Tonasket School District

Weekly Update ~ 12/14/2018

"Focused on Learning and Linking Learning to Life"

One School

One Team

One Purpose - Student Success

Don’t forget about the grant writing workshop at the district office from 9-5 on Saturday!

SCHOOL DISTRICT GOALS:

Powerful Teaching and Learning

  • The administration team spent an hour reviewing the article titled, The Speed of Trust, at our Tuesday meeting. Trust is the glue that holds an organization together and the oil that helps it runs smoothly. We all agreed that this was an area we all plan to focus on in our areas of responsibility.

  • Bill Eagle from our North Central Educational Service District is going to be working with each of our principals and our special programs director to help them grow in their professional skills. NCESD and the state principals’ association have been working to improve principal mentoring programs and this partnership is a result of some of their work.

  • With the help of Samuel Reed in our Choice High School, I am working on developing policy and procedure for animals in the school. The procedure is being reviewed by administration now and if you would like to give feedback on this procedure please let me know.

  • At our regional superintendent meeting in Wenatchee on Thursday, we shared best practices in English as second language programs, discussed the importance of self-care, and heard from an educational lawyer on the changes to discipline law for this and next school year. The district will be working on policy and procedure changes to reflect these law changes and will communicate those changes through this format and through your principals.

Stewardship

    • We found out about a student diagnosed with whooping cough this week. The following message was sent out by robocall and a letter from each building to inform parents of the whooping cough case:
      “A student in the Tonasket School District has been diagnosed with Pertussis (whooping cough)


      School Administrators and the school nurse are working closely with Okanogan County Public Health District to control the spread of Pertussis in our school.

      Take this time to check with your healthcare provider to make sure you and your children are up to date with vaccinations.

      It is cold and flu season and we are beginning to see the typical variety of illnesses however we felt it is important to make you aware of pertussis being discovered in our school.”

    • On December 12th the Tonasket PSE ratified the contract changes for the 2018-19 PSE contract. The contract changes will be posted on our website after the school board approves the changes as well. This vote is scheduled for the December 20th noon school board meeting.

    District Culture and Climate

    • On Monday Nadine Olma shared her 8th-grade homeroom classes’ good Holiday deed. It started with a simple Christmas Tree decoration and grew into giving to children who are in need during the holiday season. Her story was posted to our Facebook page and has since been shared 24 times and has a reached of over 3,500 ppl! The story was also written up as a feature piece for the KXLY News 4 website by Ariana Lake and iFiber One News! Thank you for giving back to our community. (links provided below)

    • In early January, the administrative team and supervisors will be trained on impairment and drug recognition. The training will be provided by our insurance company, Clear Risk Solutions.

    Parent and Community Engagement

    • Another successful year of Shop with a Cop! Tonasket and Oroville students came together and spent the say with law enforcement officers from all around our area. They played games, had lunch together at the American Legion, and then went shopping at The Country Store. Thank you to our community and local law enforcement for creating this opportunity.

    • The Choice HS had their open house last night. They took this opportunity to show off their new building and give student and staff presentations on Big Picture Learning (BPL) and Restorative Justice conflict management.

    • Holly Haugan is leading the formation of a district-wide family engagement committee. If you have interest in being a part of this group please contact her.

    Creative and Innovative

    • Today I met with six incredible high school students (Sarah Rhoads, Addy Epps, Katie Thornton, Natalie Gomez, Connor Hardesty, and Seth Hayden). We had lunch together and discussed what was going well and what they wanted to see changed in their school. I was impressed by their passion and deep insights into our school and community.

    Other

    • When the snow is falling be on the lookout for students building around campus, Catherine Bailey’s 3rd-grade class has started this year’s snow challenge and they’ll keep it going “As long as there’s packable snow.”

    • Tuesday night’s board meeting was the annual board reorganization. The new officers are as follows:

      1. Chair - Jerry Asmussen

      2. Vice Chair - Clint Duchow

      3. Legislative Rep. - Joyce Fancher

    • Board Policy Updates. You can click on the link below to view the policy and procedure updates:

    1. 2190 BP Highly Capable Programs

    What Every Employee Needs to Know - Reminders

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