Supt's On!

November 11, 2009 Column

This past Friday, High School Principal Lowell Hoffman and I attended the Art Educators of Minnesota Fall Conference at the Earle Brown Heritage Center in Brooklyn Center for a very special presentation.  Belle Plaine High School art teacher Carol Hannon-Orr was presented the Art Educators of Minnesota Secondary Art Educator of the Year Award for 2009.  It was a wonderful luncheon and presentation to see Ms. Hannon-Orr recognized by her peers from across the state for the wonderful work that she has done with the students of Belle Plaine.  Congratulations Carol on your tremendous achievement and honor!

Janessa Meuleners capped off the fall sports season with her 31^st place finish at the State Cross Country Meet at St. Olaf last weekend.  Her time of 16:00.7 seconds was her season best time.  Congratulations Janessa on a great finish to your season! 

I would also like to say congratulations to all fall activity participants for terrific seasons.  Despite a difficult October for our outdoor activities, the Tigers had outstanding performances by all teams.  The successes of all of our fall activities have helped to get the 2009-2010 school year off to a great start.

School districts in Scott County continue to receive updated information on the planned H1N1 vaccination clinics that will be held for our school students during the school day.  The county has begun to receive vaccination supplies and clinics at several elementary schools are scheduled to begin the week of November 16^th.  Parents of students in grades K-12 will be receiving information packets and permission slips in the mail from Scott County in the very near future.  Please read the information materials carefully and carefully complete the vaccination permission forms if you choose to have your child vaccinated.  Students 9 years old and younger will need to have a second booster vaccination 28 days after the first vaccination is administered.  The vaccinations through this in school clinic are free and are completely voluntary.  Parents/guardians must sign the permission forms and return them to their child school in order to receive the vaccination.

If parents have questions about the upcoming clinics, I encourage you to contact Scott County Public Health officials at 952-496-8555.  I fully expect that our elementary school buildings will have their clinics prior to the Thanksgiving Break.  At this time, I am not sure if our 7-12 grade students will have the vaccinations in December or in early January.   As finalized immunization clinic information is available, we will be posting information on our school district website.  Please check www.belleplaine.k12.mn.us regularly for updated information.

A quick reminder that our regularly scheduled meeting for November will be held on Monday, November 30 instead of the originally scheduled meeting date of November 23.

As always, if you have any questions about any school matters, please feel free to call me at 873-2400.  Go Tigers and Panthers! 

November 4, 2009 Column

Congratulations to Janessa Meuleners on her advancement to the state cross country meet to be held at St. Olaf College this Saturday.  Congratulations to the football team on a successful season capped with an undefeated record and Minnesota River Conference championship!  Good luck to our volleyball team as they advance in tournament play by defeating Jordan 3-0 on Monday evening.  The volleyball team continues tournament play vs. Hutchinson at Gustavus Adolphus College on Thursday night.  Good luck girls!

The fall play, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, will be performed at 7:00 pm Nov. 19th, 20th & 21st, and at 2:00 pm on Nov. 22nd in the Performing Arts Center at the District Center, 130 South Willow Street.

Tickets for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland will go on sale Wednesday, November 11th at 8:30 am. Please call 952-873-2411 for advanced tickets. Ticket prices are $5.00 for adults and $3.00 for students. Please note: there will be advanced ticket sales but no reserved seats. Doors will open for advanced ticket holders at 6:15. General admission doors will open at 6:30. At 6:45 all remaining unclaimed advanced tickets will be sold.

Due to conflicts with board member schedules and the holidays, our school board meeting schedule for the next two months has some changes from our regular schedule of work session on the second Monday of the month followed by regular board meeting on the fourth Monday of the month.  Here is the schedule for November and December:

Monday, November 9                        6:00 p.m.            Board Work Session

Monday, November 30            6:00 p.m.            Regular Board Meeting

Monday, December 7                        6:00 p.m.            Truth in Taxation Hearing/Board Work Session

Monday, December 21            6:00 p.m.            Regular Board Meeting

In January, we will have our organizational board meeting on Monday, January 4^th.  Newly elected board members are installed at this meeting.  Our regular board meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 19, due to the Martin Luther King holiday that Monday.

