BCSD Staff Newsletter: Superintendent's Letter, PD Calendar, New Staff, Tax Rules, Fundraising Policy, Tech Help, HR Benefits + More

BCSD Staff Newsletter

September 2018

Superintendent Letter to Staff

September 2018

Dear Colleagues,

It was great to see so many of your smiling faces at our All Staff Keynote with Dr. Anthony Muhammad. It is clear that we have dedicated ourselves to ensuring that all of our students master the standards and beyond to Inspire, Engage, Educate, and Empower. On the fifth day of school, I could see that teachers were already reviewing student work to determine what students were grasping and what they still needed to learn. We are not letting the grass grow under our feet! Thank you!

Recently the State Department of Education posted some of the Accountability data points for all schools in Idaho, including Achievement Gap data. These data reveal areas of pride for BCSD and some areas for improvement. Here are some areas of pride:

Hemingway, WRMS, and SCHS are strongly ranked in ELA Proficiency.
Hailey and Alturas are strong in the percentage of students meeting ELA Growth Targets.
Alturas and Hailey are strong in the percentage of students meeting English Language Proficiency Targets.
Carey has a nearly perfect graduation rate.
Bellevue, Hemingway, and Hailey have a large number of engaged students.
WRHS has an incredible amount of students participating in Advanced Opportunities (College and Career Ready).

No BCSD schools were listed for large achievement gaps between groups for graduation rate or for IRI. Four years ago we started tackling the inequality among our students by focusing first on graduation and elementary reading (IRI). As a result of your hard work, we have made great progress in closing these gaps. We do have multiple schools named for huge gaps in proficiency rates between subgroups of students in ELA and math. We already knew that and we have already begun the work on eliminating these inequalities as well.

These accomplishments and those to come in this school year are because of each of you! Thank you for all you are doing to ensure ALL our students master the standards and go beyond.

With gratitude,

GwenCarol

Board of Trustees

Want to find a policy and don't know where to look? Some of the numbers have changed and the policies have moved to Board Docs, learn more by watching this quick video.

Do you know someone who wants to get involved in the future direction of Blaine County School District? Encourage them to get involved with the Board of Trustees, Finance, Wellness, Policy and Curriculum Committees. The deadline for Finance, Wellness and Policy Committees is this coming Monday, September 10. Read more here .

Teaching and Learning

Welcome back ~ We are looking forward to a fabulous year!

There are multiple Professional Development (PD) efforts underway for the 2018-19 school year as we work together to close the achievement gap and relentlessly help all students grow to proficiency levels and above. Here is a link to the District PD Calendar . School-based PD activities are also on the calendar specific to the continuous improvement initiatives at each school. You can also find other PD and course opportunities throughout the year on the district's PD website in the Staff Portal here . This site grows as PD opportunities are shared with us.

Thank you in advance for serving leadership roles and representing your schools on the various District Committees for the 2018-19 school year. This year's curricular committee priority is Language Arts K-12. Annual committees vary depending on project. Some of the projects this year include: World Language Materials Pilot, PBIS, Science Implementation, Secondary Math Mapping/Assessment Development, Intervention Materials and Student Engagement.

2nd Annual Conferencia Educativa Para Padres

The BCSD Latino Staff Advisory Committee Presents:

2nd Annual Conferencia Educativa Para Padres

Saturday, September 29, 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.

Community Campus

Keynote Speaker: Sam Byrd

Breakout Sessions: Skyward Basics, Building the Youth of the Future and Questions and Answers About Middle School, High School and College and Career Planning

Free! Most of the presentations are in Spanish with English Interpretation

Food Sales Benefiting Nosotros United and WRHS Wrestling Club

Please spread the word to your students and families!

Technology

We are a Movin' and a Shakin'! The energy of all our collective intelligence is exhilarating. Together we make a BIG difference for our students, ourselves and our community.

Helen Joyce Brown is the new Instructional Technology Specialist at Alturas! With 10 years teaching experience and technology know-how, she will be an asset. The students and staff alike will appreciate her smile and Southern charm.

