West Ada School District Update
October 2, 2020
Staff, Parent and Student Surveys
If you have not received your survey, please check all email folders to ensure it was not filtered elsewhere. Gmail seems to be filtering the survey to the promotions or spam folder.
For parents - the survey was emailed out to the parent/guardian emails in your child's PowerSchool account. If you need to update this information, please do so using these directions: https://www.westada.org/powerschoolinfo.
A reminder will be sent out on Monday for those who have not yet participated in the survey.
Eagle Hills' Jason Leforgee Receives National Distinguished Principal Award for Idaho
Jason Leforgee has served Idaho students and families since 1995. In his 19 years as principal of Eagle Hills Elementary School, Leforgee has built a strong and resilient institution known for its warm, people-centered culture, which is reflected in the school’s status as a level one certified Marzano High Reliability School. This culture has translated into high student engagement and sustained academic success; for the past two years, Eagle Hills students have scored in the top 10 percent for math achievement, as well as for student academic progress in ELA, where student achievement also recently reached the 90th percentile. In 2019, Leforgee led a rapid turnaround after identifying a need for improved support for students with disabilities in ELA and math. Through strong collective strategizing, Eagle Hills teachers closed the achievement gap between students with disabilities and their non-group peers in just one year’s time. Throughout his tenure, Leforgee has retained highly motivated, collaborative, and engaged teachers, allowing the school to be particularly agile in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with an “all hands on deck” attitude guiding the creation of a student-centered remote learning plan. Leforgee holds Ed. S. and M.Ed. degrees in Educational Leadership from the University of Idaho at Boise, as well as a B.S. in Secondary Education and a B.S. in Political Science from the University of Idaho at Moscow.
Biography provided by the National Association of Elementary School Principals.
Laptop Cases Have Arrived
Bringing Grades 1-5 into School Every Day
The plan to phase in full time in-person learning for these grades is as follows:
September 14 – Preschool and kindergarten
September 28 - First and second grades
October 5 - Third grade
October 12 - Fourth grade
October 19 - Fifth grade
West Ada School District Partners with YMCA Bringing Activity to Families
"We want to t be the best partner possible with you in the development of our children," shared David Duro, president and CEO. "This is a free program targeted at the entire community. Our goal is to give people the confidence and support to pay attention to the priorities in their life, and not just live in fear of COVID. It does not require YMCA membership, or even use of Y facilities or programs, but does include a six week free membership for all participants during the challenge."
Treasure Valley Family YMCA is a partner at Hillsdale Elementary School, where they have their South Meridian location. They also offer childcare services at many elementary schools in the district.
Register for The Strong Challenge using this link: https://www.ymcatvidaho.org/strong/. The challenge runs from October 12-November 20.
Emergency Preparedness
In light of schools needing to be more security and safety minded, please understand that each school in the West Ada School District has an Emergency Response Plan that has been carefully developed and addresses a multitude of emergency situations. In addition, all West Ads School District Schools conduct lock down drills in conjunction with local law enforcement two times each school year. If there is an emergency at your child’s school, your cooperation is necessary to help us respond effectively to such situations.
In the event of an emergency, please help us by doing the following:
● Please do not call and do not go to the school.
○ In an emergency, onsite staff are focused solely on getting everyone to a safe location. Showing up to the site can create unnecessary traffic, preventing emergency vehicles from responding quickly. You could also put yourself or others in danger.
○ If you get a call or text from your student, help him or her remain calm. Remind your student that school staff know what to do in an emergency situation, and will work to keep everyone safe.
○ Please know we will communicate with parents/guardians about reunifying you with your child and that this reunification site may not be at the school.
● Check the West Ada School District homepage at www.westada.org
○ We will provide credible, accurate and useful information to the public as soon as possible. Please be aware that Information received from sources other than the school administrator or West Ada School District may be inaccurate.
○ Expect to see our posts updated as necessary. We will also provide updates to local news media, but emergency situations can change rapidly. Typically, multiple agencies are involved, so communication is coordinated through the “lead agency,” which may cause a delay in notification.
● Sign-Up for Emergency Text Messaging:
○ We will use our emergency text notification system to contact parents and guardians. Please make sure your emergency contact information in PowerSchool is always up to date.
● Familiarize yourself with the terms that can be used during any emergency situation:
○ Hall Check: Used to secure the building from a potential threat outside the building, such as when an unauthorized person is loitering on school grounds or when there is criminal activity in the neighborhood. Exterior doors are locked, but normal activities continue inside the building. Used during severe weather or other environmental threats (e.g., air contamination due to a local fire) to keep people safe while remaining indoors.
○ Lockdown: Used when there is a perceived danger inside the building. Doors are locked, windows are closed and locked, blinds are closed. People are directed to move away from windows and doors. Hallways are cleared of students and school staff.
○ Evacuation: When students and staff are moved out of the building to a pre-designated safe location.
○ Reverse Evacuation: When students and staff are moved from the outside of the building to the inside due to outside safety concerns.
○ Reunification Site: An alternative site other than the school where school administrators will check-out students to the child’s parent/guardian. Students will only be released to authorized parents/guardians with proper identification (e.g. driver’s license, state identification, etc.)
All West Ada School District staff members, parents, students and community members are encouraged to report anything they see, hear or are made aware of that may impact a school or school program. If you see or hear something, say something, call 911.
Please discuss these matters with your immediate family. Planning ahead will help alleviate concern during emergencies. Thank you in advance for following these steps to ensure our students, staff members and public remain safe and secure.