Multi-Age Classrooms
While there have been and will be bumps in the road as we are in our first year of rolling this out, early signs have reaffirmed my belief this is the right approach to education. I have sat in all grade level meetings and watched as teams of teachers review student data regardless of an "age". I have seen kindergarten students with higher scores than 1st grade students, I have also seen kindergarten students not ready for 1st grade materials and standards. This can be said about all the age groups. The multi-age approach is putting a spot light on individual needs, not the needs of an age group. Our teachers have been much more focused on individual student data and meeting the needs of each student instead of the age group. I do not feel this focus would be as strong if we remained in single age groups.
Vision
This week the Central School Board hosted a Vision Work Session in which Structure Architecture presented. I am very excited to work with Structure in ensuring our building and facilities align with our goal of a 21st Century Education. We will be forming a Facilities Committee so if you are interested in being a part of this process please let me know.
Teacher Leadership & Compensation
Our sub-committee met with sub-committees from West Central, Starmont, and East Buchanan. Together we are going to be applying for a grant that would create the following positions: 4 Instructional Coaches, 2 Technology Coaches, numerous Collaboration Coordinators, Mentor Teachers, and Model Teachers. A lot more information to come on this, but I am very encouraged to see school districts working together to better meet the needs of our students!
Fall Sports
Boy and Girls Cross Country both took 1st place in their first meet of the year at Ed-Co on Tuesday. Last night the Central Girls Volleyball team swept West Central in three matches for the win. Tonight Central Football takes on Tripoli, 7:00pm at Tripoli. It is great seeing how our coaches and student athletes are representing our district, keep up the great work!
STEM
This past year I made a push for teachers to apply for STEM grants, and they answered the call! Central will be incorporating many different STEM opportunities for our students in the 2014/15 school year. These opportunities will be for all grade levels.
Mr. Ungerer received a STEM grant for FIRST Tech Challenge as well as a Rockwell Collins grant to support STEM learning. FIRST Tech Challenge is defined as: FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) is a community-focused robotics program while teaching students the value of hard work, innovation and creativity while going beyond the robotics competition by teaching teenagers the importance of working together, sharing ideas and treating each other with respect and dignity.
Central is also offering an after school program where students can compete in a LEGO League robotics competition. Ms. Schultz will be this year's coach and we are working with the ISU Extension office to offer this opportunity to our students. Central is also hosting the tournament on November 22nd.
More information to come as we get into our STEM curriculum.
Community Service
New this year I have asked each grade level to participate in a community service project. The communites of Central give so much to our school district, we feel it is time to give something back. Mr. O'Brien's Ag Construction class got us started by moving tables and chairs for the Elkader Care Center. Coomunity Service is a life-long lesson that doesn't show up on a paper and pencil standardized test!
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