The Tech team misses her immensely.

Thanks for your patience with accounts and passwords and student data imports. We've been scrambling to get it all done. Many thanks to Scott Davis in the Maintenance Department for answering the main phone line.

Best way to ask for Tech help? Send email to helpdesk@blaineschools.org This automatically enters a help ticket in our service desk software. All of us review the work orders, so you will have many eyes on the subject.

The new electronic method for support of early reading and math literacy is iStation, adopted by Idaho State to replace the Idaho Reading Indicator (IRI). We have overcome some technical issues to a successful launch! Hats off to Jared Ramsey and Paul Zimmerman for finding solutions.

Do you know the easiest way to access BCSD online resources? Click on the Student Links icon on the right side of any webpage on www.blaineschools.org .

Buildings and Grounds

Summertime in both Wood River basins bring so many cultural and recreational opportunities for those who live here. Lectures, art walks, hiking and biking are within minutes of our doors. There are also a number of summer opportunities for children, both recreationally and academically. This year the District helped by providing venues for a number of organizations that bring enrichment for children throughout the valley. Higher Ground, Power Scholars, Ketchum Parks and Rec and others all utilized buildings for their programs. Basketball and volleyball camps were held in multiple gyms to help children hone their skills. And, as seems to be the new norm, we had a significant wildfire nearby that brought 300-400 firefighters to the Carey campus, with their logistical support team taking over 16 rooms of the elementary building.

These collaborations with our partners are of great value to the children and their parents. One typically unseen collaboration with these groups is with our custodians, working diligently throughout the summer to thoroughly clean each building, while making sure each of these programs has the resources they need each day. They are summer ambassadors for our buildings and key to the success of these endeavors. Even with the additional responsibilities and constraints, they still manage to have each building ready to go on the first day of school.

Thank you.

