This week: Carey Students Thank Lincoln County, Come to a State of the District Meeting, Read About Student Success + More

May 1, 2017

Students Thank Lincoln County Sheriff and First Responders:

Superintendent Issues Statement Regarding Accident

Carey School 7th and 8th grade students traveled to Shoshone last week to thank Lincoln County Sheriff Rene Rodriguez, Shoshone City Police, Lincoln County Commissioners and Lincoln County EMT's who responded to last week's bus incident. Students continue to receive support from both social workers and school nurses as they heal from injuries. Thanks, Lincoln County! View more photos here. To read the Superintendent's statement regarding the bus accident, click here.

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. Spanish interpretation, childcare and refreshments provided.

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

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

- Queen of the Hills Room, Community Campus, Hailey

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

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

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

Monday, May 22, 6:00-7:00 p.m. - Senior Connection, Hailey

*Co-sponsored by the Blaine County Education Foundation

TEDx Sun Valley Comes to Silver Creek High School:

Muffy Davis Inspires Students

Silver Creek High School (SCHS) students attended TEDx Sun Valley last November. Now teacher Thor Topp has created a mini-TEDx by inviting many of the same speakers to the school to watch the TEDx talks and engage in a Q & A afterward.

Recently Muffy Davis spoke with students about the "Blessing of Adversity" and finding a new way to accomplish goals after setbacks. Davis encouraged students to wear her medals and identify their own gold medal dreams. Students will meet Mark Gilbreath, Jeanne Liston, Rebecca Rusch, David Hayden, Thia Konig and Alex Woodward in future events.

Every Day is Earth Day

Alturas students performed in four spring concerts last week. The theme was, "Every Day is Earth Day." Students performed a variety of songs in both English and Spanish with messages about taking care of the Earth. View more photos here.

WATER Club Makes a Difference

Recently W.A.T.E.R. Club members from Wood River High School visited Alturas Elementary to teach the students about the importance of bees in our environment and recycling in our community. Elementary school students in the fourth and second grade in both English and Spanish classrooms were given presentations about the importance of bees in our environment. Read more from W.A.T.E.R. Club adviser Erika Greenberg here.

Drama Students Compete and Perform

The Wood River High School drama department traveled to Pocatello recently to compete in the Idaho State University One-Act Drama competition. Competing with a one-act adaptation of Macbeth against 16 schools from eastern and western Idaho, Wood River placed in the top 3 as judged by college drama professor adjudicators. Michael Todd won overall best actor and Alma Ceja won All-Star cast recognition out of about 200 student actors. Read more.

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.

Annual Master Contract Negotiations

Teacher contract negotiations began last week and will continue this week in the Minnie Moore room at the Community Campus, 1050 Fox Acres Road, Hailey, Idaho. The public is welcome to attend and observe the negotiations.

Dates and Times:

Wednesday, May 3, 4:00 p.m.

Thursday, May 4, 4:00 p.m.

The negotiating team issued a joint statement which read, "The team met on Wednesday, April 26, 2017 and discussed Salary and Benefits. The team will reconvene at 4:00 PM on Wednesday, May 3, 2017 to continue to discuss Salary and Benefits along with other identified issues. We recognize that this delays the creation and presentation of the Budget Book for public preview but we think that it is prudent at this time. This meeting will be held at the Community Campus, 1050 Fox Acres Road, Hailey, Idaho."

Read minutes, joint statements and watch the webcasts of the meetings here.