to plan their businesses.' Arndt said the tariff actions 'clearly went beyond our early predictions, making the environment less certain.' The company saw a post-election uptick in property leasing hold steady through a 'very strong' first quarter, he said. But in the past two weeks, even as the company signed about 80 leases involving more than 6 million square feet, volume fell 20% from its normal pace, Arndt said. Painting a mixed picture of potential fallout from tariffs with some potential benefits for the company, Arndt said he expects that demand for warehouse space will rise as policy instability disrupts global supply chains. 'First, a disconnected world will require more warehouse space not less,' Arndt said according to a transcript of the call. 'Second, the current environment is an endorsement of our longstanding strategy to invest in markets where goods are consumed, not where they're produced.' Arndt's comments came as the San Francisco-based Prologis's net earnings attributable to common shareholders ticked up to $592 million in Q1, compared to $584 million in the year-earlier period. The average occupancy of its owned and managed properties stood at 94.9%, down from 96.8% in the year-earlier period. In a Wednesday note, JPMorgan analysts, led by Michael Mueller, wrote Prologis's core funds from operations of $1.42 a share were above Bloomberg's consensus expectation of $1.38 and also stated it was surprising that management maintained its core FFO outlook for 2025. Arndt said on the call that the company's first quarter results would normally have required tightening and increasing guidance. But due to the tariffs, the company instead opted to hold most areas of guidance unchanged, with the exception of capital deployment. 'Prior to April 2, industrial fundamentals were improving, and had it not been for the recent uncertainty from global tariffs and their downstream impacts, we would have raised our expectations for 2025,' he said. 'Instead, we are electing to maintain earnings guidance as there are no policy conclusions right now to plan differently and our severe stress test to core FFO supports the existing range.' The company held its 2025 guidance for net earnings attributable to common shareholders at between $3.45 to $3.70 but lowered its development start guidance to a range of $1.5 billion to $2 billion from a range of $2.25 billion to $2.75 billion. The change reflects the company's expectation of reduced speculative development. In setting the scene for the disruption in the market since April 2, Arndt also said the company has been in touch with more than 300 customers, noting that many of them are acting quickly to manage the tariff volatility by accelerating and re-routing shipments and looking for overflow space along with 'short-term flexibility' while also evaluating free trade zones. Detailing some of the tariff's expected impacts, he said the company anticipates that inventory levels will increase, e-commerce will take a bigger share of transactions and markets outside the U.S., such as Canada, India and Brazil, will benefit. But Arndt cautioned that uncertainty is high. 'Let's be clear, the range of outcomes is wide. We see potential for recession, inflation, or possibly both. And let's also not dismiss the potential for a quick resolution,' he said, expressing confidence that Prologis is 'designed to weather any environment' with its global footprint, diverse tenants and strong balance sheet. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Prologis sticks with 2025 outlook, but customers grow more cautious
Logistics real estate investment trust Prologis announced that it is sticking with its initial 2025 outlook even as uncertainty around trade policy has some customers delaying leasing decisions. The company said favorable trends in the first quarter had it in position to raise guidance but 'Liberation Day' tariffs announced April 2 forced it to pause that decision. Looking forward, management told analysts on a Wednesday conference call that there are still many unknowns around near-term leasing demand but that longer-term fundamentals and the need for incremental warehousing space remain intact. 'Let's be clear: The range of outcomes is wide. We see potential for a recession, inflation or possibly both. And let's also not dismiss the potential for a quick resolution,' CFO Tim Arndt said on the call. He said the company was 'designed to weather any environment,' noting a diverse customer portfolio, built-in rent escalators and a strong balance sheet, but that 'customers simply lack a steady backdrop upon which to plan their businesses.'Prologis (NYSE: PLD) reported first-quarter core funds from operations (FFO) of $1.42 per share before the market opened on Wednesday, which was 4 cents above consensus and 14 cents higher year over year. Total revenue was up 9% y/y to $2.14 billion as new leases commenced increased 35% to 65.1 million square feet, but occupancy slid 190 basis points to 94.9%. (Occupancy ended the period at 95.2%.) Arndt said many customers have been pulling forward inventories ahead of tariffs and some are now looking for more storage space. Port markets could also see a near-term lift given a 90-day pause on some tariffs as customers continue to build stockpiles. Deals are still getting done currently but at a reduced pace. Overall leasing activity for Prologis was down 20% over the past two weeks. It signed 80 leases covering 6 million square feet in that period. However, the company believes the need for space will increase in a 'disconnected world' as many players will be required to stand up new supply maintained its full-year 2025 guidance for core FFO to range from $5.65 to $5.81. The outlook continues to assume average occupancy in a range of 94.5% to 95.5%. It did lower its forecast for development starts by 30% at the midpoint of the new range of $1.5 billion to $2 billion until visibility improves. The bottom end of the FFO guidance range contemplated worst-case scenarios from past downturns like the Great Financial Crisis when rents fell 18% and vacancies declined 170 bps. 'But please, this is not a prediction. We are incapable of making a prediction in this environment,' said Hamid Moghadam, Prologis co-founder and CEO. The concern over tariffs had little impact on the quarter as global rents fell 1.5% and were down just 0.5% excluding Southern California. Shares of PLD were 2% higher at 2:42 p.m. EDT on Wednesday compared to the S&P 500, which was down 2.6%. More FreightWaves articles by Todd Maiden: J.B. Hunt's intermodal bid season delivers mixed results March freight demand enters, exits like a lamb Amazon launches inbound-only LTL service The post Prologis sticks with 2025 outlook, but customers grow more cautious appeared first on FreightWaves.
