District Digest
Monthly Wenatchee School District Staff Newsletter
October 2019
Superintendent's Office
Paul Gordon, Superintendent
Since July 1, I have been working to deepen my understanding of our District, our community, and our valley. I am feeling more connected to all three, but I have more to do to be embedded in each. Over the coming months, I will be meeting with school leaders, staff members and students to listen to their perspectives on how we teach and learn, our successes and our challenges. To date, I have had over 30 different stakeholder meetings and heard many important personal stories about our District and valley.
Outside of my listening and learning sessions, I am also visiting schools with a few members of the Learning and Teaching team and the school leaders. It is a great opportunity for me to observe and discover more about the learning that is occurring in our classrooms. I will also be visiting schools and classrooms on my own. Many times the principal will join me as we visit classrooms, but sometimes it will be just me. There is no need to stop or introduce me to the class. I just love being in the rooms and almost always, I will leave a note behind thanking the teacher for letting me “join” the class.
Human Resources
Kelly Lopez, Executive Director of Human Resources
Substitutes
Reminder to everyone Dianna Miller is no longer with the District. All substitute and Aesop questions should be directed to Kelly Lopez.
School Employee Benefits Board (SEBB)
All District employees will transition to SEBB for health insurance beginning January 1st. Open enrollment for SEBB is October 1st- November 15th. Everyone MUST participate in open enrollment for SEBB. Click here for the SEBB open enrollment link.
Student Services
Social-Emotional Learning
The Social-Emotional Steering Committee had its first meeting. We reviewed where we’ve been and next steps for the 5 Task Force groups, Elementary, Middle School, High School, District, and Community. We began the process of creating a student self-assessment survey which the District Task Force group will begin working on finalizing. The goal is to have it ready this Fall/early Winter for students to take so we have baseline data to compare to a second survey to be given in the Spring.
McKinney-Vento
We’ve hired a 2nd McKinney-Vento Liaison, Carmela Solorio-Preciado. Our current Liaison, Suzanne Stanton, submitted a grant and received funds to hire this additional person. Carmela currently works downstairs for the Migrant-Bilingual program and has covered for Suzanne in the past when she has been out of the office. Carmela’s 1st official day in her new role will be October 1st. We are excited about the additional support she will be able to provide to our homeless families and students.
Special Programs
Mike Lane, Director of State & Federal Program
Nadya Bush, Assistant Director of Special Programs
Title I/LAP Requirements for Columbia, Lewis & Clark, Lincoln, Mission View, Newbery, Foothills, Orchard, Pioneer, & Westside:
Parent Notification - Nov 1
School-Wide Plan - Nov 1
Principal Attestation - Dec 2
School-Parent Compact - Keep copies at your site
Fall Parent Meeting agenda and sign-in sheet - Dec 2
Notice of Limited State Certification & Licensure - If you have anyone teaching out of their certification area (or any emergency substitutes) for more than 4 consecutive weeks, you must notify parents in writing. Contact me if you have anyone in this situation.
PBIS Myth Busting
Myth: We reward students for doing the minimum.
Reality: We reinforce appropriate behavior until it becomes habitual. When students develop better (more appropriate) habits, there is less need for reinforcement.
Myth: 4:1 is about complimenting students.
Reality: 4:1 is about acknowledging & reinforcing appropriate behavior more frequently than correcting behavior. Acknowledgements are pre-taught to students and can be verbal, non-verbal, or tangible.
What is MTSS?
Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) is a framework that helps educators provide academic and behavioral strategies for students with various needs. MTSS grew out of the integration of Response to Intervention (RtI), PBIS, and Social Emotional Learning (SEL).
The linked document is an update regarding the State’s Dyslexia screening legislation.
Curriculum and Instruction and Instructional Technology
Interesting reading related to student screen time.
Not All Screen Time is Created Equal
Professional Growth Principals and L&T Directors are doing a book study this year on Grit. The research on “grit” complements/incorporates the research on “growth mindset” and offers interesting considerations for how we might better serve our students.
Finance & Operations
Larry Mayfield, Executive Director of Finance & Operations
Finance
Reimbursement Reminder
Reminder - if you make a purchase using your own funds, there is a process for reimbursement - please visit the “forms” section on the WSD web site, (link is on the upper right of the screen), then “accounts payable/finance”. Find the form called “reimbursement for expenses/purchase expense voucher”. Click on it to open- the first page is instructions, the second page is the claim form. You can enter data directly into the form, then print, sign, and date. Submit to your office manager for final approval routing. Please note - your receipts must be dated within 30 days of your claim.
Operational
Grounds - Irrigation water is scheduled to go off on October 11. Sprinkler line blowouts will start at this time so expect to see grounds on your site blowing lines. Grass is growing very well right now with some athletic fields being mowed multiple times a week. Please allow grounds to move through your property when on site.
As time and weather permit grounds will be performing some tree trimming, planter bed work, leaf clearing, etc.
HVAC - Moving from the cooling season into the heating season. Typical set points are heating at 68 degrees and cooling at 72 to 74 degrees. We must maintain a 3-4 degree separation minimum between setpoints.
Locksmith - We are trying to tackle as many of the lock and key issues as possible while we search for a replacement locksmith. Dan Groche has decided to retire after 38 years with the Wenatchee School District.
Operational Technology
Please be aware that the district Acceptable Use Policy applies to work both in and out of district when using district technology. The full policy can be located at:
Communications
Student and Staff Focus Groups
Over the next several months we will be scheduling superintendent focus groups with students to hear their voices on learning in our District. What we learn from students never ceases to amaze me and we'll use what we discover as we begin making plans for a new strategic plan.
WSD Weekly Submissions
I hope you are enjoying the WSD Weekly e-newsletter. Please feel free to submit your news, shout outs, pictures and stories to me at district_communications@wenatcheeschools.org.
#Proud2BWSD
Help us gain some traction and district pride. Use the Hashtag #Proud2BWSD when posting on your school social media.
Communications HUB
https://www.wenatcheeschools.org/committees
Wenatchee School District Communications
Email: district_communications@wenatcheeschools.org
Website: Wenatcheeschools.org
Location: 235 Sunset Avenue, Wenatchee, WA, USA
Phone: 509-663-8161
Facebook: facebook.com/wsd246
Twitter: @wenatcheeSD