8/23/2012

Weekly Updates from Superintendent Jeff Thelander

Dear Parents and Community, School starts Tuesday, August 21! In this week’s updates, I am sending you our board-approved academic goals for the coming school year and our newly updated vision statement. Vision Statement The Lawton-Bronson Community School District will prepare all students to contribute productively to the global world of work and community. District Learning Goal for 2012-2013 Emphasize learning opportunities that challenge students to use higher order thinking and problem solving skills. Focus on age-level, content area skills that data reflects needing extra support. From 2011-2012 data, building level priorities are: PK-6th grade: Math 7th-12th grade: Reading Our academic goals within our plan are two-fold: on one hand we remain focused on literacy and math targets that are measured in our Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) report (as part of No Child Left Behind requirements). On the other hand, we are focusing on learning opportunities for our students that will enhance the types of skills/traits they need for success in life beyond Lawton-Bronson: communication, leadership, analytical thinking, ethics, and problem solving. Our professional development within our staff is continuing to focus on the Five Characteristics of Effective Instruction within the Iowa Core Curriculum and Implementation of the Iowa Core. Preparing our students to thrive in their future is truly a team effort and our district places our first priorities on insuring: 1.) That all students develop strong basic skills in literacy and numeracy 2.) That all students have opportunities to grow their skills in communication, leadership, analytical thinking, ethics, and problem solving. We continually hear from employers across our area, state, and beyond that these are the skills they most desire in their employees. And these are the types of skills that we hope many of our students will utilize to become leaders and innovators in their chosen career fields. These skills are developed in both classroom experiences and in the extra-curricular activities we offer. It is important that our community understands the goals for which we aspire for all of our Lawton-Bronson students, and the support of our community is essential to helping us best prepare our students for the world in front of them. Adequate Yearly Progress Met for 2011-21-2012 As we start the new school year, it is important to look back on last year and share how Lawton-Bronson Community School District fared on our annual Iowa Assessments (formerly known as ITBS/ITEDS). As a district, we met all AYP targets and here are the specifics: There are two categories measured in AYP: 1.) % of the student population in the reporting grades who participated in the Iowa Assessments 2.) A formula that calculates the # of proficient students + Additional Students meeting annual growth criteria, divided by the total students in the district’s reporting grades for the full academic year (FAY). This is the “assessment” piece of AYP measurements. So, on the DISTRICT level, the data measures the following groups in Reading and Math: Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8, and Grade 11. Here are the results for Lawton-Bronson Community School District for the 2011-2012 School Year Grades 3-5 Math Participation: 99.24% Met AYP Goal Assessment: 78.99% Met AYP-Biennium Grades 3-5 Reading Participation: 99.24% Met AYP Goal Assessment: 92.44% Met AYP Goal Grades 6-8 Math Participation: 100% Met AYP Goal Assessment: 83.94% Met AYP Goal Grades 6-8 Reading Participation: 100% Met AYP Goal Assessment: 78.1% Met AYP Goal Grade 11 Math Participation: 97.92% Met AYP Goal Assessment: 76.74% Met AYP Goal Biennium Grade 11 Reading Participation: 97.92% Met AYP Goal Assessment: 76.74% Met AYP Biennium Other Academic Indicators on District Wide AYP: K-8 Attendance Rate 96.7% Met AYP Graduation Rate 92.1% Met AYP We look forward to starting the new school year next Tuesday. Enjoy your weekend.

Posted at 4:11 PM by Jeff Thelander | Category: Weekly Messages | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

1/15/2010

District Learning Goals for all Students

A Message from Superintendent Jeff Thelander

As the New Year has arrived, we begin by focusing on and communicating the short and long term goals for our students. Listed below are our new, board-approved district goals for the Lawton-Bronson Community School.

Planning for maximum achievement and 21^st century skill acquisition for all students also comes at a time of continued challenges with the state budget and allocations for school districts. Future correspondences in the Moville Record and the February Newsletter will provide updates about these challenges and the impact on and direction for Lawton-Bronson. Here are our board-approved goals through 2012.

Lawton –Bronson Community School District Goals for 2009-2012 School Years

Goal #1: Improve academic performance for all students by providing high levels of student supports.

1.) Develop an integrated plan that guides all instructors to:

A.) Prepare a guaranteed and viable curriculum for all students

B.) Assess all students around essential learnings at each course and each grade level (local assessments include Northwest Assessment, and teacher developed plans plus outside assessments such as ITBS/ITED’s and ACT)

C.) Use assessment data to improve and strengthen instruction

D.) Develop action plans to address preparation for state assessments and develop plans to address all grade level and subject areas that currently sit below state trajectory line.

