West Central School Board hears report on new state academic standards

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Published: Friday, 05 September 2014 19:47

FRANCESVILLE - The West Central School board heard reports on the new Indiana Academic Standards, and the new ISTEP+ test at its regular meeting Thursday (Sept. 4).

Superintendent Don Street reported that the Indiana Department of Education received word from the U.S. Department of Education that Indiana has received a waiver pertaining to certain aspects of the federal No Child Left Behind law.

Street related that the administrators shared information learned from a recent meeting about the new Indiana Academic Standards. Indiana will be testing students in the spring with a new ISTEP+ test based upon the new academic standards. The new test will be similar to the Common Core test, but it has not been fully developed. The Indiana Department of Education has not released any resources for schools; however, resources are being developed by the IDOE. The test will be more rigorous and demanding as compared to the past ISTEP+ test. Professional development time is being spent becoming familiar with the new standards and student testing expectations.

In other business, the administrative guidelines for co-curricular and extra-curricular eligibility for non-full time student enrolled were reviewed. The board reviewed the extra-curricular account balances.

Plans were shared concerning the repair of a broken water drain tile in the elementary. Also, for the ninth month in a row the electricity bill was $20, thanks to the wind turbine production. This is the minimum service charge from NIPSCO.

The number of transfer students the corporation has the capacity to accept in each grade level for the first semester was shared and is available on the West Central web-site.

The school board voted to approve the following employment items as presented:

• Jessica Dishon – fifth grade teacher
• Terry Boesch – business teacher (revised contract)
• Sierra Burtis – guidance instructional assistant
• Suzanna Wilcoxon – Title I instructional assistant
• Ryan Howat – MS assistant football coach
• Kyle Evans – varsity basketball coach
• Kathy Peters – medical leave – Cooperative School Services

Principals Dan Zylstra and Pat Culp went over the goals and interventions for the school improvement plans. The school board voted to approve the school improvement plans for the elementary, middle and high schools, as presented.

The board went over insurance quotes for the 2014-15 school year, and approved a motion to award the property and liability insurance renewal to Regions Insurance, as presented

School board president Jim Bergens opened the hearing for the 2015 budget, capital projects plan, transportation plan and bus replacement plan. Superintendent Street went over line items in the budget. Bergens asked for questions or comments; hearing none, the 2015 budget hearing was closed.

"Student of the Month" certificates were presented to Emma Taylor from the elementary school,  Makayla Libey from the middle school and Kirkland Bushong from the high school.

Principal Reports:

Elementary school principal Dan Zylstra reported that the West Central Elementary enjoyed a very successful first three weeks of school. All students have been benchmarked in reading and math; and teachers and staff are busy using that information to drive instruction - including the new fifth grade classroom which began on Aug. 21. The lunchroom has made a minor shift by putting the fruit and vegetable cart first, before the main course. This change was made to help to ensure all students take their full serving of fruits and vegetables.

The district will have a new case manager from Four-County Counseling housed at the elementary school. She is specifically a school-based case manager and will be spending more hours each week on campus to work with students.

The School Improvement Team has met the past few weeks to draft its PL221 School Improvement Plan which was recently approved. Title I will host two afternoons of parent information meetings on Oct. 10-11 to present the findings from the start-of-year benchmarking. For Thursday morning PD (professional development) sessions, the faculty spent time reviewing RISE, the teacher evaluation program, trained on new math software for the 1-to-1 initiative, developed teachers’ Student Learning Objectives, and reviewed the School Improvement Plan.

Middle/high school principal Pat Culp reported that the middle school and high school are off to a "fantastic" start. At the middle school, teachers are settling in with the inclusionary process for special education students. Teachers, instructional assistants, and students are adapting to the different educational setting. In the past, students were given direct services in the special education classroom. Now, students are in the general education classroom along with the special education teacher or instructional assistant. In the high school, the math department has experienced some initial success with the mastery learning. Mastery learning is a different approach to homework and assessments. Students are displaying knowledge learned through practice assignments and re-assessment opportunities for full credit. Also, through mastery learning, math teachers are able to identify and focus on specific areas of weakness for remediation purposes.

Congresswoman Jackie Walorski visited the high school Sept. 3. She spent time talking with students about the implementation of the 1:1 in the classrooms (which provides a computer for each student), and how important it is that students be exposed to 1:1 in schools. She shared with the students how important technology is for the future of Indiana. Information about the Wind Turbine was also shared with her.

Parent/Teacher conferences are coming up on Thursday, Sept. 11 from 3:30 to 6 p.m. Along with P/T conferences, the Health Fair will occur on the same evening.

The board was told the seven new teachers and three new instructional assistants are settling in well at West Central. Several of the new teachers are serving on committees and getting involved with extracurricular activities.

It was also reported that Jessica Murray and her cafeteria staff have done an "excellent" job of providing nutritious lunches by following the “MyPlate” model provided by the USDA. MyPlate was designed by First Lady Michelle Obama and the USDA to help consumers make healthier food choices. Mrs. Murray has helped students meet the nutritional guidelines by making some minor changes. For example, students have access to fruits and vegetables first thing in the lunch lines. The change to two lunches has been an adjustment for the cafeteria and the students, but everyone appears to be adjusting well.