BSD Staff Updates
September 9, 2019
-Karen
Welcome to the 2019-20 School Year!
A welcome letter and "robo call" went out to families today from Superintendent Aaron Leavell. The letter is posted on the District website (with links from the home page, and from our District Facebook page).
Back-to-School Farmers Market: September 26 3:30 - 6:30 p.m.
However, the Bremerton Community Farmers Market is inviting all Bremerton School District Families to join in festivities for all ages from 3:30 - 6:30 pm at the Evergreen-Rotary Park Market on Thursday, September 26.
Naval Ave will have a booth at the market with crafts for students and will be conducting PE type activities for students. There will be a number of additional groups in attendance with a focus on our BSD families. In addition to our regular market vendors, the following organizations have signed-up for the event:
- YMCA Bremerton – will coordinate a fun kids activity around health and exercise
- Handy Andy – balloon art by donation
- Krys Kreations Face Painting & Parties – face painting by donation
- Bremerton Backpack Brigade – info and fun activity
- Kitsap Harvest – doing a “fresh food donation day” at the market encouraging folks to bring their garden leftovers for donation to senior centers.
Are you up-to-date on your immunizations?
From the Washington State Department of Health
Up-to-date on your immunizations? There’s an easy and free way to find out! Sign up for a MyIR account and access your and your family’s official immunizations records for free!
Board Briefs - September 5, 2019
Compiled by Board Secretary Ioanna Cossack
With the beginning of the school year, Board meetings historically are pretty short as things begin to gear up for a new year, so notes are pretty compact as well.
Kitsap County Amateur Radio Club (KCARC) was at our first meeting of the year to thank the District for its support of their annual Field Day each June. As Dr. Leavell and Mike Schiano pointed out, this is an important partnership and the group is an important asset to the community and the Emergency Management system within our county.
Many of our directors attended the Summer Institute in August and had a great time listening to the speakers as well as getting opportunities to interact with staff. They had many great things to say about the event. Dr. Leavell applauded each of the buildings for their hard work and big hearts to make the first day of school special and welcoming to all of our students (and parents who tagged along).
Once again, September has been proclaimed Attendance Awareness Month in our district. Principals and building staff already work hard to increase attendance at schools, but September is an important time for extra effort in getting information out to parents and students about the importance of being at school every day.
Upcoming Events:
- Attendance Awareness Month - September
- First Day of Kindergarten, September 9
- Bremerton High School's first home Football Game (vs Black Hills), Memorial Stadium, September 6, 6:30 pm
- Home Football Game (vs. Wilson), Memorial Stadium, October 5, 6:30 pm
- Constitution Day, September 17
- Special Board Meeting/Study Session, September 19, time TBD
- Regular Meeting of the Board of Directors, September 19, 5:00 pm
- Bremerton High School Open House, September 19, 5:00 pm
- Farmer’s Market (historically at Naval) will be held at Evergreen-Rotary Park, September 26, 3:30 - 6:30 pm
- Regular Meeting of the Board of Directors, October 3, 5:00 pm
- Homecoming Football Game (vs. N. Mason), Memorial Stadium, October 4, 6:30 pm
- Homecoming Dance, Bremerton High School, October 5, 7:00 pm
- BHS Day at the Sounders, October 6, 1:00 pm (Tickets on sale for $25)
Mike Schiano and Aaron Leavell honored by Kitsap County Amateur Radio Club
At the September 5 Bremerton School Board meeting, members of the Kitsap County Amateur Radio Club presented Superintendent Aaron Leavell and district employee Mike Schiano with honorary memberships as a thank you for the District's support for the club.
The club hosts their annual Field Day at Mountain View Middle School. Field Day is a "ham radio open house" with more than 40,000 ham radio operators from throughout North America setting up transmitting stations in public places to demonstrate ham radio's science, skill and service to our communities and our nation. The 2020 Field Day is June 27. Learn more about the club at www.kcarc.org.
Parent-Community Survey
We invite you to take this brief survey and tell us what you think!
