Weekly Update: October 25, 2018
Weekly Update: October 25, 2018
Dear Board of Education, Staff, Families and Friends,
Happy Thursday! Today’s update is coming to you a little early this week as I am attending the Executive Leadership Superintendent Sessions this late afternoon/evening and tomorrow. Superintendents from across the State participate in this sponsored SAI conference. Sessions include legal updates, presentations by Dr. Wise (Director of Education), and leadership sessions to continue professional development for superintendents in the State of Iowa. I will be back in the district late afternoon Friday.
Parents will be attending parent teacher conferences on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. Students will be on a modified schedule:
Parent Teacher Conferences: October 25 & 26
October 25 - 2 hour early dismissal for students
Parent/Teacher conferences are held from 2:00 - 8:00.
October 26 - No school
Parent/Teacher conference are held from 8:00-12:00.
School Improvement Advisory Committee: (SIAC) Nov. 14th topic: School Counseling
The SIAC committee will be hosting a series of gatherings in which specific topics identified will enable our parents and community learn about services and instructional practices in the district PreK-12. The first session will be held at 5:00 PM in the High School Library on November 14. Members from our School Counseling TEAM will talk about services and ways in which they support our students. Parents and community members will have an opportunity to engage in a discussion with school counselors and ask questions or share ideas. This may be a great time to ask about courses, mental health services, college applications, and much more.
Future topics planned for SIAC: At Risk services K-12, TAG, Special Education, Early Literacy, Career Education, and much more. If you have a topic that you would like the SIAC committee to discuss, please email Jessica Kite at jessica.kite@grinnell-k12.org
Board Meeting Update:
The Board met this week to approve the Superintendent Goals that were shared at the last meeting, discuss the upcoming planning meetings for November 8 and 10, and approve the line item budget.
The Board also discussed the option to offer an early retirement incentive. I will be meeting with the union leadership to discuss procedures and the application process for staff. It is our goal, that once the Board approves the retirement incentive package at the November 14th meeting, that teachers will have until December 7 to submit their request. Please watch for information via weekly updates and email messages regarding this in the next few weeks. It is our goal to have all procedures and process in place ready for staff prior to November 14. If you think that you are interested in taking advantage of early retirement, it is recommended that you reach out to IPERS as soon as possible.
Volunteer at G-N activities:
We are currently seeking volunteers to assist our Sports Boosters with concessions, ticket taking for athletic events, and other duties for the 2018-19 school year for activities at the middle school and high school. Please contact your building principal or Chris Coffman at chris.coffman@grinnell-k12.org to find out how you can volunteer for upcoming events.
Grinnell Community Daycare is looking for after school employees to expand services for students: Part-time positions at Grinnell Community Daycare: Click here for contact information.
Community Planning:
November 8, 2018: 6-8 PM at Bailey Park
November 10, 2018: 10-12 AM at Grinnell Middle School
We would like to invite the Grinnell Community to attend one of two focus group meetings in which the goal is to plan for future listening tours and community engagements. These planning meetings are to generate ideas on how to collect information from our public regarding school facilities and plans. We envision these meetings as a discussion with our public to identify the following: dates we should host the engagement meetings, process to collect ideas from our public about a facility plan, identify current information that might be helpful to our community to share during the listening sessions, and ideas on how to bring a variety of stakeholders to future listening tours and engagement activities.
We will be providing a link next week with a Google form for our community who cannot attend this planning session to provide further input. Please check out our Facebook, Twitter and our district website to stay in tune to our facility planning and future engagement sessions.
Middle School Assembly:
On Tuesday, October 23rd, 5th-8th-graders had the opportunity to watch financial literacy plays performed by the National Theater for Children and sponsored by the Iowa Insurance Division. Students learned the difference between credit and debit, taxes, interest, and insurance.
Project Lead the Way Activity:
Mrs. Price's Kindergarten class had a chance to experiment with building a house that would withstand the Big Bad Wolf for their Project Lead the Way Science activity. Great job Kindergarteners! We love everyone's expressions, too!
Upcoming events:
Saturday, October 27
12:00 Swimming: Girls Varsity District/Regional Meet
State Cross Country Meet: Girls begin at 11:00 and boys begin at 12:30 in Fort Dodge
Monday, October 29
5:30 Debate @ Pella
7:00 Hosting Class 3A Regional Volleyball Game
Saturday, November 3
State Cheerleading Championship @ Des Moines
Please remember to check out the Virtual Backpack
There are many activities for students including Halloween activities, volleyball club, football club, youth basketball clinic (deadline quickly approaching) and much more!
Don’t forget November 7 is Unplugged Night! This is just a few weeks away. Start planning your family fun!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Janet
--