School Highlights: Points of Pride:
Students head back to class
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A McLean Science and Technology Magnet student listens to her teacher give instructions. |
Hallways and classrooms were filled with excitement and anxiety as another school year began on August 15. Students were excited to see familiar faces. Some parents of elementary students shed a few tears.
“This is so exciting,” said McLean Science and Technology Magnet principal Keli Braun. “The day just started and the halls are quiet. Everyone is getting in their rooms ready to go.”
“We're off to a great start," said Superintendent Winston Brooks. "For the first time in ten years, we are going to start the year with very few teaching vacancies. We have no math or science vacancies, which is great news for our students."
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| Hadley Middle School leadership cadets learn how to stand at attention. |
Students spent their time learning which classrooms they were in, what their teachers would be like and their daily routines. Elementary students sorted through their markers, glue sticks and pencils. Some middle and high school students were waiting in line to get their ID cards.
Teachers were learning students’ names and interests and telling them the rules and expectations.
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A Metro-Meridian student works on a Social Studies assignment. Photos by Susan Arensman |
“I want to call your parents to talk about the good things you are doing,” said Scott Pittman, social studies teacher at Hadley Middle School. “I don’t want to call them because you continue to be tardy to my class.”
“We have students who are already deep into their assignments,” said Wardell Bell, principal at Metro-Meridian Alternative High School. “They’re coming here to learn and to do their work.”
“We’re going to have a great year, I can just feel it,” Brooks said.
To watch a video about the first day of school, click here.
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Education EDGE donates $195,121 for 2007-2008
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| East High School girls' basketball team received new uniforms last year from the Education EDGE. |
The Wichita Public Schools celebrated $195,121 worth of gifts from the Education EDGE at the August 13 Board of Education meeting. The $195,121 will benefit students and teachers this school year. The Education EDGE, established in 2003, is the district’s education foundation, allowing private donors to support three key areas – classroom mini-grants, fine arts and athletics – not supported by traditional funding resources.
Athletics Gift Fund - $25,500
Each middle school will receive $1,500 to address athletic needs identified by each school’s coaching staff, including athletic uniforms, supplies and sports equipment. Last year, Education EDGE funds were used to purchase uniforms for one of the sports teams at each comprehensive high school.
Fine Arts Gift Fund - $85,350
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| Les Depperschmidt, third from right, Director of External affairs for AT&T, gives $20,000 to the Education EDGE to support a fine arts technology model classroom. Pictured from left is Ross Hollander, Chris Shank and Bill Hanna, Steering Team members, Depperschmidt, Board of Education President Connie Dietz and Superintendent Winston Brooks. |
Visual arts supplies and equipment will be supported with $20,350 in awards. Additionally, two grants were made to the Education EDGE for specific gifts to the Fine Arts Gift Fund. The first gift is the AT&T Technology Award to support a fine arts technology model classroom in one of our schools. The second grant was from the K.T. Wiedemann Foundation Award to purchase two grand pianos for the new auditoriums at Stucky and Hamilton Middle Schools. These two schools will be able to accommodate All-City and area rehearsals and performances with a new piano to accompany them. The new pianos were delivered to the schools on July 30.
Classroom Mini-Grants Gift Fund - $84,271
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| The 2007 Mini-Grant recipients. |
This is the third year mini-grants have been awarded to teachers to support innovative and creative classroom lessons. Twenty mini-grants will be awarded this year to teachers or teams (10 elementary, 5 middle schools and 5 high schools), up from 5 the first year of the award and 10 last year.
So far, business leaders, employees and community members have pledged more than $1.4 million to the Education EDGE. Twenty Corporate Founders, consisting of major businesses, foundations and philanthropic leaders in Wichita, have contributed $50,000 or more, with donations totaling $1,073,000. In addition, nearly 800 pledges totaling $366,972 have been received from district staff, retirees and volunteers. This major $1.4 million milestone was celebrated on February 12, 2007. To learn more about the Education EDGE or to make a contribution, go to www.usd259.com/community/educationedge.
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Community steps forward to donate school supplies
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The Wichita Board of Education displays the supplies collected by the Board and district administration during the August 13 meeting. Photo by Susan Arensman |
Thousands of students have received school supplies from the School Supply Landslide. Members of the community donated school supplies for students who may not have pencils, backpacks and notebooks. Since the program began, 55,000 students have been helped, including 7,000 last year.