Math & Movement Workshop
Are you looking for a whole-body, kinesthetic, professional development opportunity to learn new ways to engage your students?
Consider attending this interactive Math & Movement workshop! Learn kinesthetic strategies that support school curricula, build number sense, develop critical thinking, and deepen conceptual math understanding. This is a fast-paced and fun workshop packed with new ideas for linking movement to daily lesson plans throughout the school day. The workshop is ideal for Pre-K through 5th grade educators.
Attendees will receive a 6-hour professional development certificate (to be approved by your district for continuing education credit). The Math & Movement program is aligned to most state standards and linked to the common core.
Workshop Date and Location:
Date: Wednesday, October 9, 9:00am– 3:00pm
Location: Commodore Options K-12, 9530 NE High School Road, Bainbridge Island, WA
Click here to register and for more information (register soon limited spaces!!).
Kitsap Community Health Priorities (KCHP) Survey
Sept. 9, 2019
Survey will help set health priorities for Kitsap
How satisfied are you with the quality of life in our county? What contributes to the health of your community? What causes the biggest health challenges?
These are among the questions asked in a survey that seeks to understand how Kitsap residents feel about the overall health of their community and ways it could be improved. Results of the Kitsap Community Health Priorities (KCHP) community survey will be combined with health data to develop a set of priorities that can be addressed by work groups.
All Kitsap residents are invited to take part in the survey, which will remain open through Sept. 29. Survey responses are completely anonymous.
What is KCHP?
KCHP is a comprehensive health improvement process supported by CHI Franciscan, Holly Ridge Center, Kaiser Permanente, Kitsap Community Foundation, Kitsap Community Resources, Kitsap County Human Services, Kitsap Mental Health Services, Kitsap Public Health District, Olympic Educational Service District, Peninsula Community Health Services, the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe, the Suquamish Tribe and United Way of Kitsap County.
KCHP previously completed assessments in 2011 and 2014. The 2014 assessment identified four community health priorities: Adverse childhood experiences (ACES); behavioral health care access; affordable housing; and obesity prevention/reduction.
Welcome new Bremerton School Board Director John Hurley!
John Hurley was recently sworn in as a Director for the Bremerton School Board, position 1, which has been vacant since June.
Director Hurley is the Family Services Manager at Kitsap Community Resources (KCR) Head Start, Early Head Start, and ECEAP Early Learning. As a child, he attended Naval Avenue Elementary and Bremerton Middle School. John and his wife Rebecca have two children, Connor and Nora, who both attend Naval Avenue Early Learning Center.
“I am passionate about education, and have worked in early childhood education my entire adult life. Since my children attend school in the district it was important for me to be involved and contribute this amazing District and all of the important programs it has to offer.” -- Director John Hurley.
Some reminders about.... Remind!
We pay for a Districtwide account that provides a Remind account for every staff member who needs to communicate with students, athletes, club members and their parents/guardians.
Please see the information below and take note: If you use Remind, your account is backed-up for public records retention purposes -taking that off of your plate. Using Remind also addresses some of the boundary invasion issues you've learned about in your recent training.
A few more details about setting up Remind:
- Most staff already have an account created in the system (set-up when we first set-up our Districtwide account with Remind. Log in on Remind.com with Google to access it).
- If you are new(ish) or it shows you do not have an account, create an account using your BSD google log-in.
- To create a class/club/team, click on the "create a class" plus sign on the left-hand side of the screen.
- Name the class/team.
- Change the code to something memorable, if you like. (Or you can leave the random auto-generated code.)
- Click the "create" button.
- Choose whether you are going to print out instructions to hand out (printable PDF), use in-class instructions (give the code to text), or create a link you can put on your website (instantly joins people to your class).
Questions or issues setting up your Remind account? Contact Kati Carthum, Digital Education Coordinator.
