ENSC Family Notes
February 23, 2015
Strategic Planning Meetings
There were several recommendations for growth that will be considered as we revise the current strategic plan. Below are a few of the critical recommendations for ENSC as we move forward:
1. Further develop the Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports frameworks into other buildings.
2. Develop a strong commitment to informing the ENSC communities of news, activities, updates, etc. about ENSC through a variety of communication medium.
3. Continue to gain support for and build a new middle school.
When asked to share strengths of the district, below are a few of the comments:
Technology integration, partnership with IMPACT, inclusion for Spec. Ed students, dual credit, JAG, career pathways, sending home iPads more often, eLearning days, No Excuses University, communication, extracurricular – sports, clubs, fine arts, engineering program, and AP options.
On March 6, we plan to meet with some high school students to get their input on our progress. Following that meetings, collecting input will be compiled and revisions to the current plan will be considered.
Future School Board Meetings
March 4, 2015 - North Side Elementary
March 18, 2015 - Wayne Center Elementary
April 8, 2015 - ENSC Central Office
April 22, 2015 - South Side Elementary
May 13, 2015 - East Noble Middle School
May 27, 2015 - Central Office
Every meeting the Board provides an opportunity for citizens to speak for three minutes. If you have something you would like to share or you know of a parent or community member who would like to share something, please encourage them to attend a Board meeting.
Congratulations to Katie Craney
Now in its 28th year, the Endowment’s Teacher Creativity Fellowship Program gives Indiana teachers, principals, guidance counselors and school media specialists the financial support and encouragement to nurture their commitment to education. In doing so, the program seeks to strengthen Indiana schools. As educators tend to their own intellectual, emotional and physical well being, they are better able to engage and challenge their students.
Congratulations Katie and enjoy this awesome experience!
All Star of the Week
The Allstar of the week is Neal Schaab, head custodian at East Noble Middle School. Neal is in his 6th year at East Noble and has served in many capacities. He worked as a custodian at the high school for two years and worked two years at the middle school as a second shift custodian. Through hard work and pride, Neal worked his way into the head custodian position. Neal has also coached girls basketball at the high school and officiated many sports for both middle school and high school. Neal takes great pride in caring for the middle school and that is evident in how well the building looks. He is always willing to go above and beyond for the school. He recently officiated four games on a Saturday and yet still made time to come in and fix the 100 year old stage curtain that tore the night before. Without his help the middle school play would not have been able to have their show that Saturday night. Neal is a true All Star for the middle school.
Snow Make Up Days
Attending school on February 16 makes up one of our five days that we need to make up. We will also use built in day of May 8, 15, and 22. Thursday, June 4 is the fifth make up day. The next missed day that we are not able to use eLearning will mean using Friday, June 5 as a make up day. We have also had suggestions to use a Saturday in March as a make up day. Hopefully, we do not need to add any more days to the school year.
Have a Great Week!
Building Notes
East Noble Middle School
It has been a busy week of prep at East Noble Middle School, as we spent the time practicing for istep. Students have worked hard to help practice skills and the students are getting excited for our assessment. Stay tuned next week for an exciting kick off from ENMS.
The science departments have made things exciting this past week! The 8th grade is studying the periodic elements and 7th grade has been building and testing catapults.
To add to all the excitement, we would like to congratulate our new members of National Junior Honor Society. They were inducted on a snowy Wednesday evening.
Theater has done auditions for the spring play, and rehearsals will be starting soon.
North Side Elementary
This week at North Side students in grades 3-6 participated in ISTEP+ practice tests. Students and staff got their first taste of what the revamped test would look like. North Side students have worked extraordinarily hard all year long and are confident they are well prepared for this challenge. Two fundraisers also wrapped up this week, the North Side canned soup drive finished up with a great result! Also concluding was the Jump Rope for Heart fundraiser spearheaded by Mrs. Getts. As the students and staff look to the future the North Side community prepares for ISTEP+ which will begin on March 2nd. High quality instruction continues as normal even as the urge to stop and "prep" tugs.
Third graders in Ms. Savage's class enjoyed a brain break with Gonoodle. They interacted by answering questions about nutrition and exercise. When they correctly answered a question, they got to complete an exercise. They also love to watch their character evolve as they exercise their minds and bodies. The staff take great care to ensure the whole child is being served. Brain science tells us that exercise reduces stress and stress reduces achievement, therefore North Side teachers work daily to strike the balance between high expectations and minimizing stress. Ms. Savage's brain breaks are but one example of this ongoing effort.
Rome City Elementary
Rome City has been buzzing with reading, writing, and technology this week. First graders got a taste of what a writing prompt is! This writing prompt will help Mrs. Friend see what her writers need to work on and what their strengths are in writing now that we are on day 95 of first grade! They were put to the test and were to use all they have been taught thus far to complete their writing prompt! First graders also had the opportunity to share their opinions by creating book reviews using the app Shadow Puppet. Thanks to Mr. Yoder for putting together a compilation of the reviews on a youtube video. Click on the link below to view the video. Third grade students enjoyed a night of technology fun and learning at a recent Tech Night. Students and parents learned how to use the app Puppet Show and enjoyed some friendly competition with a Kahoot game.
