Weekly Update: June 9, 2017
Weekly Update: June 9, 2017
Dear Board of Education, Families, Staff and Friends:
ISFIS Meeting:
This past week, Lisa Johnson and I attended the ISFIS conference to learn more about legislative action that has impacted our finances. What impressed me the most about the conference was the session that I attended on Finances in Iowa. Our presenter did an excellent job articulating a very difficult process and concept related to school financing in Iowa.
Classroom Learning Environment Session:
This summer and early fall, the school district will host three exciting event opportunities for our staff and community members to explore more about the classroom learning environment and how various classrooms support instructional practices in today's schools. We are also looking forward to engaging members of the community in activities that focus on the 4 C’s: collaboration, communication, critical thinking and creativity.
We invite you to join us for one of these sessions on either June 15, August 30, or September 6 at the Drake Library Community Room beginning at 6:00 PM. Our new architects from CMBA will be participating in these events and assisting with our presentation. This is a learning opportunity for our community to have discussions on how students learn in various learning spaces. Later this fall, the information that we collect from these events will support our efforts in further planning for our facilities.
Please find the attached invitation. We hope that you can join
Admin Team Meeting/ Planning Meeting with CMBA
Summer kicks off a busy time for the district office staff, teachers, and administrators. Our team finalized our plans for the upcoming June 15th event with our CMBA architects this past week and we look forward to seeing everyone at the Drake Library. Summer is also a time to analyze student assessments and enhance curriculum and/or units of study. The major task for our team is to plan for the opening of the 2017-18 school year. Summer flies by quickly!
The administrative team reviewed the survey data from Davis elementary school regarding moving from iPads to Laptops. After reviewing the survey results, examining software use, taking a look at instructional practices and further training for all staff, the administration will recommend to the Board the purchase of iPads for students in grades 3 and 4 next school year. These new devices will be purchased over the summer and be ready for deployment this August. These iPads will replace laptops that are four-five years old and will be paid for through the sale of old laptops that are nearing end of life.
Summer School Starts Next Week!
Summer SLICK - "Summer Learning Is Cool for Kids" will begin on Monday, June 12. This year's program will be held at Davis Elementary and host students grades K-3. We currently have 90 students signed up to attend the full day program. The morning will focus on literacy based activities and the afternoon will have more STEM related activities for students. The program will run Monday - Thursday from 8-3. The program is in partnership with the Drake Community Library, the Grinnell Education Partnership and the Grinnell AmeriCorps program. The administrators had an opportunity to judge the presentations designed by our AmeriCorps grade level teams. These are pretty spectacular! Thank you to our partnership for putting together such and awesome training for our AmeriCorps grade level leaders. I think our summer program is going to be pretty engaging! Check these videos out! SLICK videos
Parent Portal Information and Online Registration Coming Soon!
Please also know that as we have rolled our students into the next school year in the Infinite Campus System, you will notice some changes in your parent portal. Data pertinent to the 16-17 school year, such as grades, is no longer visible. If you need any information that you are having trouble accessing, please contact the building secretary of the school in which your child attends. Please be looking for an email coming soon, notifying you of when Registration for the 17-18 School Year will be open. The District is opening online registration early this year, but will still have a registration night on August 1st. Please be checking your email regularly, throughout the summer, as we will continue to communicate need-to-know information about next year.
Upcoming Board Meeting:
The Board of Education will be meeting on June 14, 2017 at 6:00 P.M. The curriculum committee will be meeting at 5:30 to review the Spanish material feedback.
Have a great weekend! Stay cool!
Sincerely,
Janet
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Janet M. Stutz
Superintendent
Grinnell-Newburg Schools