With the new school year about to begin, ISD 166 Principal Gwen Carman and Superintendent Beth Schwarz outlined for the school board what’s new at its regular meeting on August 16, 2011.
Superintendent Schwarz outlined education legislation that went into effect this session. One new initiative is an early graduation achievement scholarship that will pay higher education costs in the amount of $2,500 for graduating one semester early, $5,000 for graduating two semesters early, and $7,500 for graduating three or more semesters early. A military service award program provides the same amount for students graduating early and entering the military.
It would be a mistake to discourage kids from taking advantage of this, school board member Terry Collins said, even though it would reduce funding to Cook County High School.
“To be honest,” said Superintendent Beth Schwarz, “for some students, this is a good fit.” She said the district would lose $15,000 for a high school student’s last three semesters, so the program will save the state money and help families send their kids to college, but it will make things harder for ISD166.
Another piece of new legislation allows students graduating in 2014- 15 or later to complete a career or technical course instead of chemistry or physics. In addition, the legislation raised the amount of money to be levied for career and technical education.
School board member Terry Collins asked Carman if she had any particular emphases in mind for the school year. Carman was ready with an answer, saying she had two: All the adults in the school would work on establishing personal connections with each student, and the staff would work on engaging students by addressing their individual learning styles, interests, and where they need more help or challenge.
Other new initiatives this coming year:
Grades 1-5 will have mid-day recess before lunch instead of after. In an email, Principal Carman explained that this will work out better with the middle and high school schedule but that it will be beneficial for other reasons as well: “Recess before lunch is a change from tradition but is actually used in many, many schools. It is highly supported by healthy eating advocates because it slows students down to eat more calmly as they aren’t in a hurry to get outside, and they didn’t just come from sitting in a classroom. It also provides a much calmer transition back into the classroom. It is widely supported by schools once they make the change.”
The Early Childhood
Family Education program may increase academic programming by cutting out one of its open gym times and adding an extra class in an effort to have all of the district’s students reach 100 percent grade level reading proficiency by the time they’re in third grade.
Superintendent Schwarz said the school may start sending letters out to parents if kids are not reading at grade level by third grade, notifying them of remedial options and what they could do at home to increase reading proficiency.
Parents, middle and high school students, and members of the public will now need to enter the school complex through the Eagle doors. Other doors will be locked, although elementary students can still be dropped off (if school personnel are still outside to escort them in) and picked up on the Sawtooth side of the complex. Parents and community members are expected to park in the area outside the main entrance (Eagle) doors and the Arrowhead Center for the Arts. Students will park on the west end of the school complex, and teachers will park in the elementary parking lot.
The elementary office has moved in with the secondary office, located inside the Eagle doors to the left.
The Frank DiMaio
Fund for Creativity and Experimentation is offering grants of $100-1,000 for licensed teachers to offer new, creative, experimental projects. The fund was created by Lyle Gerard in memory of Frank DiMaio, a comrade and friend from World War II, together with contributions from Joan Drury.
Collaborating with charter schools
Superintendent Schwarz had invited Great Expectations Charter School Director Peter James to the meeting to discuss the possibility of the two schools collaborating on common endeavors.
James said the two schools are already collaborating on bussing and some sports. Some parents are asking whether the charter school should start using some of the extra building space ISD 166 has as student population declines. He wondered if the schools could share some services such as payroll processing, snow removal, and staff development.
Schwarz said they were hoping the ISD 166 board might make a motion expressing an interest in meeting with the Great Expectations board to talk about “working more efficiently and how to help the county become a model for world-class education.”
James said he had had conversations with the other two charter schools, Oshki Ogimaag in Grand Portage and Birch Grove Community School in Tofte, but since Great Expectations and ISD 166 share a location and have many families in common, starting with a collaboration between those two schools might be the quickest and easiest way to get this initiative going.
Leonard Sobanja said he supports the concept and made a motion authorizing Schwarz to work with James to organize a meeting between the boards to discuss items of mutual interest. He indicated in the motion that Oshki Ogimaag and Birch Grove should also be invited.
Terry Collins supported the idea and said he wanted to find out about legal and financial issues related to collaborating. James said he realizes collaboration would require working through organizational hurdles.
“We live in Cook County,” said Deb White. “We like hard. Let’s not let anything be easy!”
The motion passed unanimously.
High ACT scores
Schwarz reported that the composite ACT scores for the CCHS class of 2011 were 23.6, above the state average of 22.9. That is especially significant, Schwarz said, because “Minnesota has some of the highest ACT scores in the nation”The
MOut ofe abouto a 40 2011 graduates, 31 took the ACT.
Bread and milk costs
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