South Side Elementary
This year, South Side 6th graders have been building positive relationships with college students at the University of West Michigan through the Bronco Buddies pen pal program. Students are paired with a college student, and write back and forth about the college experience. Earlier this year, South Side hosted the buddies in our building. They visited and played board games with their 6th grade pen pals, and had a pizza party. This spring, our 6th graders will make the trip to the University where the buddies will give them a tour of campus. This week, 6th graders used Skype to chat with their buddies as a class.
Preschoolers at South Side are working hard and having a great time learning about nursery rhymes and fairy tales. Not only does the repetition of rhymes and stories teach children how language works, it also builds memory capabilities that can be applied to all sorts of activities. We have been focusing on Hey Diddle Diddle, Humpty Dumpty, and the Three Little Pigs. We learned that bricks are very heavy, shaped like a rectangle and you definitely can’t blow them off of a table! During a craft activity, we drew a square house using a ruler and practiced using the word “inches”. We covered the house with rectangular bricks that we drew and cut out. We then became wolves and huffed and puffed and blew as hard as we could to blow that house down (with straws and blue “wind”). We love using our interactive white board to reinforce the names of shapes and how it feels to make them. We have also started some Close Reading activities by listening to passages read from Readworks.org and answering questions about that passage. Great listening, future readers!
Wayne Center Elementary
This past Monday Wayne Center hosted a Science Central family night. Students and their families had fun exploring and learning about science in motion. Activities throughout the evening included creating motion with chemistry and physics. Blow up a balloon with the power of chemistry; balance a paper clown on one finger, or even your nose. Create two color polymers and watch as the colors collide and combine. Levitate magnets, move cars mysteriously and manipulate magnetic motion. Several families came to enjoy a night of fun in the name of science.
Students have been learning about the pillar of caring this month. Our student council organized a can food drive for the local food bank. On Fridays, students have been wearing our school colors to show their school spirit. Each week the hallways are seeing more and more blue and white.
Alternative Learning Center
This week was cold, but things were warming up inside with several credits earned and another graduate. Congratulations to Riley Jones on his graduation accomplishment and future endeavors!
This is the last week of Trimester 2, so students are finishing up credits before the end. We will have some new faces joining us on March 2nd with Trimester 3.
Have a great week! Hopefully, it's a full one with no weather obstacles.
Avilla Elementary
It is hard to believe that we are now beginning the third trimester! All of OUR students have been working hard in the classroom while dreaming about the upcoming warmth of the spring season.J We had quite a busy week this past week. Mrs. Kerr hosted an open house for OUR community to visit the school and see all the wonderful science fair projects. Several teachers were able to host “Study Tables” on normal this week for the first time in several weeks. This week will also be very busy at Avilla.
We will be hosting Parent/Teacher Conferences this Tuesday from 3:30-6:30. Letters and phone calls have been made to those families that we would like to meet with to discuss your child’s progress this year. If you have any questions please feel free to contact your child’s teacher. Report Cards will be going home with your child on Wednesday this week.
This Wednesday Panther University will be held at 6:30. Please come visit OUR school as a family and enjoy an interactive story telling and craft with Mrs. Ruth Guthrie from the Avilla Library. Mrs. Guthrie will help you, “gain an understanding of sound through story telling and create a “sound” craft following the interactive story.” Mr. Keck will have OUR students’ busy jumping rope this week in gym. The Jump Rope/Hoops for Heart activities will be taking place during class next week. March 7th is the day money is due. The following link is a great motivator for why it’s important to help the American Heart Association! Thank you Mr. Keck for showing the Pillar of Caring.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giHXhJNbm5k
We will be kicking off OUR Cookie Dough Fund Raiser this Friday! Information and order forms will be coming home with students. Order forms are due on March 16th and the cookie dough will be delivered and ready for pick-up on April 7th. We will also be hosting Kindergarten Round-Up on April 14th at 6:30. Please spread the word!
East Noble High School
East Noble High School Art Department introduces kids to new worlds. Whether it’s learning new techniques, developing new ones, or simply admiring the skill and talents of others, our art teachers provide wonderful opportunities for kids to grow and expand their horizons.
Recently, one talented student – Lydia Walter house received 3 Regional Scholastic Art Awards. She received a Gold Key for her drawing, “Jeffery” and Silver Keys for her drawings, “Preparing for Battle” and “When Light Refracts”. This was the most competitive region with nearly 4,500 entries. Art judges only selected 273 Gold and 161 Silver Keys with 136 Honorable Mentions. This Fort Wayne region represents the 4th highest national award winners, so for one of our own students to walk away with 3 awards is quite an accomplishment. Lydia’s Gold Key Award qualifies her for the national competition. She will be recognized at an awards ceremony at the Grand Wayne Center in Fort Wayne, and her pieces will be on display at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art from February 7 – April 12.
Staying within our Art Department, we were pleasantly surprised to learn this week that Katie Craney has received a grant to spend a month in Paris. She will get to see and experience things up close and personal as she fully immerses herself in this opportunity. There’s no doubt her travels will help her inspire the next generation of artists.
East Noble School Corporation
Email: alinson@eastnoble.net
Website: eastnoble.net
Location: 126 West Rush Street, Kendallville, IN, United States
Phone: 260-347-2502
Facebook: facebook.com/eastnoble
Twitter: @ENobleSchCorp