Our board meetings are re-broadcast on public access channel 8 throughout the week following the regular board meeting.  We are now equipped to air the meetings live and will be doing that for regular board meetings in the future.

As always, if you have any questions about any school matters, please feel free to call me at 873-2400.  Go Tigers! 

October 28, 2009 Column

Election Day is now less than one week away.  Polling location for all voters in the Belle Plaine School District is the Belle Plaine Government Center council chambers located at 218 North Meridian Street.  Voters may enter through the doors on the north side of the building.  Polling hours are from 7 a.m. through 8 p.m.  Replays of the school board candidate forum will be shown on our public access channel 8 throughout this week for those who are interested in learning more about the candidates for this year’s board seats.

In the near future, the State of Minnesota will be applying for “Race to the Top” stimulus funding dollars for improvement of our education system. A series of public meetings around the state have been scheduled to gather input on Minnesota’s application for federal Race to the Top funding. Area superintendents and school personnel will be attending a meeting this Tuesday in Mankato to provide input into the plan.  The Race to the Top Fund is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) and provides competitive grants to states that are engaged in education innovation and reform.

A stakeholder group consisting of leaders from K-12 education, higher education, business and the minority community has been working on Minnesota’s application and are now seeking additional public input from administrators, teachers and parents throughout the state. If Minnesota is awarded funds through Race to the Top, half of the money will be designated for local school districts that pledge to implement the reforms.

“The federal government is recognizing that educational systems around the country need reform, and I expect Minnesota to be one of the leading states in those efforts,” said Alice Seagren, Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Education. “Many of the things they’re asking states to do, we already have in place here in Minnesota. Q Comp, for example, is Minnesota’s nation-leading reform that rewards quality teaching and keeps good teachers in the classroom by paying them in a more professional way.”

The application for Race to the Top requires states to put in place systems and reforms that meet the following four assurances:

• Adopting internationally benchmarked standards and assessments that prepare students for success in college and the workplace;

• Recruiting, developing, retaining and rewarding effective teachers and principals;

• Building data systems that measure student success and inform teachers and principals how they can improve their practice; and

• Turning around our lowest-performing schools.

In addition to the four assurances, there is a separate competitive grant program for states’ efforts in science, technological, engineering and math (STEM). Minnesota’s recent efforts in STEM also make the state well-positioned to win this competition.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation recognized Minnesota’s leadership in this area by selecting the state as one of fifteen states to receive technical assistance with their Race to the Top application. This $250,000 grant allowed the state to hire a consultant to help drive Minnesota’s application process.

Education leaders will be holding public meetings across the state during the week of October 26th.

Good luck to our football, volleyball and cross country teams as they enter Section tournament competition this week.  As always, if you have any questions about any school matters, please feel free to call me at 873-2400.  Go Tigers! 

October 21, 2009 Column

Thursday night is our school board candidate public forum and I encourage everyone to become familiar with our school board candidates before going to the polls on November 3^rd.  The forum will be held at 7 p.m. in the Board Meeting Room at the District Center located at 130 S Willow Street.  We are hoping to have the forum broadcast live and will also be replaying the forum on public access channel leading up to election day.

Election Day is now less than ten days away.  Polling location for all voters in the Belle Plaine School District is the Belle Plaine Government Center council chambers located at 218 North Meridian Street.  Voters may enter through the doors on the north side of the building.  Polling hours are from 7 a.m. through 8 a.m.

