What a great concert this evening that Ms. Staron and the middle school band students put on. Knowing how hard everyone worked to prepare for this event, really makes me appreciate the performance that much more. I also enjoyed the video tribute to the veterans that was presented as well. If you haven't checked out the middle school band webpage and blog, I encourage you to check them out. You can view the web page here and the blog here.
This Thursday night there will be a Town Hall Meeting with the Doctors.
They are planning an informative presentation talking about alcohol's effect on the developing brain of teenagers. We all have assumptions, feelings, and beliefs on the issue, but there has been a lot more research on the teenage brain in recent years. Please consider attending this meeting to hear what the latest research says. It never hurts to listen. I hope to see you there.
I know it's been awhile since my last post, so I thought I had better get back at it. What better time than homecoming week? Lots of exciting things going on. If you missed the parade, I created a short compilation video for your viewing pleasure. It's only 40 seconds and just has some highlights.
Sorry about the corny music, I need to contact the music department for help in that area.
I want to congratulate Brady Tenge for being selected 2012 Homecoming King. Good luck to the Queen candidates who will find out tonight who is the 2012 Homecoming Queen. There have been a lot of activities this week connected to homecoming. It's always good to see the kids at all levels get involved in promoting school spirit. It was a lot of fun seeing how the students were dressed for each day's dress up days. I also enjoyed the pep rally this afternoon. It takes a lot to put on an event like this. It was a lot of fun. I especially enjoyed the videos that were shared. Of course, tonight is the game and tomorrow night is the homecoming dance. Please encourage your child to attend the school events and the dance tomorrow night. We know that students who attend and/or participate in school activities are more likely to enjoy school and do better while they are there. Some would say these things are the best part.
My next community meeting will be October 11th at the high school cafeteria. I hope to see you there. We had a great turn out at the last meeting and hope to improve on it. This is your opportunity to provide input into what's going on with the New Hampton School. The school board and I are seeking the communities input on where to go on some key issues. The one that has created the most buzz relates to our facilities. One outcome of these meetings will be the creation of a facilities committee. I've heard from number of people already who want to be a part of it. If you are interested in serving on this committee, please be sure to attend one of the meetings and/or get in touch with me.
If you ever have any questions or concerns about the New Hampton district, please contact me directly at anytime. Thanks for stopping by. Go Chickasaws!!
I had my first community meeting this evening. There was a great turn out with approximately 50 people in attendance. If you didn't make it to this one, please consider coming to a future one. I plan to hold several more meetings this semester. We covered a lot of topics and I received some good feedback. I will be compiling a list of the feedback and I will share detailed results some time next week. Here's a small sampling of some things that we discussed.
I asked them to think about and share some of the things that we do well in the New Hampton School District. I heard about our athletic programs, fine arts programs, FFA program, 8th grade trip to Washington D.C., and other things. I then asked them to share the following: If we had to make cuts or changes in our district, what are the things that we shouldn't touch no matter how tough things get. I heard about small class sizes in our elementary school, early intervention programs, variety of class options at the high school, and more. I then asked them to share things we could improve in the district. I heard some things there as well. When everyone arrived, they were given some Post-It notes and asked to write down their answers for each of these items. As they left, they posted each of their answers on a sign with the question on it. I have collected those and will be tallying them over the weekend. I will share the results on the blog and also at the board meeting Monday night.
At this point, we began discussing the future vision for the district. I shared some details on our facilities. We've spent over $240,000 on the middle/elementary school this summer on tuck-pointing concrete work etc. Basically to get the building sealed up. During the completion of the work, we found a number of other issues. Things like we will need to replace the roof on the 1913 building sometime in the next couple of years. Also, there is additional tuck pointing that will be needed each year. The contractor told me we would spend a million dollars or more on outside maintenance in the next 5 years. In addition, we are planning to spend $300,000 to redo the bathrooms and entrance on the west side of the gym early next year. As I've toured the building, I see that the bathrooms in the elementary building are the original ones from the 1950's when the building was built. They need to be redone at a cost of $20 to $30,000 each. The list goes on and on. A question the board and I have is how much money do we continue to put into this building? Is it time to look at other options? There is no doubt those options will be expensive and cost money--but should we look and see how much? We'll continue to seek feedback at our next meeting, so if you have some thoughts, please attend the meeting or stop in to see me or send me your thoughts.
We also talked about technology and I heard a lot of feedback that we are behind in technology use in our district. The question is always where do we go and how quickly? As a former technology director I know it's imperative that we provide training and time for our teachers to learn about and implement technology use. There is a big learning curve with technology and we have to spend the time and money to make sure they are prepared. In the end it can change how we teach and how students learn. However, the teacher is a key element in any technology initiative. They will always be a key element in education.
I've displayed this video earlier in my blog, but it's worth sharing again. I shared it during the meeting and used it as a discussion starter.
Thanks for stopping by. As always if you ever have any questions or concerns, please contact me directly.
I've had some discussion with some of you on school lunch, and I want to say thanks for those of you who called or stopped in to talk. Working together, we can find solutions to the concerns that come up. Our school lunch program personnel have been brainstorming and working hard to find solutions to the concerns that have been brought up while working within the rules of the National School Lunch Program. Below, the top picture is what was for lunch today. This is what was planned from the beginning of the year for high school students. These are the same quantities high school students would receive. The one below is what was served on Wednesday. One note, in the upper right hand corner of today's lunch, those are fresh tomatoes and peppers from the FFA greenhouse. They were really delicious--they were extra but available to all the students in the high school.
We are working to add some options and choices to our September menu to try to find things that more students will try and still meet the rules. When you see the menu, you will notice it also includes the serving size and the total calorie count for the meal. We will constantly monitor and work to prepare the healthiest lunches possible that will meet the needs of our students. Please encourage your child to try some of these items, especially some of the vegetable items. Working together, we can make this work. If you have any concerns or suggestions about the school lunch program, please contact Jodi Hollister or myself.
I hope you will consider attending my first community meeting next Thursday at 7:00 p.m. in the middle school auditorium. It will be a great chance to learn what's going on with the district and to also provide feedback on what direction the district should go in the future. I will be posting some more thoughts on this over the weekend, so please check back often. Thanks for stopping by.
It's been nearly two weeks since my last post. It's been a busy but good start to the new school year. Thanks to all the staff members, parents, and students for making this year the best ever. There's been a lot going on. One thing I've heard a lot about has been school lunches. As I mentioned previously, there has been a change to the National School Lunch program. This is not something that is only happening in New Hampton, but is happening in schools across the nation. In the past, we didn't pay much attention to things like sodium content, what kind of vegetables we offered, fat content, and how many calories students consumed. We now have to watch all of these things and more. The biggest change that most have probably noticed is the size of the main entree. High school students are limited to approximately 2 ounces of meat and/or meat alternative per day, or a total of 10 to 12 ounces per week. students in grades K-8 need to have at least one ounce of meat/meat alternative each day or a total of 8 to 10 ounces a week. As someone who has eaten and continues to eat school lunch, we used to get much more then that. (I can think of some school lunches where I walked away stuffed--chili day with a huge cinnamon roll comes to mind). Also, we are now placing more emphasis on fruits and vegetables including serving dark green and orange vegetables several times a week.
In the past, we saw the entree as the item to fill us up. With the new standards, more reliance is placed on fruits and vegetables to help our children and ourselves eat healthier. We are continuing to look at and experiment with a variety of fruits and vegetables to see what our students like best. What can you do to help? Please talk with your child about trying everything that is available for lunch. Some of these things may be new to your child, but rest assured it is a healthier choice. I want to thank those parents who have contacted our food director or myself about this issue. Working together is how we find ways to solve these issues when they arise.
On a different note, on September 6th I will be hosting my first community meeting. It will be at 7 p.m. at the middle school auditorium. I plan to hold several of these meetings during the coming months. The purpose of these meetings is to allow me to gather input on the district and where we should go in the future. In addition, I will be sharing a variety of information on the current status of the district. Please invite a friend and plan on coming that night. It doesn't matter if you have children in school or not, everyone has an interest in the future of the school.
If you ever have any concerns or questions about your child's class, school, or the district. Please contact your child's teacher, school, or myself so we can work together to find the answer or a resolution to your concern. Thanks for stopping by.
Today was the first day back for all teachers in the New Hampton School District. We started our day with breakfast in the middle school cafeteria. Thanks to the members of the New Hampton Chamber of Commerce who served the meal for us. It was also good to meet some of the staff from St. Joseph's School who attended the breakfast. It was good to finally get the year off and started. The teachers spent a large part of today in meetings and a little time getting their rooms ready for their students. They're working hard learning the new policies and procedures for this year and also making sure that everything is just right in their classrooms for the students' first day.
