School Highlights: Points of Pride:
Wichita CARES exceeds goals
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| Little Early Childhood Principal Linda Tillman dances with students. Photo by Lacey Cruse |
Partners with the Wichita CARES program say they’ve served twice as many families with young children than originally planned. The CARES (Children Able to Read will Excel in School) program prepares toddlers from lower-income families to enter kindergarten ready to learn. The program has served 182 families; the initial goal was 100 half-way through the project.
The CARES program provides health and educational services, including home visits, pre-school curriculum and access to community resources, for families in Wichita’s lower-income midtown and northeast neighborhoods.
"The most important thing is making the connection between home and school," said Linda Tillman, principal at Little and Midtown Early Childhood Centers. "The children come in and see a familiar face. Home visits cut down on the anxiety factor for those first days of school for both parents and students."
The partners are Wichita Public Schools’ Early Childhood Services, Parents as Teachers, Sedgwick County’s Healthy Babies Program, and the Center for Health and Wellness. CARES is funded with a $1.38 million grant by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Other findings from the recent evaluation include:
- More than 40-percent of students in the CARES program score “proficient” in their pre-school activities, up from 5 percent in 2003-2004 and 22 percent in the 2004-2005 year
- More than 99-percent of parents think the Little and Midtown Early Childhood Education Center programs are doing a good job of getting their child ready for kindergarten
- Over the two-plus year period, 89 families have received more than 650 home visits from Parents as Teachers or Healthy Babies, including prenatal visits
- An eight-percent decrease in the number of Wichita CARES students showing potential learning delays for those students in the Little and Midtown programs for a full school year
The CARES program began in the district in 2003.
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BOE approves SRO funding
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North High School's SRO Steven Meyer talks with a student in the hallway before class. Photo by Susan Arensman |
The Wichita Board of Education approved its portion of funding 22 Wichita Police Department School Resource Officers through the 2009-2010 school year and beyond during the Nov. 27 meeting. The SRO program places specifically selected police officers in our 22 largest middle and high schools to provide law related education, informal counseling, mentoring, tutoring and law enforcement services for their school and neighborhood around the school.
Representatives from the Wichita Public Schools, the City of Wichita and the Wichita Police Department have come up with a long-term funding plan, which the BOE approved on Nov. 27. With the plan, the Wichita Public Schools would pay 36.5% of the cost for the 2007-08 school year, 43% of the cost for the 2008-09 school year and 50% of the cost for the 2009-10 school year and subsequent years.
The district and the City will also draft a Memorandum of Understanding that will outline specifics about expectations and costs concerning the SRO program.
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District takes second trip to Philippines for teachers
Representatives from the district are making a second trip to the Philippines to recruit teachers for hard to fill positions in math, science and special education. Ed Raymond, Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources and Dan Stiffler, Director of Licensed Personnel, will spend a week in the Philippines interviewing teacher candidates. Raymond said he is hoping to hire between 30 and 40 teachers.
"Last time we went over in March. This time we're going earlier to allow more time to get them processed and certified with the state so we can have them in classrooms at the start of next school year," Raymond said.
The district has 17 teachers from the Philippines for this school year and expects a few more to arrive by next semester. The teachers were hired for teaching positions that have been open for two years. After the district tried a nation-wide search to fill those positions, the district worked with the International Teacher Placement Program, which has teamed with districts across the U.S. to bring teachers from the Philippines.
"The overall experience by the teachers and the schools has been pretty positive," said Raymond. "The students like learning about a different culture as well."
The International Teacher Placement Program pays for the recruitment trip.
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Choices Fair is January 9
The 18th annual Wichita Public Schools' Choices Fair will be held January 9, 2007, 5 – 8 p.m. at Century II Exhibition Hall. Representatives from magnet schools, elementary, middle and high schools, special programs and a variety of district offices will be available to visit with parents about the educational options they have for their children. The Choices Fair gives parents and students the opportunity for “one-stop shopping” to see which school or program best meets their child’s education needs.
