Blaine County School District Staff Connection Logo
BCSD Staff Newsletter December 2018
Superintendent Letter to Staff


Believe   As we prepare for the holidays you see the encouragement to Believe on cards, decorative pillows, etc. There is incredible power in our beliefs and expectations.

John Hattie, an educational researcher, has done a great deal of work to try to tease out the impact of the multitude of variables in student learning.  Teacher estimates of achievement or teacher expectations for student learning is one of the most powerful! ( Teacher estimates of achievement, effect size = 1.29 )

In other words, when we Believe our students can master the content, we then act as if they will master the content and then they do master the content. Each time I am in one of our schools or meeting with staff I see and hear evidence of your belief in all of our children.  When I see you working with our students and not quitting until every child has meet the standards it fills me with gratitude.

I Believe that BCSD can and will ensure that ALL our students master the content standards.  I see you day in and day out acting to make it so. Our students are so fortunate to have you on their side. You have my deepest gratitude.

GwenCarol
Teaching and Learning

Happy Holidays!


What Happened When Teachers Found Out How Students Felt About Them
Communications

Olga Maza Santos
District Translator and Interpreter
Meet Olga Maza Santos, District Translator and Interpreter.  

Olga's office is located at the District Office. She is responsible for 194 translations and 160 interpretation meetings this year alone!  She supports the building translators and interpreters, especially during parent teacher conferences. She attends each monthly Board meeting to provide interpretation.  She is also responsible for the interpretation case. Schools can borrow this case by calling Olga to reserve the case at 208-578-5014 or email her.  

Did you notice?  There is a new feature on  BCSD Weekly Update and news stories. Spanish titles are now included in the BCSD Weekly Update.  A link to Spanish translation is located at the top of each news story. Please help us reach more parents. Tell them about this feature on the BCSD Weekly Update and website news stories.

School Calendar Update:

This was sent to all staff via email and we are repeating it here in case you missed it:

The School Calendar Committee met to review the results of the school calendar survey at an open, public meeting on Wednesday, December 5.   Here are the highlights:
  • The Committee received a total of 1,757 responses to the survey, 38 of those were in Spanish. 
  • The overall preference was for Option 2 (start date of August 26) but not overwhelmingly. 
  • Participants completing the survey in Spanish preferred Option 1 (start date of August 19). 
  • 486 staff members, a vast majority, participated in the survey and were evenly divided on their preference. 
  • 267 student responses were predominately in favor of Option 1. 
  • Parent responses (both of elementary and secondary students) indicated a preference for Option 2. 
  • Community members with no students in BCSD were the smallest group of respondents with 72 and preferred Option 1. 
  • Read the draft memo for details of the committee's work and survey results here. See the Mt. Express article here. The Calendar is on the Board agenda for action on Tuesday, December 11 at 6:00 p.m. at the Minnie Moore Room, Community Campus. We will push this information out to parents in the Board Update via email tomorrow as well as the BCSD Weekly Update and social media. The agenda is posted on the website here.
Thank you to our Calendar Committee for their work and commitment!  
Finance

Holiday pay schedule
With the upcoming holiday season we will see pay dates for November and December shifted to accommodate the vacation schedule.
 
December pay date - 12/18/18
January pay date - 1/25/19
February pay date - 2/25/19
 
Please verify on the pay date that you have received your check. If you have questions staff will be in-house on 12/19/18 to assist. However beyond those dates staff will not be in the office during the scheduled holiday time off. Please call x5000 to reach the front desk and ask for payroll assistance.
 
The happiest of holidays to all from the Finance Crew:
 
Community Campus

Happy Holidays from the Community Campus. Please come to a concert or special event this December.
 
Hailey Holiday Market, Friday, December 7th evening and all day Saturday, December 8th
SV Summer Symphony School of Music Recitals, December 7th, 8th and 9th
WRHS and WRMS Choir Concert, Monday, December 10th 7-9PM
WRHS and WRMS Orchestra Concert, Monday, December 17th 7-9PM