Students answer school bells this week

Summer 2017 is coming to an end.

Classes resume for students across the county on Wednesday, and district administrators and staff have been working hard, prepping for the return of the students. Red Oak superintendent Tom Messinger said while kids have been relaxing, there’s been no break at the school.

“The usual preparations have been taking place since the end of the last school year: hiring staff, preparing handbooks, room assignments and moves, and finishing scheduling.  

“The administrative team has been working on our professional learning goals and has developed a plan complete with an implementation timeline to perform classroom walkthroughs to support the teachers in their instructional responsibilities,” Messinger said.

“The administrators will be focusing our attention during regular meetings on classroom instruction, as well as collecting and interpreting data from our classroom visits.  The TLC teams from the buildings have been meeting as a lead team to design their PD for the school year.  Again, it is based on student data and they have been working very hard to set the PD up based on a district template.”

One new feature for returning students at the middle school is  “School Beyond School,” an after school program that will meet Tuesdays and Thursdays after classes for 90 minutes and is designed to impact students in a more authentic, and practical approach at the early adolescent age.  Middle school principal Nate Perrien said the program exposes the students to the important skills, resources and decisions they will be presented with as they mature into young adulthood.

“Through exposure, real-life presentations and hands on learning activities, it is this programs intent to engage students in meaningful activities that help direct students in positive personal goal setting, living a healthy lifestyle and pursue the involvement in activities as they grow as students and young adults in our community,” said Perrien.

Any Red Oak Middle School Student is eligible to participate in our School Beyond School Program.  However, school officials will target students who have little to no connection to school or community, have poor school attendance, and struggle in the areas of social skills or academics.

Red Oak and Stanton will continue sharing the ag and industrial technology classes with Stanton.  Their students come to Red Oak for those classes.  Red Oak will be sending students to Stanton to take business classes.  New this year is the addition of talented and gfted to the sharing list.  Dan Degroot will be shared with the Stanton schools and will be their TAG teacher in addition to teaching science at the Red Oak Middle School.  Other shared people will be Shirley Maxwell and Sheila Manquist as school business official and guidance counselor, respectively.

Returning students will also be seeing new faces when they walk through the doors Wednesday. Keith Little is the district’s new Activities Director / Assistant Principal at the high school. Other new high school staff are Grace Freking, math instructor, Maddie Gelber, iJag instructor, Laura LaPrell, language arts instructor, and Taylor Matuszeski, band instructor, middle school computers instructor.

At Inman Primary, Tori Cook, Ashley Gacke, and Jenifre Wilcoxon are new third grade instructors, and Brittan Sindt joins Inman as a kindergarten instructor.

New staff at the middle school includes Shelbie Congdon, and Margaret Sondag, language arts instructors, Ryan Gelber, social studies instructor, Josh Kippley, physical education instructor, and Kelli Schram, math instructor.

Messinger said he and the other members of the Red Oak schools staff are excited to begin the 2017-18 school year.

“This is going to be a very exciting year.  Last year the TLC folks spent a lot of time researching and discussing instruction.  The work of the teacher leadership teams and the administration over the summer will help use that research and our data to design and implement quality PD so each and every teacher will have the opportunity to grow professionally. Having such a focus on instruction and using our data to measure the effectiveness of our practices and our PD will help us make sure we are efficiently using our time and will ensure our teachers are receiving the supports necessary to grow and to provide each and every student with the highest quality education,” said Messinger.

Messinger added they were pleased to see a great turn out of students at registration, especially at the middle school.

“The middle school had well below twenty students who did not make it to registration.  Of the few who were not at registration we know many are still going to be attending here but just were not able to make it Tuesday.  And we had eleven new students come to registration from the middle school level.  This, to me, is very exciting.  It shows a sense of excitement about school.  Mr. Perrien stated this was the best turnout he has seen at a registration,” Messinger advised.

And this year, voters turned out in strong support of the district’s proposed bond issue.

“The support from the voters of Red Oak has been an enormous boost to our school district.  We realize we have room to grow and areas needing more attention, but knowing there is level of confidence in the school system provides a feeling of cooperation in our employees.  Knowing there is support and confidence from the community is vital for a school to move forward.  The Red Oak Community School District cannot say thank you enough to our community for supporting us as we work to meet the needs of our young people,” Messinger said.

Staff at the Griswold district have also been busy prepping for classes to resume. Griswold Superintendent David Henrichs said part of this month has been spent prepping new instructors.

“Our new staff members reported on Aug. 16. They participated in a wide-range of activities on both the 16th and 17th.  Some of these activities included touring the district’s facilities, meeting with their building principals to discuss various procedures and policies, receiving training on the district’s student management system, and spending time working with their mentors to learn more about job duties and expectations. All staff members reported back on Aug. 18 for various training sessions and meetings, an overview of the district’s emergency plans, training on new early literacy assessment protocols, additional training on “Capturing Kids’ Hearts,” which is an initiative the district has had in place for three years that emphasizes building positive relationships, CPR training, and teachers will be updating their curriculum,” Henrichs said.

Henrichs added the district will be adding a new special education program at the middle school / high school this year. This program is designed for behavior challenged students. The goal of the program is to meet the needs of our students; as well as serve them within our district’s facilities vs. transporting them to another district in an effort to meet their needs.

Like Red Oak, Griswold has a number of new faces in their teaching and support staff for the upcoming school year: Shelley Anderson Rhea Gripple, Harry Roller, Kristen Misner, and Holly Carlson, paraeducators, Bonnie Goodson, vocal instructor, Tammy Greiman, fourth grade instructor, Brian Orr, behavor instructor for the new special education program, Amy Sparar, art instructor, Carter Stephens, social studies instructor, and Becky White, third grade instructor.

Henrichs said one of the potential projects for this school year is installing a new greenhouse.

“This opportunity presented itself though an anonymous donor. The Board of Education will consider installation costs and yearly operating cost before making a decision. If approved, the greenhouse would be utilized by Kevin Blair and the Agriculture Department,” Henrichs advised.

Another project on the radar, Henrichs said, is work on the district’s new elementary addition.

“The district has been busy making plans for the new elementary edition. On June 27, a $9.9 million bond referendum was passed to build a new elementary building at Griswold that will be attached to the current MS/HS building. Thus, placing all district facilities in one location. The bond sale for this project is set for Sept. 19, the project is scheduled to bid in January, 2019; and construction will begin soon after. The new building is scheduled to be occupied by no later than the start of the 2019-20 school year,” Henrichs said.

Lastly, Henrichs said the Griswold staff is very excited to begin the new school year, and are ready to meet the daily challenges that present themselves in an effort to provide the best education possible for their students.