BCSD Staff Newsletter November 2016
Superintendent Letter to Staff

"It's not the circumstance students bring to school that limit students' growth but rather their lack of opportunity at school."  Deborah Wolter (2016, Educational Leadership, 74 (3), 31.)

GwenCarol Holmes

November 2016

Dear Colleagues,

What do you want for your children while they are in school? I always wanted the very best for my children: the best teachers, the best education, and the highest expectations.  I wanted my children to be pushed to high levels by a loving, supportive teacher.  

The recent review of district wide student data continues to show that our students, by and large, achieve above the state average. This review also shows that we continue to have a yawning achievement gap.  Many of our students on the wrong side of this gap are our Hispanic students. Last spring we gathered many of our Hispanic parents together to ask them their advice on how to close this gap.  

They told us, push their children.  Expect nothing but the highest level work from them.

Research on effective instructional strategies points to the need to expect and support our students to achieve at the highest level. We cannot be satisfied with below level work. Robert Marzano (2007, 2009), a researcher on effective instruction, notes the correlation that exists between high expectations and instruction. When our expectations are high we ask higher level thinking questions and encourage students to go deep in their learning. John Hattie (2009) has conducted numerous meta-analyses of the variables around learning. Acceleration (effect size of .88), teacher-student relationships (effect size of .72) and not labeling students (effect size of .61) are all areas directly related to our expectations for students and significantly impact student learning for the positive.

A very concrete step we can take in holding our students to high expectations is ensuring our students are presented with grade level or above content and then provide the support they need to succeed in this content. This is acceleration .  I know this is hard work because for some of our students we are building a bridge from both ends: providing grade level content and support while also filling in holes at lower levels of content.  We have to work the gap from both ends.  Just working it from the low end makes it nearly impossible to fill the gap.

We are an incredibly talented and caring team of educators.  We were meant for this hard work. The children of Blaine County are fortunate to have this team on their side.

With gratitude,

GwenCarol
Ellen Mandeville Selected as New Trustee for Zone 3
Ellen Mandeville
 
Four candidates applied for the Board of Trustees vacancy for Zone 3.  The four candidates were Johnny Galgano, Irene Healy, Ellen Mandeville and Kaz Thea.  Pamela Plowman applied and withdrew her name prior to the meeting.  The candidates were interviewed in an open meeting on Thursday, November 3 at the Community Campus.  The Board of Trustees voted unanimously to approve the nomination for Ellen Mandeville.
Watch the webcast  here.
Teaching & Learning
Pictured left to right, Marcia Grabow, Angie Martinez, Aaron Bronson and Debi Gutknecht.

Curriculum

The Science Task Force will be making a recommendation to the school board at the November meeting. They will be requesting approval to use the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) to align our curriculum and instruction K-12. The Idaho standards are ten years old and focus on lower-level knowledge, rather than engaging critical thinking and relevant application of science learning to the real world. The state allows districts to select more rigorous standards. Districts across Idaho, as well as neighboring states have already adopted the NGSS.

Elementary teacher representatives from each school gathered on October  24th to update the district's common Language Arts Benchmark Assessments. A special thanks to the representatives! The revisions are in process and final drafts will be placed in the district's curriculum site once reviewed and approved by the representatives. Information you need to know:
  • The purpose of the assessments is to provide teachers with information not otherwise measured that they need to more fully understand student proximity toward student outcomes
  • The benchmark assessments provide a common measurement source to engage and support conversations among teachers around student learning and actions for improvement
  • The number of LA benchmark assessments has been reduced from three to two with new administration dates:
    • LA Assessment 1 - administer by end of first semester - by Jan 19th (the end of the semester is January 20th)  
    • LA Assessment 2 -administer middle of second semester (mid-term) - by April 12th (for April conferences)
  • Grades 3-5 have swapped out last year's assessments with Smarter Balanced Interim Assessments
  • K-2 assessments are being improved based on feedback after the first year of implementation
  • Decisions regarding the role of Spanish Language Arts Assessments are coming soon

Data and Assessment

One-pagers to support effective conversations around student measures for K-5 teachers and grade level teams:
Communications

BCSD Staff Portal

Check out the updated Staff Portal. The Staff Portal collects all staff forms and resources as well as news and announcements. Don't forget to frequently check the BCSD Classifieds for upcoming event dates and things for sale. If you have an event or items for sale you can find instructions here . Can't find what you are looking for or have suggestions for the Staff Portal? Send your questions and comments to webmaster@blaineschools.org . To access the staff portal log into the website using your novell login and password. Once you are logged in the Staff Portal will appear in the top navigation.
 

Finance

Audit: The audit is complete and was presented to the board.  There were no findings, which means we are in compliance with all regulations.  

Travel: All travel should be pre-approved.  There is a form on the website that will need to be submitted in advance of the trip.  All district procedures and policy on travel can also be found with the form.  

Travel and Meal Reimbursement:  From our recent audit, the auditor has asked we only reimburse meals from the detailed receipt.  .  We will no longer be able to accept the credit card receipt showing the total.  If we can't see what was being charged for the meal, the reimbursement will be denied.  Keep in mind, all receipts that are submitted should have as much detail as possible.

Calling another staff person?  Please remember that from most phones in the district you can access a staff directory and call directly to another staff member.   You do not need to call 5000 to be connected to a staff member.  Also, there is a full staff directory on the website.  Please utilize these tools and call directly to whomever you need to speak with.  Our goal is to reduce the number of  calls going to the front desk to help with the reduction of staff at the district level.
Human Resources

SAVE THE DATE: January 26

A PERSI representative will be here January 26th for the READY, SET, GO retirement sessions.  

READY: Ideal for Employees new to PERSI, or those who want a refresher on the basics

SET: Designed for those that are mid-career or later who are now starting to consider what retirement means to them and the benefits PERSI offers.

GO:  Great for those employees who are close to retirement, this will help them understand their options and the retirement process. Benefit estimates may be provided
Buildings and Grounds

The Buildings and Grounds Department is finally back to a full staff.  We are very pleased with the caliber of the individuals that have come onboard to join our group, both professionally and personally.  

Buddy Wendel

Buddy Wendel comes to us with over 25 years of electrical experience here in the valley.  He served his apprenticeship in Alaska and worked there and in Wyoming on pipeline projects, schools, hospitals, food processing plants and refineries before moving to the Wood River Valley.  

Tony Brown

Tony Brown comes to us with 16 years experience with a local plumbing contractor.  He has a wealth of experience relevant to school mechanical and plumbing systems which includes work on hospitals, schools, hotels and commercial structures.  In addition, he has a solid background installing and maintaining boiler and snow melt systems.  

The Department of Building Safety inspections have been completed throughout the District.  A  list of recommendations will be sent out to each school.  As always, the intent of the inspection is to make sure we are providing a safe and secure learning environment for students and staff.
Technology
Did you know that 90% of parents want their children to study computer science?
And 40% of schools teach computer programming?

Try Hour of Code December 5-11

Here is a resource: