Last night the Central School Board met and held a work session pertaining to the district calendar. I proposed 2 revised drafts and the board chose a draft that aligned to the feedback we received from you, the community. I believe everyone will be happy with this draft and I thank everyone for their feedback.
I will be meeting with our District Leadership Team to work out some of the details, then I will host another public forum on Thusday, February 27th, at 7:00pm located in the Central Auditorium. Please try to attend as I believe you will be pleased with what we came up with.
The Central School Board will be putting together an Ad Hoc committee to explore calendar options to better meet the needs of 21st century students. Just today, Wisconsin announced legislation to give districts the flexibility to move away from the traditional calendar. This is similar to the legislation Iowa passed last year. Our students deserve a public education that meets their needs, not one that met ours. If you would like to be a part of the process in developing this, please let me know. All members have to be approved by the board.
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Saturday, February 15, 2014
The Cost of Open Enrolling Out
With our discussions surrounding the calendar changes, the people opposed to more balanced breaks are looking at open enrolling out as an option. As of today's date, this is mostly upperclassmen. This got me thinking and playing with numbers, so I thought I would share out what I came up with.
Using Elkader (central location of our district) and open enrolling into Starmont, your looking at about a 20 mile trip one way. Here comes the math students! 40 miles round trip a day, times that by a 180 days of school (No matter the calendar, it is still 180 days of school). Total miles driven back and forth to school equals 7,200 miles. Remember that number. Now lets say you drive a vehicle that averages 20 miles to the gallon, take 7200 miles divided by 20 miles per gallon and you have 360 gallons of gas consumed in a school year. Lets pretend the government stays nice to us and gas is only $3.00 a gallon for the entire school year. Take 360 gallons of gas times by $3.00 a gallon and you have $1080 spent on gas for open enrolling into another school district. Now these numbers will change depending on location etc., but a person also has to consider wear and tear on a vehicle and the expense of an added 7200 miles per year.
Now here is the fun part (glass half full, not empty)! Remember the proposed calendar is still 180 days of school, whether you go to Central or any other school district. So if you decide not to open enroll out, take your +$1080 saved and Google how you can use that on one of our other breaks. Remember we are proposing a fall, winter, and spring break.
Here is a list of what I came up with (obviously you can tell my interests):
Fall Break
Using Elkader (central location of our district) and open enrolling into Starmont, your looking at about a 20 mile trip one way. Here comes the math students! 40 miles round trip a day, times that by a 180 days of school (No matter the calendar, it is still 180 days of school). Total miles driven back and forth to school equals 7,200 miles. Remember that number. Now lets say you drive a vehicle that averages 20 miles to the gallon, take 7200 miles divided by 20 miles per gallon and you have 360 gallons of gas consumed in a school year. Lets pretend the government stays nice to us and gas is only $3.00 a gallon for the entire school year. Take 360 gallons of gas times by $3.00 a gallon and you have $1080 spent on gas for open enrolling into another school district. Now these numbers will change depending on location etc., but a person also has to consider wear and tear on a vehicle and the expense of an added 7200 miles per year.
Now here is the fun part (glass half full, not empty)! Remember the proposed calendar is still 180 days of school, whether you go to Central or any other school district. So if you decide not to open enroll out, take your +$1080 saved and Google how you can use that on one of our other breaks. Remember we are proposing a fall, winter, and spring break.
Here is a list of what I came up with (obviously you can tell my interests):
Fall Break
- All inclusive pheasant hunts
- All inclusive fishing trips
- All inclusive hog hunt
- A good portion knocked off of a big game hunt
Winter Break
- All inclusive ski trip
- Most expenses paid snow mobile trip
- All inclusive ice fishing
Spring Break
- All inclusive trip to Cancun
- Blue Marlin fishing trip
Many of these opportunities do not exist in our traditional calendar without missing school. I understand change is hard, but change can also bring opportunities that previously didn't exist.