Coming soon! New visitor management system
SEBB Benefits Fairs
In-Person SEBB Benefits Fair
- October 10, 2019 @ Sheridan Community Center in Bremerton, WA 4:00-8:00pm
- Carriers/plan administrators on site to answer employees' questions regarding benefits
- HCA Staff on site to assist with questions about SEBB Program, online enrollment, and enrollment materials.
SEBB Virtual Benefits Fair
- October 1 through November 15, 2019
- hca.wa.gov/sebb-employee
- Provides 24/7 access to SEBB benefits information
- Optimized for mobile devices
- Direct access to the ALEX online Benefits Advisor
- Direct Link to SEBB My Account for easy, online enrollment
Board Briefs: August 8, 2019 (replacing the 8/1 meeting that was cancelled)
Compiled by Ioanna Cossack, Board Secretary
You can find these reports, other attachments, and more information on the agenda/BoardDocs site
Board Briefs: August 15, 2019
Compiled by Ioanna Cossack, board secretary
You can find these reports, other attachments, and more information on the agenda/BoardDocs site
In cased you missed it on day #3 of Summer Institute....
WST staff honored by the Washington Association of Career and Technical Administrators (WACTA).
The Washington Association of Career and Technical Education (WA-ACTE) is the premier association for career and technical education in the state of Washington. The award winners were announced during the Awards Breakfast at the Washington ACTE Summer Conference in early August in Spokane.
Congrats to West Sound Tech's Nora Zollweg - this year’s winner of the WA-ACTE Career Guidance Award!
The Washington ACTE Career Guidance Award recognizes school counselors and career development professionals who have demonstrated commitment to connecting students with opportunities for success, shown innovation in career exploration and development, and have advocated for CTE as a viable option for all students.
Nora Zollweg is the Student Services Coordinator for West Sound Technical Skills Center. In 2011, Nora decided she missed working with students and took a position as Student Outreach Coordinator with West Sound Technical Skills Center. Eight years later, Nora is still working at WST though her position has been changed to Student Services Coordinator, which covers a comprehensive approach to student support and success. Along the way, Nora has earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Services and Master’s Degrees in Organizational Leadership and Human Resources, plus a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership with a Principal’s endorsement. Nora has also completed her CTE Director’s training through OSPI and holds a CTE Director’s credential. Nora has been a Washington ACTE member since 2004.
Shani Watkins was also named WACTA Director of the Year, and West Sound Tech was awarded the 100% membership award (WST has 100% Washington ACTE membership participation from each and every member of their Career and Technical Education staff.).
The Washington ACTE Awards promote merit in Career and Technical Education (CTE) by recognizing individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to CTE. Award winners serve as inspirational leaders to Washington ACTE: they embody the core values of serving students and being committed to CTE. The state winners will progress on to compete at the regional level next year at the ACTE Region V Conference in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, April 22-25, 2020. The Washington Association for Career and Technical Education is the state’s largest not-for-profit association committed to the advancement of education that prepares youth and adults for successful careers. Washington ACTE represents the community of CTE professionals including educators, administrators, researchers, guidance counselors, and others at all levels of education. Washington ACTE is committed to excellence in providing advocacy, public awareness and access to resources, professional development, and leadership opportunities.
"We are Bremerton" District video
AVID featured in USA Today!
AVID has been featured in an op-ed published by USA Today titled, What can we do to help low-income kids graduate from college?
UW Football Teacher/Staff Appreciation
The UW Football Teacher/Staff Appreciation promo link is now available! The discount is available to teachers, staff, volunteers and their family and friends for the September 14th UW game vs. Hawaii at 4:30PM. Click here to purchase discounted seats (up to 8). No additional promo code is needed. This link will allow them to buy 1-8 seats at the discounted rate.
If you want more than 8 tickets, contact:
Justin Rothbaum
Business Development Account Executive
206-685-8429
Follow BSD on Social Media!
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Website: www.bremertonschools.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BremertonSchools/
Twitter: @BremertonSD
BSD Staff Updates Newsletter 2019-20 / Issue #2 distributed 9/9/19.