Meet Our New Staff

Alturas Elementary

Helen Joyce Brown
Instructor of Technology

Gabrielle Diedrick
4th Grade Teacher

Brooke Carwithen

English Language Development Specialist

Lee Stoops
Kindergarten Teacher

Bellevue Elementary

Adrian Alvarez
Custodian

Dena Cohen-Copeland
1st Grade Teacher

Laura Karel
Music Teacher

Stacy O'Leary
Paraprofessional

Kelley Rushton
3rd Grade Teacher

Kimberly Traue
Art Teacher

Carey School

Jeanette Mcllhenny
Social Worker

Freddy Velasco
Spanish & English Language Development Specialist

District Office

Claudia Gaeddert
Math Teacher On Special Assignment

David Stellers
Student Safety

Susan Thoreson
Reading Grades 3-5 Teacher On Special Assignment

Hailey Elementary

Amanda Crist
2nd Grade Teacher

Melissa Doramus
3rd Grade Teacher

Kelvin Campos Hernandez
Custodian

Amy Roden Kolb

Kindergarten Teacher

Kaitlyn Landis
Special Ed & Pre-K Teacher

Cassidy Slone

2nd Grade Teacher

Ernest Hemingway STEAM School

Laura Barnhardt
4th Grade Teacher

Julie Berry
6th & 7th Grade English Language Arts Teacher

Tanner Dredge
5th Grade Teacher

Caroline Grist
1st Grade Teacher

Greg Gvozdas
6th & 7th Grade Math Teacher

Tiffany Herb
Music Teacher

Alicia Hollis
Reading Teacher

Joy Spencer
1st Grade Teacher

Danielle Theobald
Special Ed Teacher

Silver Creek High School

Stephanie Blair
English Language Arts Teacher

Chris Koch
Science Teacher

Tamela Miller
Math Teacher

Holly Rubenstein
Paraprofessional

Michele Preuss
Social Worker

Transportation

C olton Metzler
Mechanic

Wood River High School

Rick Ambrosi
Full-Time Substitute

Patrick Herb
Band Director

Heidi Kaminski
Paraprofessional

Marcelita Loosli
Test Coordinator

Ron Martinez
Math Teacher

Jenni Murphy
English Language Development Specialist

Ernesto Ramirez
English Language Development Specialist

Jennifer Rose
Medical Technology Teacher

David Slotten
Physical Education Teacher

Maria Tamayo
Custodian

Toni Whittington
Art Teacher

Alyssa Wilson-Obland
Registrar

Aara Zweifel
French Teacher

Wood River Middle School

Trier Craig

Paraprofessional

Raechel Driscoll

Art Teacher

Marta Gutierrez
Custodian

Patrick Herb
Band Director

Cameron Newton
Math Teacher

Ashley Olsen
Secretary

Tammy Peoples-Huling
Special Ed Teacher

Keith Wilson
English Language Development Specialist

David Keith Wohlwend
Science Teacher

Junior Hidalgo Zevallos
Paraprofessional

Finance

Important warning - Please read!!!

The new tax law passed last year may impact your taxes, and as such your current withholding selection may not meet the needs for your tax basis. Employees may find an unpleasant surprise to their taxes either owed or as a return when they file in 2019 for the 2018 tax year. I have attached two different articles for your reading leisure that more fully explains the situation, and risks under the new tax law.

I strongly encourage each of you to discuss this with your tax preparer, and make the requisite changes to your withholding.

Check Your Withholding Math or Risk a Painful Tax Shock

Taxpayers' paycheck problems could lead to big bill from IRS, expert warns

Fundraising - The District a has new policy as it relates to fundraising. Please reference Policy 831 on the District website. In a nutshell this new policy provides some parameters for staff, schools, and clubs/athletics that are associated with the District to follow when asking the community for funds and/or donations.

Many Districts are implementing guidelines in this arena since the world of fundraising has changed very dramatically and quickly over the last several years (and will likely continue to do so in the future).

If you are in the process of undertaking a new fundraising effort please see your school secretary for the forms necessary to get started. The Finance Department will be providing a new guidance section in the Finance Handbook to help define the process.

Have a great 2018-19 school year.

Community Campus

Please remember to tell parents about the Community Campus After School Pass. All students 6th grade and younger need to have a pass and must be registered in an after school program. Those in the 7th and 8th grades need a pass but are not required to be registered in an after school program. High school students do not need a pass.

The Community Campus Cafe is now open in the mornings by 8AM and should be open M-Th until 7PM. Friday's the cafe closes at 1PM.

If you need to reserve space at the Community Campus please contact Teresa Gregory. To reserve the BCRD gym, fitness rooms or the HUB please contact the BCRD at 208-567-2273. To reserve CSI classrooms call 208-788-2033.

Human Resources

Retirement Planning

Are you aware of your 403(b) benefits and what those are exactly? OMNI403b has a help guide so you can understand those better. Click here for the 403(b) Guide . Also check out all the companies you can use through payroll deduction with OMNI403b P3 Providers .

Employee Assistance Program - KEPRO

Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week including holidays.

www.eaphelplink.com use company code: eapnow or call 1-800-999-1077

Certified Staff

Your official transcripts for salary movement are due to HR by October 15th.

New Employee Perks

New Financial Wellness Resources for household finances, student loan help, credit building and more. Follow this link to take advantage of several free financial counseling and education programs from a nonprofit community resource in Idaho, as well as exclusive discounts on confidential debt management and other services.

Blaine County School District has registered with Hotelogical to help you provide your employees or members with free access to members-only unpublished rates + other discounts and special offers at 400,000+ 3, 4, and 5 star brand-name, boutique and independent hotels & resorts around the world. Check out incredible member-only, unpublished rates in some of the world's most popular destinations including Las Vegas, Orlando, New York, London, Paris, the Far East and beyond.

As we continue to look for new and innovative ways to show appreciation towards our employees, we are offering this complimentary perk that gives you access to 20 - 60% off on movies, hotels, shows, concerts, sporting events and more. This is just a small token of our appreciation for your hard work. Please take 2 minutes today, and sign up for these complimentary perks.

1. Go to Tickets at Work

2. Fill out the information to become a member (use your work email address)

3. For Company Code, use " BCSD61"

Enjoy these great perks!