2.) Design procedures for identifying students who are demonstrating academic struggles:

A.) Maintain problem solving mechanisms that involve teachers, parents, and students.

B.) Monitor learning of struggling students

C.) Continue to maintain and oversee programs that specifically target student learning needs: At-Risk, TAG, and Special Education.

3.) Help advanced learners by providing opportunities for students to demonstrate rigorous and relevant learning beyond minimum requirements.

4.) On annual ITBS/ITED data, each grade level that scores above 80^th percentile in reading, math, and science will maintain those percentiles and grade-levels below 80^th percentile will demonstrate 5% growth in percentile. All grade levels will score at or above the state proficiency projectile by 2011 in reading, math, and science.

Goal #2: Foster student growth in social, emotional, citizenship, and workplace skills

1.) With administrative cabinet and teacher team, begin district-wide implementation of Iowa Core Curriculum and 21^st-century learning skills. Board to share input on reasonable target dates for charting progress.

2.) Support and encourage a culture at school which is student-centered, learner focused with the intent to intervene in a systematic way when students are unsuccessful.

3.) Work collaboratively as a K-12 staff and board to continually look for ways to promote ethical behavior in students who are self-aware, socially cognizant, responsible decision makers, and respectful of others.

4.) The percentage of 7-12 students involved in activities will be reported to the board with a goal of increasing the percentage of students involved in activities by 1% annually.

Goal #3: Engage parents and community in the accomplishment of the district’s student learning goals

1.) Develop more advanced mechanisms for parent and community information gathering and involvement

2.) Kick-off and mid-year activities with academic focus for both buildings to establish a positive tone for the upcoming school year. Academic banquet in Jr./Sr. High school, other activities in elementary.

Posted at 8:43 AM by Jeff Thelander | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

11/16/2009

Thank You to Community Volunteers

On behalf of our entire PK-6^th grade staff and administration, I’d like to thank the countless volunteers who helped us with the move to our new building on November 12^th and 13^th. We began classes today in our new building and it is so exciting to see the faces of our students and staff.

This building is a gift to all of our students for generations to come from our community, and to celebrate its opening, we’d like to invite everyone to our building dedication and open house on Tuesday, November 24^th. We will begin with a short dedication program at 6:30, followed by guided or independent tours of the entire facility. A supper will also be provided for a nominal fee. Please mark your calendars for the evening of November 24^th. We look forward to seeing you there.

Posted at 10:24 AM by Jeff Thelander | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

10/14/2009

Flu Updates

During the past 2 days, we have seen a spike in the number of student and staff absences due to various forms of cold and flu. Yesterday, we approached 20% absentees in the district. There have also been confirmed cases of H1N1 among our student population. We are n regular communication with regional health officials to update our absentee percentage and to seek further guidance. We have been encouraged to keep our school doors open.

Parents, I'd like to give you a few pieces of information in the event that you have a child who is or may become ill.

1. We have several resources on our website, including our pandemic response plan that you can refer to.

2. If your child is feeling any symptoms related to the cold or flu (upset stomach, fever, muscle aches, chills, severe cough, respiratory problems, etc.) we recommend that they not be sent to school and we will recommend sending them home if those symptoms occur at school.

3. Next week marks the end of the first quarter, and in the Jr./Sr. High School in particular, I know that there are concerns with getting work caught up. We will continually update assignments on our Secondary Schoo page (accessible from this page) within teacher websites. If you have any individual concerns about a particular class, please e-mail or call that teacher.

4. Our goal through this is to return to a normal school day and week as soon as possible for the sake of each student's education. This includes getting everyone healthy, caught up with missing work, and prepared to finish the 1st quarter strong. We can all help each other by giving particular attention to the health of our own children and making sure they are all keeping their hands washed regularly, and getting enough sleep if they are currently healthy and staying home to rest and recouperate if they are not.

Posted at 9:42 AM by Jeff Thelander | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

9/28/2009

Homecoming Week October 4th-10th

Homecoming Week is upon us and beginning Sunday, October 4^th, the Lawton-Bronson Community School will be taking part in a number of fun activities as we celebrate. The theme for this year’s Homecoming Week (October 4^th-10^th) is “Eagles v.s. Hawks: Battle of the Birds” as we prepare for the big game Friday against Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn. I have listed below all of the activities for the week, including dress-up days and evening activities. Please note that the Coronation and Homecoming Bonfire will be Monday, October 5^th. The traditional parade will begin at 1 PM, followed by the all-community pep rally at the football field.