Speaking of first days, I want to take a moment to talk about a few things. First, please take time to talk with your child about safety when walking to and from school. Make sure they know to cross at the cross walks and what they should do if they are approached by a stranger. In addition, when you are dropping your child off at school, please take your time and make sure you are aware of all of the students in the immediate vicinity of where you are driving. If you come upon a school bus, please be prepared to stop. Remember, it's against the law in Iowa to pass a bus from the rear when it's AMBER lights are flashing. In addition, if you come upon a bus from the front with it's AMBER lights flashing you should slow down to 20 mph and prepare to stop when the lights turn red. Here's a website with more information. Our student's safety is a primary concern of our district.
I also want to take a few moments to talk about some changes in the school lunch program this year. The National School Lunch Program has issued new guidelines that will affect every school that serves meals. In a nutshell there will be a larger emphasis on fruits and vegetables and a smaller emphasis on other food groups. Here's a picture of a school lunch tray to visually explain the new guidelines.
As you can see vegetables are now in the spot where we normally find the main item which was often a meat or protein item. Notice those are now in one of the smallest spots on the tray. This will be a change for your child, so please take some time to discuss this with them. In addition, encourage them to try some of the new items that may be presented to them this year. They may never know what they may like if they don't try it. Here are several videos that further explain the new program.
If you have any questions on the school lunch program, please feel free to contact Jodi Hollister at the high school for more information. The end result of all of this is to help our students make healthier choices related to food. Enjoy the rest of your week, school will be here in a couple of days.
A big thanks to everyone who took advantage of our registration days. It was great seeing all of the parents and students as they registered for school. If you haven't registered yet, please contact your child's school office as soon as possible.
We have a number of new students in the district this year. Being new myself, I know how welcome everyone will make these new families feel in our community. Thank you for that. Speaking of new students, it looks like we will have at least 69 students in our kindergarten class and 71 students in our first grade class. That means we will average 23 students in each kindergarten class and 24 students in two of the first grade classrooms and 23 in the other one. That's doable, but it's not ideal.
I enjoy reading research and reviewing data on what's best for student learning. When it comes to class size there is a lot that has been written. With the district's financial situation, I look at all new spending very critically and carefully. As I was researching, I was looking for any information that would give me a value on reducing class size. In other words, if we hire a new teacher to reduce class size in kindergarten and/or first grade, is that the most efficient use of our limited resources? As with most research, there are studies on both sides of the issue. There is certainly a lot of research that suggests smaller class sizes make a difference in student learning, especially in the early grades. The magic number seems to be classes smaller than 18 in order to see a meaningful difference. A couple of things I found is that the students start to see a benefit with smaller classes in Kindergarten and the benefit increases in first grade and begins to decrease in second and third grades. It should be noted that I certainly found research that suggests smaller class sizes don't make a difference--especially if the teacher teaches the smaller class the same way as a larger class. I believe our teachers will teach smaller classes differently. It will allow them to work with small groups of students--something that is more difficult with larger classes. They will also spend less time on discipline and classroom management issues in a smaller class which will allow them more opportunity to work on teaching and learning.
In the end, what does all of this rambling on mean? I still have some research to do. I also need to spend more time looking at our district's finances to see if and how we can make this work. I will say, I am committed to doing whatever I can to provide the best education possible for our students with the resources we have. I also believe kindergarten and first grade are formative years that are crucial in a child's development. The fundamentals of reading and their attitudes about school are formulated during these early grades. These kids are worth doing everything we can to help them succeed. If you have any thoughts on class size in kindergarten and first grade, please contact me at the superintendent's office or via email. I would love to hear your thoughts.
August 1st is here. The principal's and building secretaries are back; however, I saw so much of the principal's during July that it seemed like they never had any time off. I am fortunate to be working with such dedicated administrators. They truly care about the success of each student. We met today as an administrative team to finalize plans for the start of the year. We also spent time discussing student learning in our district and began our discussions on things we will focus on to make sure every student is learning at the highest level possible. After our meeting, I spent some time reflecting on how it went and I have to say I was very pleased with our focus on student learning and I am confident I am working with the right team to make a difference for every student in New Hampton.
I spent some time this evening preparing my presentation for the teacher in-service days that are coming up before school starts. As I was working, I came across a couple of videos that have been around awhile. You may have seen them before, but I think these are worth seeing again. They are both a part of the Did You Know series that was created by Karl Fisch, Scott McLeod and others over the years. The first one is focused on Iowa.
