From the Flight Deck
February 2019 Staff Newsletter
From Frank
Sycamore Family:
Happy winter and wishing spring arrives soon. Please know how grateful I am for your work in serving our students, helping every one of them feel included by nurturing deep relationships and challenging your thinking and innovative practices. Our students are blessed each and every day to have the adult professionals focused on their growth and full potential.
To provide you with an important update on our Master Facility Planning Concept Testing, we have completed 10 sessions with 4 more to go. The dates and times for these are as follows and I encourage you to attend one if possible:
Tuesday, February 19th @ Symmes Elementary - 6:30 pm
Thursday, February 21st @ City of Blue Ash Council Chambers - 7:00 pm
Saturday, February 23rd @ SHS - 10:00 am
Wednesday, February 27th @ Terwilligers Lodge - 6:30 pm
To review the three options being considered and concept tested, and for more information about our process, please go to the Master Facility tab on the district website. The Board will consider the feedback from the community before making a decision at the end of March on which option to proceed. This is an exciting journey for the future of our learning environments.
We continue to progress in our work to appoint mental health therapists at each of our buildings. Most recent appointments include therapists at EHG, a shared staff member with MT/MD. We are approaching an appointment at the high school. We are on track to be fully staffed prior to the end of the year. In my many community conversations, the mention of this layer of support makes an impactful statement about the depths at which Sycamore will help students.
Last month, I gave a special shout out to all the members of our operations teams for their service to students. I wanted to take a moment truly acknowledge the impact of each and every one of our teachers in Sycamore for their amazing impact on students. Maybe this quote from Lee Iacocca, former chairman of Ford Motor Company sums it up best:
“In a completely rational society, the best of us would be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something less, because passing civilization along from one generation to the next ought to be the highest honor and the highest responsibility anyone could have.”
The words honor and responsibility resonate with me in that quote. Each and every teacher in our great district take great responsibility for his/her service to students. Because of that, each of YOU deserves the highest honor, and, without reservation, it is an absolute honor to be your colleague. Thank you to each and every member of our Sycamore Family for doing what you do in the service of students.
1095c Form and Your Federal Taxes
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires employers to provide
employees with documentation of healthcare enrollment for
the previous year. If you were enrolled in or were eligible for
benefits during 2018, your 1095c will be mailed to your home
by March 31, 2019.
What you need to know:
- You do not need to submit the 1095c when filing your taxes.
- Keep your 1095c form with your tax records and consider it your “proof of insurance” for the IRS.
- Your employer is required to report to the IRS enrollment status of all employees eligible for healthcare coverage. The IRS will use the information to validate your compliance with the Affordable Care Act.
- If you did not receive a 1095c form at your home, contact your employer. After March, an electronic copy will be in your Employee File Cabinet at www.butlerhealthplan.benelogic.com.
Schools and Offices will be closed on Monday, February 18
Fitbit Challenge #1
We had 45 people complete the 10,000 steps or more each day for two weeks. Twenty Five winners were randomly chosen from that group for gift cards.
Congratulations to the following staff members!!!
- Sarah Schuler, Diana Wyrick, Pete Tanaka, Kelly Flodder
- Ning Zhang, Laura Lehnert, Lisa Mandell, Diane Jezierski
- Tamara Brewer, Ann Uhlman, Felicia Ormond, Carol Wolkoff
- Tom Dickert, Cathy Jones, James Miles, Ben Vore
- David Swift, Beth Weber, Mel Ostrowski, Abby Lobert, Mandy Conrad
- Callie Hoffman, Elizabeth Kays, Jeffrey Finger, Georgia St. John
The second challenge, The Healthy Hearts Race, started February 4th and is team based.
As of this writing:
- Pink team (Blue Ash Elementary) is 1st
- White team (Transportation/DO) is 2nd
- Green team (HS) is 3rd
The competition goes through Monday, February 18th with a free lunch on the line for the winners!
Changes at the District Office
Sarah Thoreson will join our District Office team on February 25th and comes to Sycamore after a long and varied career in the private sector construction industry with Hal Homes Inc. Sarah is a graduate of Cincinnati State and Northern Kentucky University. You can reach her at ext. 5016 or via email thoresons@sycamoreschools.org
Shed the Excess Threads
Thank you for your continued support of the "Shed the Excess Threads" textile recycling challenge.
As of February 13:
Blue Ash Elementary - Bags: 94, Services: 2, Total Weight: 913
Symmes Elementary - Bags: 42, Services: 1, Total Weight: 357
Maple Dale Elementary - Bags: 35, Services: 1, Total Weight: 331
High School - Bags: 31, Services: 1, Total Weight: 326
Montgomery Elementary - Bags: 12, Services: 1, Total Weight: 98
Junior High - Bags: 18, Services: 1, Total Weight: 140
Greene Intermediate - Bags: 18, Services: 1, Total Weight: 188
Please keep talking to students and community members. Let's keep those textiles from hitting the landfill. Who's going to win? BLUE ASH ELEMENTARY is certainly trying to defend their title! The competition goes through March 1st.
Daylight Saving time begins March 10!
Looking for Something to Do?
Fashion for the Cure
Benefits The Dragonfly Foundation
Sycamore High School
Friday, February 15
6:30 pm
Tickets required
District Art Show
Sycamore High School
Friday, March 1
5:00 - 8:00 pm
Junior High Musical
March 7 - 9
7:00 p.m.
Tickets required