While the economy shows some signs of life through an improved stock market performance, other factors such as unemployment and state tax collections continue to show that full economic recovery is still a ways away.  A recent report by the MN Department of Revenue indicated that tax collections once again fell behind estimated numbers that were used to build the 2009 and 2010 state fiscal budget.  Governor Pawlenty and various key legislative leaders are intending to meet in the near future to discuss potential budget reductions that may be necessary in the future to balance the budget.  After a session in which most government entities received less funding, it is sobering to realize that additional reductions may be headed our way.

Public school districts in Minnesota were impacted last legislative session by some reductions of one time revenue sources and by a state aid shift that impacts when we receive our state aid payments.  By delaying the state aid payments to schools, the legislature solved $1.8 billion of their deficit problem last spring.  While this action does not take money away from schools, it does delay the payment to school districts causing districts cash flow problems.  The one time money reduction for the Belle Plaine Schools resulted in a lost of approximately $180,000.  Additional reductions in the coming year will make it very difficult for our school district and for districts across the state to maintain the educational programs that we currently have in place.

As always, if you have any questions about any school matters, please feel free to call me at 873-2400.  Go Tigers! 

October 14, 2009 Column

Congratulations to our tennis, volleyball and football teams for their big wins over Holy Family Catholic this past week.  During the past 10 years, Holy Family and Belle Plaine have developed quite a rivalry as we have both had very competitive teams throughout those years.  Congratulations to all coaches and athletes who continue their fine fall seasons.

Next week is our school board candidate public forum and I encourage everyone to become familiar with our school board candidates before going to the polls on November 3^rd.  The forum will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday, October 22 in the Board Meeting Room at the District Center located at 130 S Willow Street.  We are hoping to have the forum broadcast live and will also be replaying the forum on public access channel leading up to election day.

This week is Education Minnesota Professional Conferences for Minnesota public school teachers.  (For those of us who have been in education for a few years, this is often referred to MEA Break.)  These conferences are open to all Minnesota teachers and the public and are a great opportunity for professional development in a wide array of classroom areas.  A large exhibit hall featuring the latest academic materials and educational technology is part of the conference as well as outstanding featured speakers.  This year, Charlotte Danielson, an expert on teacher evaluations, is one of the featured keynote speakers.  For more information about the conference, visit www.educationminnesota.org.

Our early October snowfall has reminded all of us that winter weather is just around the corner and with it comes potential school closings or early dismissals and late starts.  This year, the school district will be utilizing our newly acquired Instant Alert system to notify all parents of the change in school status.  In addition, school closing information will also be carried by various media outlets including the major television stations in the Twin Cities area – WCCO, KSTP, KMSP and KARE.  WCCO radio along with KCHK (New Prague) and KRBI (St. Peter) stations will be carrying the news of any school changes as well.

When making the decision to change the status of the regular school day, several factors are considered as this decision is made – temperature, amount of precipitation that has fallen and is projected to fall, wind speed, time of day and the overall safety of our students.  While considering all of those items, I try to make the most informed decision I can while realizing that changes to schedules certainly affect a great deal of people.

If I have made a decision to continue with school as  normal, it is ultimately the parent’s decision whether the roads and conditions are safe enough to come to school.  No children are counted as an unexcused absence when bad weather has precipitated that absence.

As always, if you have any questions about any school matters, please feel free to call me at 873-2400.  Go Tigers! 

October 7, 2009 Column

Our first parent-teacher conferences of the 2009-2010 school year will be held this Thursday and next Tuesday for our two elementary schools.  Our first JH-SH parent-teacher conferences will be held in November on the 23^rd and 24^th.  Parent-teacher conferences are a great opportunity for parents and teachers to share information about students that will hopefully lead to continued academic success or even improved academic success. 

The following information is taken from the National PTO website and provides some succinct rules for ensuring a successful conference with your child’s teacher. 

“Parent-teacher conferences present an excellent opportunity to find out how your child is adjusting to the new school year and to get to know his/her teachers.