Thursday, October 1 All-School Voting for King/Queen/1^st Attendants

Sunday, October 4 Powder Puff Activities: Volleyball and Football and Jr. High Tug of War. Events start at 5 PM.

Monday, October 5 Red Light/Yellow Light/Green Light Day

Coronation in High School Gym at 8 PM

Bonfire to follow coronation

Tuesday, October 6 Decades Day (dress in your favorite decade attire…i.e. 50’s, 60’s, etc.)

9^th/JV/Varsity Volleyball @Westwood at 6 PM

Wednesday, October 7 Pajama Day

Thursday, October 8 Costume Day (favorite costume)

9^th/JV/Varsity Volleyball v.s Kingsley-Pierson at 6 PM

Friday, October 9 Black and Gold Dress-Up Day

Homecoming Parade and Pep Rally at 1 PM.

Football Game v.s. Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn at 7:00 PM

Saturday, October 10 Homecoming Dance 8-11 PM at High School

Posted at 10:40 AM by Jeff Thelander | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

9/21/2009

Teacher In-Serice October 2nd: No School for Students

There will be no school for students at Lawton-Bronson on Friday, October 2^nd due to a newly scheduled teacher In-Service. This is different from the original Master Calendar for the year and the day will be made up in May. This change was officially approved at the September school board meeting.

The purpose of this In-Service is to provide teacher training in a new assessment system that the district is implementing in grades 2-11 in reading, mathematics, science, and language arts. This assessment system will allow for timely feedback of all students’ progress in these critical academic areas and allow teachers more data to share with parents and more data to utilize in making instructional decisions that meet every student’s learning needs. In the bigger picture, this assessment ties into the district’s on-going plan for implementing the Iowa Core Curriculum and answering these three critical questions on the behalf of every student:

1.)Does every student have access to a guaranteed and viable curriculum (are there equal learning expectations for all students)?

2.) Do we know that all students are progressing adequately through our curriculum? What data will help us determine if students need extra support or extra challenges?

3.) How do we respond to the various learning needs of our students after we analyze our data?

We believe this new assessment system will be an important element in helping us collect information on student learning so that we can best prepare them for success in school and some day success beyond their elementary and secondary education here at Lawton-Bronson.

Posted at 9:07 AM by Jeff Thelander | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

9/8/2009

H1N1 Updates

There has been considerable discussion in the news again recently about the potential concerns of an H1N1 flu outbreak currently and in the coming months. The most important step we can take as a school district at this time is to communicate preventative measures with our community and put a plan in place should a flu pandemic reach our area at any time this year. So, to begin, I’d like to provide some helpful information that can be accessed at the Center for Disease Control website. Parents, if you’d like to see the entire document where all of the information below came from, you can access it at:

www.flu.gov

Or you can contact the Center for Disease Control at 1 (800) CDC-INFO (232-4636) or cdcinfo@cdc.gov

Mrs. Grigg, our school nurse, encourages all parents to call the school whenever their children are ill and let us know the signs/symptoms.

Here are some recommendations on what parents can do to prepare for a potential flu during the 2009-2010 school year

Plan for child care at home if your child gets sick or if school is dismissed due to a flu outbreak.

Plan to monitor the health of a sick child and any other children by checking for fever and other symptoms of flu.

Update emergency contact lists.

Identify a separate room in the house for care of sick family members. Consider designating a single person as the main caregiver for anyone who gets sick.

Pull together games, books, DVDs and other items to keep your family entertained while at home.

Talk to your school about their flu pandemic or emergency plan.

Get your family vaccinated for seasonal flu and 2009 H1N1 flu when vaccines are available.

Here are Suggested Action Steps for Parents if School is Dismissed or Children are Sick and Must Stay Home

Be prepared to support home learning activities if the school makes them available. Your child’s school may offer certain types of distance learning. Have school materials, such as text books, workbooks, and homework packets available at home.

Have activities for your children to do while at home. Pull together games, books, DVDs and other items to keep your family entertained.

Find out if your employer will allow you to stay at home to care for sick household members or children dismissed from school. Ask if you can work from home. If this is not possible, find other ways to care for your children at home.

