This week: Superintendent Provides Tips for Parents, First Week of Attendance Strong: Thank You Parents! + More

September 6, 2016

Superintendent Provides Tips for Parents

In the recent Superintendent's letter, Dr. GwenCarol Holmes outlined some tips for parents for success in school:

We are glad you are partnering with us to prepare your child for success in life. Here are some ways we can strengthen this partnership:

Keep the communication between home and school strong and frequent. Attend school and community events so that our children see both parents and school staff supporting them.
Push our children to take rigorous or advanced opportunity classes (Honors, Advanced Placement, Dual Credit). A grade of C in a rigorous class leads to better outcomes than an A in an easy class.
Expect our students to be accountable for their actions, while providing love and support for making wise choices.

Together we can help our children achieve at the highest levels. We are so glad you are a part of the team.

Numbers Show Attendance Is Strong First Week of School:

Thank You Parents!

The new school calendar meant that school started before Labor Day this year. How did this affect attendance the first week of school? It was the highest attendance we have seen in several years! Attendance is taken each day and the district will continue to monitor attendance and enrollment as the school year progresses. For the School Calendar, click here .

Here are the attendance percentages for the second day of school:

Alturas 98%

Bellevue 99%

Carey 99%

Hailey 98%

Hemingway 97%

WRMS 99%

WRHS 99%

SCHS 97%

How does school attendance impact student performance? Children who miss more than 10 days a year have reduced outcomes in learning. Children absent more than 15 days a year are considered chronically absent. For more on how attendance impacts student performance, click here . *When children are ill, please keep them home from school.

When To Stop for a School Bus

The district would like to take a moment to remind drivers when they need to stop for school buses that are either loading or unloading students.

Anytime that you are around a school bus and the yellow lights are flashing, the bus is preparing to stop to let students on or off the bus. The question is what do you need to do?

Most places in Blaine County are three lanes or less. This could be one lane in each direction plus a center turn lane. When the red lights are activated and the stop sign extends from the side of the bus, all traffic needs to be stopped. Remain stopped until the red lights and stop sign are turned off and then you may continue on your way.

In areas with four or more lanes of traffic, only the traffic going the same direction as the bus is required to stop. For example: along the highway, the southbound traffic is not required to stop for a northbound bus loading or unloading students. Only the traffic going the same direction as the bus must stop. Traffic may continue after the red lights and stop sign have been cancelled.

Anytime you are in the area of a school bus, please watch for students. Our students don't always watch for traffic. Let's all make an extra effort to watch for them and help keep our kids safe.

WRHS Choir Students Perform with Foreigner

WRHS Choir students were invited to perform with Foreigner in August at the Sun Valley Pavillion. The event was part of the Killebrew-Thompson Memorial. Congratulations and great job students!

Website Tips: Useful Links on the Right Side of Every Page

Looking for Skyward, the staff directory, school calendar, and bus schedules? Find useful links are on the right side of every page. Watch this short video for a tour of the updated websites.

First Day of School Photos

Thanks to the parents who submitted first day of school photos for the Facebook photo contest. It's not too late to submit your photo. You will be entered into a drawing for a set of pencils with the name of your child's school.

School Board Vacancy

The Blaine County School District Board of Trustees declared a vacancy in Zone 3 at the July 12, 2016 Board meeting. Individuals interested in applying for the Zone 3 seat should submit a letter of interest to Board Clerk, Amanda LaChance via email at [email protected], via fax at 208-578-5110, or in person at the District Office located at 118 W. Bullion St. Hailey, Idaho.

Letters of interest are due to the Board Clerk by 3:00 p.m. on Friday, September 16, 2016.

Click here for more information.

Science Curriculum Committee Needs Volunteers:

Science Enthusiasts Encouraged to Apply

Residents of the Blaine County School District community are encouraged to apply to participate in the Instructional Materials Adoption Process for Science. Two r esidents of the district will be selected to participa te on the task force . Residents serving on this task force must be willing to make a two-year commitment. The deadline to apply is Tuesday, September 20. Click here to apply.

Superintendent Announces New Finance Manager

Superintendent Dr. GwenCarol Holmes announced that Bryan Fletcher has been selected as the new Finance Manager for the Blaine County School District. Holmes said, " I am pleased to announce that Bryan Fletcher has accepted the position of Finance Manager with the Blaine County School District starting September 13." Read the press release.