Here are some general hints on how to have a successful conference:

1.            Ask your child if there is anything that he would like you to discuss with the teacher.

2.            Jot down everything that you want to talk about at the conference.

3.            Arrive promptly or a few minutes early.

4.            Begin with positive comments about the teacher or classroom.

5.            Avoid lengthy discussions of topics that are not related to the purpose of the conference.

6.            Be open-minded to suggestions from the teacher.

7.            Keep your emotions under control.

8.            Take notes about what has been discussed to share with your child.

9.            Express appreciation for the conference.

10.          Do not stay beyond your allotted time.”

For our schools to truly be successful, our children need all of us working toward the same goal of regular, sustained academic growth at all grade levels.  I encourage all parents and guardians to work together with your child and our teachers to make sure this happens.

Thank you to our Belle Plaine Fire Department who have had representatives at our elementary schools this week talking about fire safety in the home with our elementary students.  These are important life lessons for all of us.  We appreciate the dedication of our local volunteer fire department and their commitment to the youth in our community.

This Friday night, we are pleased to have WCCO TV featuring our Tiger football team in their feature game of the week against the Holy Family Fire.  Both teams are 5-0 heading into this game and the presence of WCCO TV for the 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts will add even more excitement to this important Minnesota River Conference contest.  Thanks WCCO for sharing our story to the rest of Minnesota.  Let’s hope for some good football weather on Friday evening.

One of our goals after the construction of our football field/track/tennis complex was to add some trees for windbreak and shade for future generations.  Through generous donations from local citizens and businesses and with the remaining revenue from our construction fund, trees will be making an appearance on the site this fall.  Thank you to anyone who has donated time and/or money to this effort.  We have a great complex for our sports teams to compete in and the addition of some substantial trees will enhance the complex even more.

As always, if you have any questions about any school matters, please feel free to call me at 873-2400.  Go Tigers! 

September 30, 2009 Column

We have had a great start to the 2009-2010 school year here at Belle Plaine Schools!  I want to thank our staff for working so hard on behalf of all of our students and I want to thank our students for coming to school each day ready to learn and expand their minds.  It is very obvious that our senior class this year is going to provide us great leadership and that leadership helps to set a high standard throughout the district.  Thank you seniors and have a great final year of high school!

This month is our first local testing month as students in grades 1 – 8 will be participating in the Northwest Evaluation Association Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) tests.  MAP tests are computerized tests in reading and math that we use to measure academic growth for each student.  Just as many parents mark a students physical growth on a door frame or elsewhere in the home, this test allows us to measure a student’s academic growth and report it to that student’s parents and teacher. 

We have an expectation of where students should be academically depending on their grade level and this test allows us to see if that student is keeping pace with their peers, is advanced beyond their peers, or is in need of additional help to catch up to their peers.  Students grow academically at different rates and we sometimes see growth spurts academically just like we do in physical growth.  One test is not normally a cause for concern or celebration as we prefer to look at the trend of several tests to see if there is steady growth by the student.

The test is administered via computer and the test automatically adjusts the difficulty of questions based on the success or lack of success of the student’s previous answers.  If a student is answering all questions correctly, the test will get increasingly more difficult until a mixture of correct and incorrect responses indicates a particular level of competence in the subject area.

The MAP tests are given three times each year for students in grades 1-8.  Our kindergarten students will take their first MAP test this spring in order to establish their academic bench mark prior to advancing to first grade.

As we have converted to the Infinite Campus food service module and to the rSchoolToday credit card payment system this fall, there have been several glitches as parents have signed up for username and passwords under each of the systems.  Our intent is to have this operation occur as seamlessly as possible and I believe that the system will improve as the school year advances.  We will continue to monitor both of these systems as we continue through the school year.  If you have specific concerns or suggestions about these systems, please contact me at ksmith@belleplaine.k12.mn.us or at the phone number listed below.

As always, if you have any questions about any school matters, please feel free to call me at 873-2400.  Go Tigers! 