If school is dismissed, monitor the school’s website, local news, and other sources for information about returning to school.

Tips for taking care of children (and other household members) with the flu

Stay home if you or your child is sick until at least 24 hours after there is no longer a fever or signs of a fever (without the use of a fever-reducing medicine). Keeping sick students at home means that they keep their viruses to themselves rather than sharing them with others. Stay home even if taking antiviral medicines.

Cover coughs and sneezes. Clean hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub often and especially after coughing or sneezing.

Keep sick household members in a separate room (a sick room) in the house as much as possible to limit contact with household members who are not sick. Consider designating a single person as the main caregiver for the sick person.

Monitor the health of the sick child and any other household members by checking for fever and other symptoms of flu. A fever is a temperature taken with a thermometer that is equal to or greater than 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 degrees Celsius). If you are not able to measure a temperature, the sick person might have a fever if he or she feels warm, has a flushed appearance, or is sweating or shivering.

Watch for emergency warning signs that need urgent medical attention. These warning signs include:

Fast breathing or trouble breathing

Bluish or gray skin color

Not drinking enough fluids

Not urinating or no tears when crying

Severe or persistent vomiting

Not waking up or not interacting

Being so irritable that the child does not want to be held

Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen

Sudden dizziness

Confusion

Flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough

Check with your doctor about any special care needed for household members who may be at higher risk for complications from flu. This includes children under the age of 5 years, pregnant women, people of any age who have chronic medical conditions (such as asthma, diabetes, or heart disease), and people age 65 years and older.

Have the sick household member wear a facemask if available and tolerable – when sharing common spaces with other household members to help prevent spreading the virus to others. This is especially important if other household members are at high risk for complications from flu.

Ask your doctor about antiviral medicines or fever-reducing medicines for sick household members. Do not give aspirin to children or teenagers; it can cause a rare but serious illness called Reye’s syndrome

Make sure sick household members get plenty of rest and drink clear fluids (such as water, broth, sports drinks, electrolyte beverages for infants) to keep from being dehydrated.

If your health department says that flu conditions have become more severe:

Extend the time sick children stay home for at least 7 days, even if they feel better sooner. People who are still sick after 7 days should continue to stay home until at least 24 hours after symptoms have gone away.

If a household member is sick, keep any school-aged brothers or sisters home for 5 days from the time the household member became sick. Parents should monitor their health and the health of other school-aged children for fever and other symptoms of the flu.

Posted at 12:18 PM by Jeff Thelander | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

8/31/2009

Welcome Back to School

A Message from Superintendent Jeff Thelander

The 2009-2010 school year is upon us and this year, I will be serving in the role of superintendent and 7-12^th grade secondary principal. Mr. Shook is picking up some of the extra duties related to the secondary principal position as well.

On our first day back last Wednesday, I spoke to the 6-12^th graders about a vision for our Jr./Sr. High school in which every student and adult in our building:

1.) Values and respects each other

2.) Values and respects our property

3.) Values and respects our education

During this assembly, I shared a book that I recently read called Three Cups of Tea. It is about Greg Mortensen, a mountain climber who in 1993 nearly died trying to reach the summit of the K-2 mountain in Pakistan and was nursed back to health by the people of Korphe Village. The book describes Mortensen’s journey of trying to repay these villagers by building them a school. After successfully fulfilling this promise, Mortensen has since built over 50 other schools in some of the poorest and most remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and the first generation of students from those schools are now reaching careers and professions that once only seemed a dream. The point is, students everywhere in this world are hungry for the opportunities that we have long enjoyed in the United States and that we live in a world that is rapidly changing with technology and growing more connected. The challenges of the 21^st century will demand that our schools prepare students to be “learners of how to learn” so that they can continually adapt and grow in an increasingly competitive and rapidly changing world. Skills that students will need to succeed in the future include becoming good problem solvers, learning to work with others, and thinking creatively. When we speak of Rigor, Relevance, and Relationships at Lawton-Bronson, we are speaking of preparing our students to embrace their education and use it to create a fulfilled life of work and service to others.

The goals we discussed above fit perfectly into our mission statement and give us all a daily reminder of why we are in school and what we can achieve if we just adhere to such principles. If we can envision a school that equips every student to live with passion for everything they do and with compassion toward everyone around them, we are on our way to helping them impact our world.

Posted at 11:43 AM by Jeff Thelander | Category: Weekly Messages | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

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