Two mini fairs are scheduled for parents who cannot attend the Choices Fair at Century II:
Midtown Community Resource Center Little Early Childhood Center
1150 N. Broadway 1613 Piatt
Wednesday, December 6 Monday, December 18
10 a.m. – 4 p.m. 9 – 11:30 a.m., 12:30 – 2:30 p.m.
More information about the Choices Fair and the magnet schools can be found here.
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District helps collect turkeys for families
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| JROTC Cadets from Pleasant Valley Middle School help collect turkeys that were donated by the public. Photo by Gretchen Cox |
The Wichita Public Schools participated in the United Methodist Urban Ministries Turkey Drive, sponsored by B98-FM. On Friday, November 17, from 5:30 – 8:30 a.m., the Alvin E. Morris Administrative Center served as the drop off location for the district and for downtown Wichita.
JROTC cadets from Pleasant Valley Middle School and Mead Middle School, as well as staff from the administrative center collected the turkeys, canned goods and monetary donations. More than 180 turkeys and $760 dollars were collected.
This was the first time the Wichita Public Schools had participated in the annual Turkey Drive.
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Colvin celebrates a day of reading
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| Chief Academic Officer Mary Ellen Isaac reads with kindergarten teacher Julie Sharp during Colvin Elementary's Read-a-thon on Nov. 17. Photo by Susan Arensman |
Students at Colvin Elementary got into the spirit of reading during their fifth-annual Read-a-thon on Nov. 17. The students participate in reading activities throughout the day. Guest readers from the district and the community shared stories with students. Students also took time to read by themselves.
The students raised $6,200 by bringing in pennies and dollars during the week. The money raised is used to purchase books for Colvin's library.
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Judge Pierron reads to children at North’s CDC
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| Photo by Lacey Cruse |
Children from North High School’s Child Development Center enjoyed an afternoon of reading. Judge G. Joseph Pierron, Jr., of the Kansas Court of Appeals, read Bunny Cakes by Rosemary Wells while the youngsters listened.
Bunny Cakes was selected as this year's One Book One State project for Kansas Reads . . . To Preschoolers. The project works to ensure that all children age five and under have a chance to have a book read aloud to them. The program states that reading aloud to children is important for building the knowledge required for eventual success.
Judge Pierron was the Wichita Public Library’s special guest during Children’s Book Week, November 13-19.
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GYOT helps others become teachers
High school students and Wichita Public Schools employees who are interested in pursuing teaching careers are encouraged to apply for the Grow Your Own Teacher (GYOT) scholarship program. The application deadline is Jan. 31, 2007 at 4:45 p.m.
The GYOT program provides financial assistance in the form of forgivable loans to outstanding high school graduates or Wichita district employees who want to become teachers. Students in the GYOT program can work toward a teaching degree either at Wichita State University, Friends University, Newman University or Southwestern College. The program also includes mentor support, work experiences and assistance with job placement after becoming certified.
High school teachers, counselors and principals can encourage students, paraeducators and tutors to get involved in the GYOT program.
For more information or for a scholarship application, call 973-4620 or click here.
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Red Carpet Award nominations due Dec. 4
The district would like to recognize and honor schools for providing warm, friendly environments. Schools have an opportunity to receive a monetary "Red Carpet" award by making visitors feel welcome and part of the school family. Providing outstanding customer service to families, students, and community is extremely important to advance education and build partnerships with families and communities.
Schools interested in applying for the "Red Carpet" award need to complete the application information located in the Customer Service Training Manual that was distributed to schools last spring. The deadline for fall applications is Monday, December 4. For more information, please contact Parent and Community Support Network at 973-4668.
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District information moves to one cable channel
The programming on Wichita Public Schools’ three cable channels will be moved to one channel, Schoolhouse 20, beginning Dec. 12. Cox Communications and the district agreed to the change to help Cox make the best use of their available cable TV programming bandwidth. All local school district TV programs that were on channels 17 and 21 will shift to Schoolhouse 20. The weekly programming schedule can be found at www.usd259.com/news/cable.