September 23, 2009 Column

This week is Homecoming Week 2009 and festivities began last night with the crowning of this year’s homecoming king and queen.  Congratulations to King Andrew Peltz and Queen Rachel McDermand who were crowned last night and will now reign over a successful homecoming week.  Good luck to all of our teams as they compete in important conference competitions during the week.

Earlier this fall the school board approved an emergency notification system for the district to use to more efficiently and effectively communicate with parents about school matters through email, text messages and phone messages.  It had been my hope to have the system operating by the middle of September, but this has been delayed as conflicts over appropriate dates for training have pushed that training back.  We now have our training scheduled for next week and the system should be ready to go as soon as that training is complete.  We will most likely be conducting a test of the system next week sometime.  Please look for additional information coming to our website regarding this new communication tool.

With the recent news that a Minnesota elementary school has nearly 30% of its students absent due to flu-like symptoms, we continue to monitor illnesses at our Belle Plaine Schools.  To date, we have not had any significant numbers of students absent.  What is difficult in evaluating the number of illnesses is that there are several illnesses affecting people during this time of the year – we have fall colds, some hay fever reactions still going on and perhaps some seasonal flu to go along with the H1N1 flu.  As I stated, we have been fortunate not to see any serious increase in the number of students or staff that we have out ill on a given day.  I once again encourage anyone who is ill to stay home and if you have a fever, please stay home for at least 24 hours following the absence of that fever.

School board elections are just over one month away with elections scheduled for the general election date of Tuesday, November 3^rd.  If district residents wish to via absentee balloting, please realize that absentee ballots will be handled by the Scott County Elections Office for this election.  Absentee ballots may be picked up at the Scott County Government Center or you may apply for the ballot by submitting an application via fax.  Copies of the absentee ballot application will be on our district website and are available in our District Office located at 130 S. Willow Street.  If an application is faxed or mailed in to the County Elections Office, they will send out your absentee ballot via mail and you will not have to drive to Shakopee to complete your ballot.  Election day voting polls will be held in the Belle Plaine Government Center Council Chambers from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.  If you have any election questions, please contact Erin Updike at the District Office at the number below.

As always, if you have any questions about any school matters, please feel free to call me at 873-2400.  Go Tigers!  Have a great Homecoming Week!

September 16, 2009 Column

            "How do I protect my child?" That's the No. 1 question parents have when it comes to the H1N1 flu virus.  Now that school is back in session and children are exposed to many other individuals on a daily basis, parents are concerned about the safety of their children due to the H1N1 flu virus.

            I recently found an article on WebMD to help guide parents. WebMD turned to three pediatricians for answers to common questions about H1N1 flu. Are some children more at risk than others? Should you take your kids out of school if there are cases of H1N1 flu in your town? What are the symptoms of H1N1 flu?  Here's what they had to say.

            What should parents do to protect their children from the H1N1 flu virus?

            "Be vigilant, and watch your children closely," says Joseph Bocchini, MD, chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Disease.  "Follow the usual recommended procedures for reducing risk of transmission of infection. That means frequent hand-washing. Avoid large crowds. Avoid direct contact with sick individuals. If sick, children should stay home. So should parents."

            How do you know whether to be concerned in your own area?

            You should already be concerned enough about both seasonal and pandemic flu to be thinking about getting both seasonal and pandemic flu vaccines for your children as soon as they become available. It's also important to know whether flu is widespread in your area.

It's always a good idea to keep children away from sick people. And if you learn that flu has become widespread in your community, you may wish to keep your child away from crowds or crowded situations -- especially if the child is under age 5 or if a child of any age has asthma or a chronic medical condition that increases risk of severe flu disease.

            What’s the most important thing parents should do now, just in case infections are reported in their own area?

            "Follow the usual precautions. Start thinking about what you would do if the child’s school or day care center is shut down," Bocchini says. "Think about what arrangements you would make to be able to stay home with children. That may mean you need to stock up on supplies, food, and make arrangements for child care. Parents should start thinking about this now."