On August 13, Board of Education members and district administrators showed their support by displaying the supplies they purchased. Pleasant Valley Middle School Leadership Cadets collected more than $150 and 10 bags of school supplies and presented them at the BOE meeting. Office Depot donated more than 250 backpacks to bolster the administration’s contribution. For several years, the BOE and district administration have had a friendly competition to see who can collect the most supplies.
“I think we can say that the winners are the kids,” said BOE Vice President Lynn Rogers.
The School Supply Landslide is sponsored by KAKE-TV, the Salvation Army, Credit Union of America, The Wichita Eagle, Arby’s and Radio Disney. Donations will be accepted until August 26. For more information, click here.
More Philippine teachers arrive in Wichita
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| Julieta Primero, math teacher at Northwest High School, works with students on an assignment. Photo by Susan Arensman |
Twenty-four teachers from the Philippines arrived on July 28 to teach math, science and special ed classes. Sixteen filled vacancies at high schools, six at middle schools and two at elementary schools. Eight additional teachers are expected to arrive within a week.
The newly arrived teachers are in addition to the 21 Filipino teachers who came to the district last year. The Wichita Public Schools hired teachers from the Philippines for positions that have been difficult to fill. After the district tried a nation-wide search to fill those positions, the district worked with the International Teacher Placement Program, which has worked with districts across the U.S. to bring highly-qualified teachers from the Philippines.
The Philippine education system is modeled after the United States’, so the teachers are familiar with the structure. The teachers are also fluent in English. The teachers have 3-year work visas to work in the district.
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Price-Harris students ask the Superintendent questions
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| Fifth-grade students Allegra Carson, left, and Anisa Davis interview Superintendent Winston Brooks about the start of the 2007-08 school year. |
Fifth-grade students at Price-Harris Communications Magnet had some questions for Superintendent Winston Brooks when he visited the school on August 17. The students involved with the school’s internal TV station interviewed him about the first week of school.
Allegra Carson and Anisa Davis asked Superintendent Brooks about the most interesting things that are happening in our district and what his goals are. He responded with how he was pleased to see our test scores continue to increase and his goals were to see student achievement in our district continue to rise and the achievement gap continue to shrink. The students also asked him about his favorite school subjects (math and social studies) and what subject he taught (elementary). The students said they were nervous about their high-profile guest, but were excited about the chance to talk with the Superintendent.
"They asked very good questions," said Superintendent Brooks. "They were very prepared. I am happy that they chose me to be their first interview."
Students Alex Kadolph and Abdulla Syed operated the camera for the interview. One of the school’s goals for this year as part of their Communications Magnet theme is to put streaming video onto the school’s website. They plan to put Brooks’ interview online when they have the capability.
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Former Hadley student and author donates book
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Author Patrick O’Connor, left, presents his book to Hadley principal Charles Wakefield. Photo courtesy Hadley |
Author Patrick O’Connor donated his book, Delano: Stories from the Neighborhood to Hadley Middle School. O’Connor visited the school on August 9 to make the donation. O’Connor attended Hadley and said he enjoyed the time he spent in the library and wanted to give the school a gift.
Delano is a collection of stories about a boy, Danny, who lived in the west Wichita neighborhood in the 1950’s. O’Connor has published four books.
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Pay date changes for monthly employees
Employees who are paid monthly will soon have their pay date moved. Starting in September, all monthly paid employees will be paid on the 20th of each month. If the 20th of the month falls on a weekend, the payday will be the Friday before to the 20th date.
"With monthly paid employees, at times there was a 6 week gap between pay," said Debbie Thomas, Payroll Supervisor. "At Winter break last year, a monthly paid employee received their pay on December 21 and their next pay was not until January 31. The new pay date will simplify this and they will receive their payments on a regular schedule."
More more information can be found on Payroll's Portal.
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Receive mileage reimbursement electronically
Employees can now receive “mileage and travel” reimbursement payments electronically. Reimbursements can be deposited into a personal bank account instead of receiving a check through the mail. To sign up for this option, email or call Janet Malcom at 973-4628 and request the authorization form. Authorization Agreement Forms can also be picked up at AMAC, 6th floor, room 613.
Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) payments are generated twice weekly. An email notification is sent to the employee when the payment is processed.
The district's mileage reimbursement has increased to .47 a mile. The new reimbursement started August 1.
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Employees asked to keep old directories
Employee directories for the 2007-08 school year will not be available until late fall. Employees are asked to keep their copies of the 2006-07 directory until that time.
Employees who have home address and/or phone number changes, or who wish to have their phone numbers and/or addresses "unlisted" in the directory, should send a written request to Human Resources - Attn: Peg