A total of 5,527 students were attending Kindergarten through 12th grade
on the first day of school; that is 107 more students than last year!
We also have over 160 preschool students!
For nearly three years, CFHS students have had the opportunity to participate in CF CAPS (Center for Advanced Professional Studies) during the school year. With the support of a STEM BEST Program award from the STEM Council, a summer course was added to the curriculum. The summer model offered an accelerated form of its unique professional program to incoming high school sophomores, juniors and seniors. Five student-associates participated in the 19-day program hosted at Viking Pump in downtown Cedar Falls with Nate Clayberg instructing the sixth cohort of student-associates.
 
The CAPS program focuses heavily on being innovative in education and preparing students for their future. This is accomplished through real life projects for local companies that help apply problem solving and professional skills to the work environment and place a key focus on career exploration to help guide associates beyond graduation.

Following a final presentation in early July at Mill Race Coworking and Collaboration in Cedar Falls, two of the associates stood out to a local manufacturing company. Curbtender President Kevin Watje connected with Senior Frank Zhang and Junior Jacob Smothers about their interest in interning for his company after learning about the skills they had been developing for a project using a computer aided design software program called Solidworks.

With the professional skills they had practiced through CAPS, both associates coordinated interview times with Watje and negotiated their hiring with the local company. Opportunities created through partnerships like these for high school students shows the true mutual value the program has for local business and schools. Curbtender has now hired three Cedar Falls associates to be paid interns in the engineering and design department at their Cedar Falls site.


The District kicked off planning and discussions for the new high school this week! The week included meetings with every department in the high school, as well as community members, parents, representatives from UNI and HCC, and the city of Cedar Falls and CFU.




Congratulations to CFHS Volleyball Coach
Matt Johnson for earning his 500th career victory!
Iowa Workplaces Open Doors to CF Teachers

This summer, the Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council matched teachers from across Iowa with local STEM workplaces for the eleventh year of the Iowa STEM Teacher Externships program. Our very own Logan Mork, life science teacher from Cedar Falls High School, Adam Reilly, industrial technology teacher from Cedar Falls High School, and Robert Welter, life science teacher from Holmes Junior High, spent six weeks expanding their STEM careers and job skills knowledge at Tallgrass Prairie, TDS Automation and Iowa DNR. They are building new ways to connect the Teacher Externship experience directly to classroom content and 21 st Century Skills identified in the Iowa Core Curriculum. Plus, these businesses enjoy the help of an educated and skilled local teacher as a participant and contributor on projects for the summer. By keeping the matches local, these school-business partnerships create lasting partnerships between the teacher, the teacher’s local school and that business/industry.

“By matching the teachers’ skills and abilities with the goals of the extern host there is a tremendous return on the investment of time and effort put into the Externship,” said Jason Lang, who manages the STEM Teacher Externships Program. Meghan Lang, Externship Program Coordinator, observes that “the teachers often focus on the content knowledge that may be needed in the workplace setting. Instead they very quickly recognize that the jobs of the future are also about 21 st Century Skills. The workforce of tomorrow is all about creativity, collaboration, critical thinking and communication.”

The work that these teachers are doing will not only be an asset to their classroom, but to our whole district as we enhance the knowledge of and opportunities for work-based learning in Cedar Falls Schools.
Logan Mork
Adam Reilly
Robert Welter
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New School Year, Fresh Start:
Bring balance into the use of media in your home by
working as a family to set a plan for device use!
Wal-Mart Foundation Supports
Cedar Falls Schools Foundation
 
Cedar Falls Wal-Mart Store Manager Bob Brokaw presented a $1,000 grant on behalf of the Wal-Mart Foundation to Cedar Falls Schools Foundation Board President Dave Deaver. This grant will be used for classroom supplies. 
Preschool and Kindergarten students will be receiving an Iowa KidSight consent form to be signed. This is a free vision screening that will be offered to children by the local Lions Club. This screening is designed for children 6 months of age through Kindergarten. Participation in this screening is voluntary. The screening produces images of your child’s eyes to determine potential vision concerns. No child will be screened without a completed consent form.
 
Iowa law requires that all children newly enrolling in Kindergarten or ninth grade provide proof of a dental screening done by an authorized provider.
IDEA requires a timely and meaningful consultation between local school districts and nonpublic schools within their district. This consultation process addresses how the federal Part B funds will be used to serve students with disabilities enrolled in accredited nonpublic schools. In Iowa, the consultation process is at the AEA level since the AEA are the Department of Education sub-grantees for Part B funds. The requirement for the consultation process only involves how the AEA will provide special education support services.
 
The required consultation process must ensure adequate participation, including the opportunity to make and respond to comments (face-to-face meetings, telephone conference calls, video conferences, etc), and include parents of children with disabilities in accredited nonpublic schools, representatives of nonpublic schools, representatives of attending (not sending) school districts, and an AEA representative. The consultation process must occur at least annually.
 
This year, the meeting to address the consultation process requirement is scheduled on Monday, September 16, from 9-10 a.m. The meeting will be held in Central Rivers AEA three office locations and  Zoom  is available for those preferring to join remotely:
  • Cedar Falls AEA Conference Center, located at 1521 Technology Parkway in the Wapsie River Room
  • Clear Lake Office, located at 9184 265th Street, Suite B in Room F
  • Marshalltown Office, located at 909 South 12th Street in Room C

Parents of students with disabilities who are enrolled in Cedar Falls Schools are invited.
Board of Education Meeting September 9, 2019

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