Congratulations to our October Character Strikes Winners

Character Strikes Winners

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING

October 28, 2013

Mr. John Lieto was hired for the 8^th grade mathematics teaching position. The interview team consisting of Doug Lovell, Jay Sinclair, Shelley Schlump, Jacob Anastasoff, Melissa Benware and Melissa Raymond indicated that he was ranked #1 after both rounds of interviews. The first round consisted of a traditional interview and the second round required finalists to teach a lesson in the classroom.

The financial auditor provided an overview of the district’s annual audit. In Fiscal Year 2013 the district received $12,925,076 in revenue and had $12,702,382 in expenses. Therefore, the district added $222,694 to the fund equity which was at $4,274,133 as of June 30, 2013.

Ida Public Schools is currently in excellent financial shape but the revenue forecast across the State is still bleak. The number of school districts in deficit doubled this past year to over 50. Economists are predicting a long and slow economic recovery in Michigan and across the country. Additionally, the student population in Michigan is declining which reduces revenue even further. Ida lost about 31 students from 2012 to 2013 and we are projecting a loss of about 26 students for 2014.

Ida’s current year budget (2014) projections follow:                                   

                                    Revenue:          $12,625,837

                                    Expenses:         $13,317,470
                               

The projected yearly deficit is at $691,633 for an ending fund balance on June 30, 2014 of $3,582,500.

The emergency evacuation drill on Friday, October 25, 2013 went very smoothly. The teaching staff, support staff, administration and students took the drill very seriously and performed admirably. The district-wide lock down drill was fast, efficient and worthwhile. Students remained calm, extremely quiet and followed instructions. Once the middle school evacuation started all students and staff were out of the building and across Lewis Avenue in less than 6 minutes. The law enforcement personnel were impressed. The independent evaluators had the following positive comments:

            1.  The students were extremely quiet

            2.  Students exiting windows were fast and they stayed out of sight

            3.  Students ducked below windows when moving about

            4.  Very organized

            5.  Students organized by class with class rosters available

            6.  Impressive drill

            7.  Excellent use of check off sheets for particular purposes (organization)

A few suggestions for improvement were also documented which include:

            1.  Keep lights on in hallways

            2.  Police officer access to building once in lockdown

            3.  Evacuation overcrowding at a particular gate

Once approved, the meeting minutes are posted on the district web-site at www.idaschools.org.

Homecoming Thank You Letter - IDA - What a big success!

High School Marching Band concert 10/28/13

Anti Bullying Task Force 10/21/13 Meeting Minutes

Anti-Bullying Task Force

October 21, 2013

 Meeting Minutes

Members Present:

Patty Galloro, Amy Lavigne-Benore, Holly Dixon, Chris Horney, Doug Lovell, Bert Wagner, Terri Proudfoot, Rick Carsten, Sue Hanson and Tom Dykstra

1.     Approved September 16, 2013 meeting minutes.

 2.     Discussed Homecoming activities, including the sale of the photos by the PTA group. Suggested order forms be placed on web school site and consider providing Honeywell notices.

3.     Reviewed a list of contributors to provide thank you letters and other considerations. Discussed the need to contact news agencies so they were made aware of the list of contributors. Directed Tom Dykstra to write thank you letters to each of the contributors.

4.     Discussed the following December 6, 2013 Kindness Activities:

a.      Elementary School: December 6 - “Kindness Cards” (like Christmas cards)… we will pair up classrooms.

b.     Middle School: Give a Kid a Christmas Activities.

c.      High School: Give a Kid a Christmas Activities.

 
5.     Heard building updates:

a.      Elementary School - respect and classroom activities

b.     Middle School - kindness slogans, Red-Ribbon Week, and pledges

c.      High School - Student of the Day, weekly quotes, Halloween cancer fund raiser. 

6.     Discussed possible in-service training for staff members. 

7.     Heard county-wide update from Mr. Lovell. The update included discussions regarding weeklong countywide efforts.

8.     The next meeting of the Anti-Bullying Task Force will be held on January 27, 2014, at 6 PM in the High School Media Center.

 

 

How Did We Get That Picture?

The students spell out IDA!

The entire student body spelled "IDA" today for part of the homecoming festivities tonight. The elementary created  the "I", the middle school made the "D", and the high school formed the "A".

Mrs. Harmon's 6th grade class study snakes

 Garter Snake

Milk Snake

IHS Blog

New IHS blog post available! Visit http://idahighschoolblog.yolasite.com/ !

Ida Elementary students are building robots!

