This week: Carey School Receives Well Wishes, Come to the Lee Cook Invitational Track Meet in Carey, Learn About Energy Savings, Read About Students Giving Back, + More

April 24, 2017

Carey Students and Staff Received Well Wishes From Richfield Students: Bus Accident Brings Outpouring of Support

Students from Richfield School stopped by Carey School to bring a poster with well wishes from Richfield students. Carey School secretary Peggy Hill, Carey students, and Principal John Peck were happy to see the Richfield students. Support from near and far poured in after last Tuesday's bus accident. Social workers trained in Mental Health First Aid were at the school after the accident and will continue to make themselves available. Today, Monday, April 24 at 2:00 p.m., the Lee Cook Invitational track meet will be held at Carey School. Please come and show your support for Carey School students, staff and their families.

State of the District:

Give 30/Get 30

Give us 30 minutes to give you updates on the Strategic Plan. Get 30 minutes to ask questions and get answers.

Find out how we are inspiring, engaging, educating and empowering every student. Learn how we are graduating more students and increasing opportunities for all students and how the proposed budget supports the district's commitment to small class sizes, equitable opportunities for students and a balanced budget.

Come to any meeting that fits your schedule.

Monday, May 8, 6:00-7:00 p.m. - Community Campus, Queen of the Hills Room

Thursday, May 11, 6:00-7:30 p.m. Meeting held in Spanish, English interpretation provided. Location TBD

Monday, May 15, 12:00-1:00 p.m. - Community Campus, Minnie Moore Room

Tuesday, May 16, 12:00-1:00 p.m. - Community Library, Ketchum

Tuesday, May 16, 5:30-6:30 p.m. - Carey School

WRHS Students Give Back to the Community

Over 200 seniors from Wood River High School participated in a day of community service, helping ten various non-profits by partnering with Wow Students. Students volunteered from Ketchum to Bellevue to fill thousands of sandbags in anticipation of spring flooding. View more photos here.

Thank You to Cities, County, and Private Contractors for Snow Removal

Blaine County School District hosted a breakfast to thank City of Ketchum, City of Hailey, City of Bellevue, City of Carey, Clearwater, Wirth Company, Blaine County Road and Bridge, Myers Construction, Parke Construction and others who contributed to the snow removal efforts at all district schools, grounds and parking areas. It was a memorable winter for snow removal. Keeping the parking areas, sidewalks, and entry areas cleared of snow was a team effort among district staff and many other city, county and private contractors. Thank you all!

Energy Savings Add Up

Curious about electricity, gas and carbon savings from the energy retrofits at Bellevue Elementary, Carey School, Community Campus, Hailey Elementary, Silver Creek and Wood River High School? Check out the Energy Savings Dashboard to see reports for each school. In order to view the interactive dashboard, you may need to install Microsoft's Silverlight program and you may need to disable any pop-up blockers. For tech help, call 578-5410.

Peachjar Saves Paper, Time and Trees

Do you like the sound of saving 688,153 pieces of paper and almost 83 trees? Welcome to Peachjar. Rather than sending paper flyers through the schools, nonprofit and for-profit organizations upload digital flyers and send them directly to parents through email. The flyers are stored on the school websites for easy reference. Parents, look for Peachjar digital flyers in your email every Friday.

Students Collaborate, Create Art

Alturas Elementary Kindergarten students, Hailey Elementary 3rd grade students, and several Art Club members at the Wood River High School completed art works inspired by Earth Day and their classroom studies and discussions. Elizabeth Jeffrey writes, "The City of Hailey is working to decrease the amount of waste sent to the landfill by increasing the amount of recyclable materials put out on the curb or taken to recycling collection bins. A large part of the city's effort is done through community outreach and education in an effort to make our complex recycling system more understandable and manageable for residents." The project was a collaboration among Alturas Elementary, Hailey Elementary and the City of Hailey and Hailey Public Library. Read more. View more photos here.

Students Raise Funds for Clean Water in South Sudan

Wood River Middle School students held a fundraiser for Water for South Sudan. Students created a variety of two and three-dimensional artwork inspired by their studies of Africa. Language arts students read "A Long Walk to Water" and Individuals and Society students learned about African geography, economies, and societies. After raising $700 through selling artwork, the students will hold a walk-a-thon next week. For more information, contact Rob Swanson. View more photos here.

Read the Proposed Budget Overview

The Budget Guiding Principles for the General Fund for next year are:

Provide support to accomplish the District's Strategic Plan goals.
Prioritize and provide equity in resources to ensure all students meet and exceed standards (close the achievement/opportunity gap).
Maintain District commitment to its Class Size Policy which values small classes. Maintain a balanced budget while building an unassigned fund balance.

Read more here.

ISAT Testing Resources

This site provides examples of test questions used on Smarter Balanced assessments in English language arts/literacy and math. Teachers, parents, students, administrators, and policymakers can experience these test items just as students encounter them.

These samples are not intended to be used as practice tests, but educators and parents can use them to better understand how Smarter Balanced measures college- and career-ready content. ISAT testing continues this week. For more information on Data and Assessment, click here.