Weekly Update: June 29, 2018
Weekly Update: June 29, 2018
Dear Grinnell-Newburg Family and Friends,
Happy 4th of July next week! The 4th of July Holiday is our target date to know that we have about ½ of the summer left to prepare for opening day! It seems soon, but summer goes very fast for us in the District Office as we prepare for the 2018-19 School Year. This week has been very busy! Take a look at what has been happening in the District!
Monday Community Event for 11th Ave:
This past Monday the 11th Avenue community neighborhood came together to see the potential plans for the 11th Avenue property. Please know that we will notify you when we have a signed agreement for the sale and when the Public Hearing will be held. We are still working through some of the details of the agreement. Therefore, the Public Hearing will be delayed until that has been completed. I want to thank our community members for joining me this past week, sharing your input and asking your questions.
Board Meeting:
We had quite a busy board meeting this week! The Board listened to three presentations from engineering firms on Wednesday. In early June, the District had a request for proposal (RFP) to select a new engineering firm. Three firms were selected from the RFP submittals as finalists, and presented to the Board their team and company. The Board narrowed the field to two. I will be making a recommendation to the Board at the July 11th board meeting following further reference checks and feedback from other school districts who have used the selected finalist. Other items that were approved:
Resale of old computers:
The district will be putting together a bid process to re-sell old computers to our community rather than selling them back to a wholesale company. Please watch for further details regarding this process in the upcoming weeks.
District sharing with Lynnville-Sully:
This District will be receiving funds from L-S for the services we are providing them. We will also get incentive funds from the state.
District Sharing with East Marshall:
The District is having talks with East Marshall about possibly sharing payroll and HR functions.
Pre-school Partnership Contract:
The annual contract agreement was approved for the 2018-19 school year.
Summer School
Summer School is in full swing, and some our students are keying in with their new keyboard addition to their devices, as they pilot the new keyboards for next year! These keyboards will assist some of our elementary students to go further with their iPads.
School Administrators of Iowa (SAI) Executive Leadership Meeting:
This week I had an opportunity to serve on the Executive Leaders Steering Committee to plan the Superintendent Executive Leadership activities for the 2018-19 school year. I look forward to collaborating with SAI as we face the many challenges in Iowa to ensure that students needs are being met in the classroom.
Regional Planning Program Approval Training:
Today Kevin Seney and I attended a session provided by the Department of Education to learn about the Program Approval Process for our regional Career to Education programming. Last year the regional planning group, that consists of 14 school districts, collaborated to develop bylaws and identify business partners to identify the needs in the areas of CTE. As the chair of this committee, our next step is to guide the group through approval of CTE programs and make recommendations for streamlining programming and enhancements throughout the region.
A Big Thank You to Becky Nance:
I would like to take the time to thank Becky Nance for her service to our district's families, staff and students. Becky's last official day is today. She will be deeply missed and we wish her the best in her new adventure. Thank you Becky for your service to the Grinnell-Newburg School District!
Amber Robson will be replacing Becky beginning on July 9. Becky will assist Amber in the transition to her role as the Superintendent's administrative assistant.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and a happy 4th of July!
Sincerely,
Janet
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Dr. Janet M. Stutz
Superintendent
Grinnell-Newburg Schools
Weekly Events
Please view the events for the coming week as listed below for Grinnell High School & Middle School. If you find a discrepancy in this information; please contact Tracy Neighbors at (641) 236-2723 / tracy.neighbors@grinnell-k12.
Monday 7/2
Tiger Paw Workouts 6am
Tiger Paw Camp 12pm
JV/V Baseball 5:30 vs Perry - Ticket Taker (Hood)
Tuesday 7/3
8am Tiger Paw Camp
Wednesday 7/4
Thursday 7/5
Tiger Paw Workouts 6am
JV/V Baseball 5:30 vs STC - Ticket Taker (Lacina)
Softball Districts 7pm @ Pella
Friday 7/6
Tiger Paw Workouts 6am
Saturday 7/7
9th Baseball @ Newton - bus 8am
Use the following link to volunteer for events at GHS or GMS https://tinyurl.com/yahgscsk