Yes, those Ida Elementary School students are building robots! A new FIRST LEGO League (FLL) program at the school has third and fourth graders building robots, researching solutions to the problems engineers face, and learning to work as a team. They are spending eight weeks of practices preparing to compete at the Mission Possible Tournament, held Saturday, November 23, 2013, at Monroe High School from 9:00 am to 3:15 pm. The tournament is free and open to the public.

Ten elementary students Chloe Bourbina, Savanna Callihan, Kirby Carsten, Dylan Cogswell, Liliana Patrick, Abby Shumacker, Ryan Seitz, Mason Taylor, Owen Vogt, and Carson Zarend  are coached by two Ida High School students, Kelsey Hite and Grant Bussel, who are members of FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) team VIRUS 3547, which meets at Monroe County Community College.

The team is using LEGO Mindstorms kits on loan from the Monroe County Intermediate School District. These kits were previously used for a series of Robotics Camps that were held at the MCISD this summer.  The team received the funds necessary to register from Foot & Ankle Specialists, P.C. Because of this connection, they are nicknamed ‘Team Big Foot.’

Each year, FLL addresses a challenge facing society to be solved by future engineers and scientists. This year’s FLL challenge, Nature’s Fury, has students investigating a natural disaster in a community and engineering an innovative solution to some aspect of the disaster’s challenges. They are also designing robots to complete missions on a natural disaster-themed playing surface. For example, they land a cargo plane of supplies on a cleared runway, move people and animals to safe zones, and trim damaged tree limbs from near safety lines. In addition to the robot and project components, the program also teaches students teamwork. They learn how to lead, follow leadership, take turns, and encourage other team members.

The LEGO Mindstorms robotics materials allow students to build and program robots with no previous experience, yet they are also sophisticated enough that they are used all the way up to introductory college robotics courses. Each robot is built of LEGO and LEGO Technic pieces around the Mindstorms brick (controller), motors, and sensors. Students then use a graphical programming environment to write a program and download it to the brick. The robot is then able to receive sensor input and move its motors, allowing it to complete a task.

 

Board of Education Summary

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING

October 14, 2013

The Board of Education accepted the resignation due to retirement of Richard Russell. Mr. Russell has been teaching eighth grade math for the past several years.

Sara Smith’s appointment to the kindergarten teaching position was confirmed. Mrs. Smith joined the elementary staff last week and has been a wonderful addition to our staff. She has made a positive impact already and we know the kids will enjoy her style!

Katy Destatte was appointed to the Great Start Readiness Preschool Assistant position. She is starting this week.

Student enrollment is around 1,434 and the budget was developed on an estimate of 1,426. Therefore, a positive budget swing is expected and it appears that the teaching staff will receive step and longevity increases effective in January.

The Board of Education authorized the administration to move forward on Phase Two of the Track Construction Project. Phase Two includes finalizing the blueprints, developing the construction documents, bidding out all work, and making recommendations for the bid award. Foresite Design of Berkley, Michigan was selected to complete the work for $2,500.

The Policy Committee completed their review of the first draft of the NEOLA Policies for the Board of Education. The revisions have been sent to NEOLA and then they will forward the second draft back to the District. The Policy Committee will meet at that time to go through everything one last time before forwarding the manual to the full Board.

The Building and Grounds Committee met and approved the construction of two outdoor learning laboratories and a greenhouse. Volunteers assembled the greenhouse on Saturday, October 12, 2013. Feel free to walk behind the welding shop and examine it. It looks very nice and will be useful for our student projects.

Mr. Dykstra and Mrs. Schlump highlighted the Educator Growth and Evaluation Process that has been developed and implemented in Ida. Student achievement data is used throughout the process.

Once approved, the meeting minutes are posted on the district web-site at www.idaschools.org.

Kindergarten Classes visit Ida Fire Department

Thank you to the Ida Fire Department!

 Mrs. Smith's Class

 Mrs. Sondergeld's Class

 Mrs. Locke's Class

 

Mrs. Thorne's Class

 

New message from the principal at the IHS Blog! Visit http://idahighschoolblog.yolasite.com/message-from-the-principal.php !

Mills Mentors and Little Locke's Buddies enjoying sidewalk chalk together

Picture Day at Ida Elementary

A big thank you goes to our picture day parent volunteers Jacki Dunsmore,

Melissa Huston and Joy Sargent.  We appreciate our volunteers and all they do for the school and students.

New IHS Blog post available! Visit http://idahighschoolblog.yolasite.com/ !

Box Top Winners.....Congratulations to Mrs. Teague's 4th Grade Class

Hannah Teague’s fourth grade students were the winners for the September box top collection. They brought in 2,176 box tops…that is 800 more than the second place class! They will be enjoying a frozen treat of their choice very soon.