I believe technology has changed our world and has the power to change education. However, before we embark on a technology initiative, we need to make sure we are actually changing what we are doing. We need to help our children become thinkers and problem-solvers. In addition, we need to make sure they have the skills necessary to work with others. I will have a series of community meetings coming up during the first semester of the year. I hope you will attend one of them to share your thoughts on education and where you believe the New Hampton District should be heading in the future.
Here's the latest version of the "Did You Know?" video. It takes a more national view.
Thanks for stopping by. If you have any questions or comments on either of these videos or anything related to the New Hampton District, please feel free to stop by, email, or give me a call.
What a beautiful day we had today. The weather was noticeably cooler and there was a nice breeze. It was a perfect day for the Chickasaw Open. If you don't know, this is a fund raiser for the district to provide items and opportunities for our students that the district may not normally be able to purchase. I want to thank Sally Kriener and her husband Lyle for putting this together and all the volunteers that helped out today. They all do a great job of making this a fun well-organized event. Also, a big thanks to all of the businesses and individuals who made contributions to make this happen. Finally, thanks to all the people who came out and golfed and also enjoyed the great food. I love barbecue and I must say the food today was awesome!!
As I mentioned last week, registration is next week. I hope to see nearly every student and/or parent on those days. Then it's just a couple of weeks and school will be starting. As parents you can really help your child get the new school year started right. The Iowa Department of Education publish a newsletter titled Each and Every Child. In this months issue they talk about some things to help your child start the new school year off right. Here's the condensed version of their main points:
A. Talk to your child about going back to school in a positive manner.
B. Encourage your child to talk about what he/she expects in school.
C. Create enthusiasm by taking your child back to school shopping.
D. Discuss the change in routines with your child.
E. Begin the new bed times both morning and night at least a week in advance.
You can view the complete newsletter here. You can view previous newsletters here.
If you have any questions or concerns about the New Hampton School District, please contact me. My email address is j_jurrens@new-hampton.k12.ia.us or please call me at (641) 394-2134 ext. 2039.
It's hard to believe that in two weeks we will be holding school registration. It will take place on August 2nd and 3rd in the Elementary/Middle School Cafeteria. Look for information in next week's New Hampton Tribune and also look for something in the mail. It's important that everyone register during these times so that we can make sure we are prepared for all students on the first day of school by having adequate supplies and staff members. If there is someone new to the community who may not see or receive registration information, please share this information with them as well or let us know about them at the school and we will contact them to make sure they know about this process.
With registration coming that also means that fall sports will be starting shortly. Please make sure your child has a physical before the first day of practice and you have adequate insurance coverage for anything that may occur. The school does have insurance available for purchase if you need it. In order for your child to have the best experience possible, it's important that he or she is ready to go on the first day by having the physical complete and all paperwork completed and turned in. If you have any questions about this, please send me an email (jjurrens@new-hampton.k12.ia.us) or contact the superintendent's office at (641) 394-2134. A quick word about athletics/activities, students who participate in some extra-curricular activity in school tend to do better in school and they find they enjoy school more. If your child is at an age where extra-curricular activities are available, please take time to visit with him or her about participating in something. New Hampton students are fortunate to have such a wide variety of activities available to them. I'm confident there is something that everyone can find that he/she enjoys.
Finally, when you come to registration please take time to stop by and introduce yourself and your child to me. I plan to be at registration most of the time on both days as I want to take the opportunity to meet everyone I can. I continue to learn more about the school and community every day and I have to say I can really see why it's Great to be a Chickasaw!!
Thanks for stopping by, please feel free to contact me at any time if you have any questions or concerns about the New Hampton District.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Here is my first blog post as the new superintendent for the New Hampton School District. Please check back regularly as I will share many of the latest happenings within the school. First, let me say it is a privilege and an honor to serve this community. I look forward to working together with you and all the district's residents as we improve our district to make it the best place possible to educate our children.
A large part of my first year will be spent learning about the district and community. I will host several community meetings to get your feedback on where the district is and where it should be going. From these meetings I hope to establish several committees that can help plan our district's future direction. I have presented my Entry Plan to the board of education. In this plan, I share my planned actions that will help me during my first year. You may view it here. If you cannot attend a meeting, but still would like to provide feedback, please contact the superintendent's office at (641) 394-2134 to set up an appointment or to visit on the phone.
It's hard to believe it is July 13th already. The custodians are doing a great job getting the buildings ready for the school year and we are finishing up some of the summer projects. The buildings will .be ready for the first day of school. If only we could get a little rain to help green things up a little. Anyway, I'm heading to Waukon this evening to cheer on the boys in their first round sub-state game. I hope to see you there. Go Chickasaws!