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Great Things Happening at Central Post
Too often we get caught up in the negative news so I am starting this post to share out all the great things I hear about Central students and staff. If you have something positive to add about our school district, this is the place to do it!
5/05/14
Grandparents Day at Central Elementary was a huge success! Central students showed off their skills during our monthly PBIS assembly and our grandparents enjoyed the show.
Here is an email I received from my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Zittergruen:
I have run into several grandparents this weekend (including my own parents) and many of them stopped me to tell me how great that day was. One told me that she was talking to another lady at the assembly who said she was from Postville, and had 17 grandchildren in several different schools, and she had never been invited to a Grandparents Day. Apparently she was thrilled! :) I had over 50 people in my room, and I couldn't have asked for the kids to be better behaved and responsible either. It was a fun afternoon!
5/05/14
Grandparents Day at Central Elementary was a huge success! Central students showed off their skills during our monthly PBIS assembly and our grandparents enjoyed the show.
Here is an email I received from my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Zittergruen:
I have run into several grandparents this weekend (including my own parents) and many of them stopped me to tell me how great that day was. One told me that she was talking to another lady at the assembly who said she was from Postville, and had 17 grandchildren in several different schools, and she had never been invited to a Grandparents Day. Apparently she was thrilled! :) I had over 50 people in my room, and I couldn't have asked for the kids to be better behaved and responsible either. It was a fun afternoon!
5/05/14
Great job Ms. Gritzner, our Global Science students, and community members for their work on the food waste project that made KWWL news. Great news spreads fast and after making the news Ms. Gritzner received this email from UNI!
Great Job Caden and Delaney on becoming Central's first PBIS medal winners! Continue to be leaders in demonstrating positive behavior!
I was really glad I caught your news story a couple of days ago on KWWL. What a great project! I am so impressed with your waste sort! Great idea to spread the food waste on the parking lot so students can see how much is wasted!
I wanted to let you know that we have spent the last year promoting food waste reduction and landfill diversion. We conducted four workshops across the state, and created a website at foodwaste.iwrc.org Please check it out for some great resources and information you may be able to use!
If there is anything at all that you would like assistance with in implementing a program to reduce food waste at Central Community School in Elkader, please let us know! Thanks and best wishes!
Jenny Trent
Environmental Specialist
Great Job Caden and Delaney on becoming Central's first PBIS medal winners! Continue to be leaders in demonstrating positive behavior!
Congratulations to Mrs. Wenger's 5th grade class on their FAST assessment achievement! The 5th grade class was the only class to make better than expected gains in fluency. As an average the 5th grade class gained 18 words per minute from fall to winter. Because of their amazing success, Mr. Trenkamp and Mrs. Wenger celebrated with them by hosting a sledding party at Osborne. Keep up the great work work 5th grade students!
Our first post is from Theresa Eberhardt. Thank you for the kind words Theresa, our students and staff were amazing last night! Wouldn't be possible without the strong community and parental support.
Please pass on to all of the students involved in this year’s carnival and variety show, needed to write this note to say how very impressed I was. I know it is also with the guidance from the boosters and teachers as well-kudos!! A job well done!! It seems to continue to get better each year and though not so big in numbers everyone performed with a big heart. It is not just about having fun but it is about:
*using your God-given talents and abilities in productive ways
*getting up in front of a group of people will help you in any interview or job you have in the future to express your ideas with confidence
*creativity will help you in any future committee, job, career, or community involvement you pursue
*music and humor are very relaxing, calming and helpful in reducing stress and other health issues
*the friendships you develop through these events will stick with you for a lifetime
*without knowing it you have learned valuable life lessons like rolling with the punches, not letting a small set-back (or falling letter) interfere with what you know needed to be done, coming up with solutions to problems as they arise and moving on, schedules, timing, team work, hard work pays off and so much more
You will be the leaders in our churches, communities, schools, counties, states and nation for the future and I see it looking very bright! Great job and keep up the good work and commitment to excellence in all that you do and strive for.
Theresa E. Eberhardt
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