             What advice do you have for parents with children in school?

            "We know that right now we don’t have to close schools and stop movies and do other things to prevent infection except in those areas where cases have been reported. Based on finding of the virus in a certain areas, authorities may close day care centers and public events. But parents should not take children out of day care or school unless the public health authorities have recommended such a step," he says.

            In situations like this, sometimes mass hysteria sets in and people overreact. What can be done about this?

            "Just be aware of what’s going on in your area. You are always going to get some people who will become hysterical, withdraw their kids from school," Bocchini says. "But that is not necessary at this point. Follow recommendations of public health authorities. This is where leadership is very important. Leaders should let people know that this is serious, but not to overreact, and do what they should do, based on public health recommendations."

            What if your child gets sick? What are symptoms of H1N1 flu in children?

            "Influenza is very different from the common cold. Classically, with influenza, children have sudden onset of significant fever with respiratory symptoms. High fever, chills. Older children will complain of headache, scratchy sore throat, and muscle aches. Children will develop a nasal congestion and cough."

            What should parents do if their child has flu-like symptoms?

            This flu season, it's more important than ever to keep sick children at home until at least 24 hours after their symptoms go away.

            “If a child has mild illness, or something that looks like the flu, with fever and chills, headache, body ache, coughing, sore throat, they should definitely stay home from school or day care, says pediatrician Heather O’Donnell, MD, of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, Bronx, N.Y. "They should continue taking Tylenol and Motrin for fever. Parents should encourage hydration.”

            If your child is 5 years old or older and is otherwise healthy, consult your doctor as needed -- and follow O'Donnell's advice to make sure the child drinks enough fluids and gets a lot of rest.

            If your child is younger than 5, or if your child of any age has a medical condition such as asthma, diabetes, or a neurologic problem, call your doctor or get medical attention. Younger kids and kids with longstanding medical conditions are at risk of serious disease if they get either seasonal or pandemic H1N1 flu.

            Please continue to monitor updated H1N1 flu information at our district website at www.belleplaine.k12.mn.us.  We all need to work together to minimize the impact of this flu virus on our school and community.

            As always, if you have any questions about any school matters, please feel free to call me at 873-2400.  Go Tigers!

September 9, 2009 Column

Although there is the usual excitement by students, staff and parents as we prepare to start the 2009-2010 school year, there has also been controversy this year before the school year has even begun.  President Obama has announced that he will give an opening day speech to America’s schoolchildren and that has caused an outcry from conservative groups after Florida GOP chairman Jim Greer stated that "taxpayer dollars" would be used to "indoctrinate America's children to his socialist agenda."

 Once he had the opportunity to read the President’s speech, however, Mr. Greer remarked that, “It’s a good speech.  It encourages kids to stay in school and the importance of education and I think that’s what a president should do when they’re gonna talk to students across the country.”   Referencing the uproar over Obama's address to schoolchildren, which will be aired nationwide Tuesday, Laura Bush said it's "really important for everyone to respect the president of the United States."

The following is an excerpt from the President’s speech:

“. . .

But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you (students) fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed. 

And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself. 

Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide. 

Maybe you could be a good writer – maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper – but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor – maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine – but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.

And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.

. . . But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying. 

. . .”

I hope that all students take the President’s words to heart and work hard at achieving the most of their potential.  The Belle Plaine Schools did not show the video of the President as it was aired live.  Certain classes may be watching a recording of the presentation at a later date and I encourage parents and students to check out the full speech at various websites.  For a complete copy of the text of President Obama’s speech, please check out the following website:   www.whitehouse.gov/MediaResources/PreparedSchoolRemarks/.

As always, if you have any questions about any school matters, please feel free to call me at 873-2400.  Let’s have a great school year!  Go Tigers!