Programs on Schoolhouse 20 will remain the same, including School News, High School Games of the Week, Googolplex, Board of Education Meetings and Battle of the Books. Selected programming from Channels 17 and 21 programming will also be found on Schoolhouse 20. Between the Lions airs weekdays except Wednesday at 5:00 pm. Sesame Street airs weekdays at 5:30 pm. Classic Arts Showcase will air on Fridays 5 – 7 a.m. and Sundays at 1 – 5 a.m. Annenberg programming can be viewed online at www.learner.org.
Many of the district’s original programs can be viewed from the district’s website www.usd259.com/news/streaming.
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Nominate others as Friends of Education
School and district staff are encouraged to nominate individuals or groups for the Friends of Education Awards. A special 25th Anniversary Banquet to honor nominees will be held in Wichita on Saturday, April 21, 2007. The Friends of Education Awards, sponsored by the Confidence in Kansas Public Education Task Force, honor people or organizations who have made outstanding contributions to public education in the following categories:
• School Volunteer – an individual or couple who provides volunteer services in public schools.
• Community Leader – an individual who has made a significant contribution to public education while serving in a leadership capacity.
• Partner Activity – a business, company or agency that has provided an on-going partner activity for three years or more that exceeds typical collaboration from a private or public institution.
• Private or Public Institution – a company, business or agency that has made a significant contribution to public education.
• Community/Civic Organization – a club, organization, committee or task force that has made a significant contribution to public education.
Nomination forms and information about the awards can be found at www.ksconfidencetaskforce.org. The deadline for submitting nominations is January 27, 2007. One Award of Excellence and up to four Certificates of Award will be presented in each of the five categories. All other nominees will receive Certificates of Merit.
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Jackson nurse wins Healthy Habits Grant
Marcia Ellsworth, nurse at Jackson Elementary, received the Healthy Habits for Life grant from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Foundation. With the grant, Jackson will implement the Ready, Set, Learn program, which promotes healthy eating and cardiovascular health to help students learn. Diane Smith, P.E. teacher, will assist Ellsworth with the program.
Instead of trying to change all eating habits, the school will concentrate on healthy foods as a reward. Students who bring healthy foods to school will be allowed to choose a prize from a treasure chest. Some of the grant funds will be used to create a walking track at the school and teachers will be encouraged to take their classes on walks known as “brain breaks.” Distances walked will be tracked an incentives given to the first class to “cross the United States.” Parents will be invited to walk with their children during lunch.
The school will also create a monthly newsletter emphasizing good nutrition and exercise that will be sent home to families.
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Hyde student raises more than $1,000 for diabetes
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| Lindsey Frey, American Diabetes Association, congratulates student Kaylee Pitman who broke a record for the most money raised by a student for Walk for Diabetes. Photo by Susan Arensman |
A Hyde International Studies and Communications Magnet student broke a record for raising money for the American Diabetes Association's Walk for Diabetes. Kaylee Pittman raised $1,322, which is the most an individual student had raised in Kansas. Other students raised more than $500. The school collected a total of $5,634, which is also a state record.
Kindergarten, first- and second-grade students participated in the Walk for Diabetes event. Representatives from the American Diabetes Association came to Hyde on Nov. 9 to recognize the school as a whole and Pittman individually. The Association also recognized Hyde's P.E. teacher, Julie Scheck, for her continuing support of the Walk for Diabetes.
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Students' donations make weatherman's hair stand up
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| KSN meteorologist Dave Freeman, left, shows off his spiked blue and yellow hair before he went on the air. Photo by Susan Arensman |
People watching KSN's weather on Nov. 28 saw meteorologist Dave Freeman's hair looking a bit different. During the United Way campaign, Freeman challenged Wichita students to raise $25,000. If the students met the goal, he would do the weather on TV with crazy hair. When the schools' totals were added up, the students had raised nearly $35,000.
"This is a bet I'm happy to lose," Freeman said.
Students were invited to watch Freeman do his weathercast with crazy hair from Exploration Place. Student representatives from Minneha, Beech, Kensler, Franklin, Bryant, Seltzer, Kelly, Harry Street, Gardiner, Jackson, Hadley and Wilbur watched his forecast and asked Freeman questions.
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