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School Highlights: Points of Pride:
Gordon Parks welcomes students for the first time
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| Principal Stephanie Stovall directs middle school students to their classes during passing passing period. | The Wichita Public Schools’ Gordon Parks Academy opened its doors to students for the first time on August 14. The district's newest K-8 school is nearly complete and staff greeted students as they walked in the door.
“I am so excited for the kids to be here,” said principal Stephanie Stovall. "Things are going really well."
Stovall visited every classroom, introducing herself to the students and welcoming them to Gordon Parks Academy.
Students spent the day learning classroom rules, routines, expectations for the coming year and touring the building. Kindergarten students went on a gingerbread man hunt, looking for paper gingerbread men taped by places they need to learn where to go, including the office, cafeteria and music rooms.
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| First-grade teacher Eboni Armstrong has her students practice how they enter her classroom each morning. | Middle school students tried to learn the new building themselves, asking teachers where they needed to go for their next class.
But the students were all excited to be in their new school. The teachers were also excited to meet their new students and talk about what all they would learn this year.
Charrica Osborne, social studies teacher, inspired her students by telling them "you can do much more than you think you can achieve."
The school is beginning the process to become a primary years and middle years International Baccalaureate program. The curriculum will be delivered to all students who attend the school. The school plans to send in their first application to be a candidate school in November, but the students are already learning the concepts.
Parents chose the school's mascot to be the Trailblazers. The children of the school's namesake requested that the mascot be a horse because their father loved horses. Principal Stephanie Stovall said Trailblazers was fitting because their school is starting on a new
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| Second-grade students in Janine Clayton's class do an assignment to get acquainted with their classmates. Photos by Susan Arensman | adventure, and it also described Parks' life and his work. East High School art teacher Casey Christofferson designed the Trailblazers logo. Scott Arpin, teacher at Heights, presented the school with a wood plaque with the Gordon Parks Academy logo for the office.
The school will have an official dedication in October, with members of Gordon Parks’ family in attendance.
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BOE puts $370 million bond issue on the Nov. 4 ballot
 The Wichita Board of Education approved a resolution authorizing a $370 million bond election on November 4, 2008. The $370 million bond issue, up from the original $350 million, would address five critical needs:
- Additional classrooms and schools to accommodate overcrowding and growth and create smaller class sizes
- 60 FEMA safe room storm shelters
- Support the end of busing for desegregation with renovations to schools in the AAA area.
- Renovate or rebuild aging and unsafe fine arts, PE and athletic facilities
- Upgrade technical education programs
The bond issue would mean $42.55 additional taxes per year on a $100,000 home, or $3.55 per month. For a fact sheet about the bond issue, including the list of facility improvements and financial facts, click here.
“It’s all about the kids and the kids can’t wait,” said Connie Dietz. “There isn’t a better time.”
“The question we have to ask is if not now, when?” asked Betty Arnold. “The needs are here now. We need to do this now for the children.”
On July 28, members of CARE (Citizens Alliance for Responsible Education), recommended to the BOE some changes to the overall bond plan after gathering feedback from community meetings and business leaders. CARE recommended changing the bond plan by adding technical education programs and removing $20 million in PE and athletic improvements.
The BOE approved the technical education improvements, but didn’t want to remove the PE and athletic improvements after hearing from the several members of the community who wanted to see those improvements stay in the bond.
“Parents who are coming to Wichita are looking at where to live, and if they have student athletes, they will make decisions about schools based on the quality of athletics facilities. We’re already decades behind our neighbors,” said Victor Everett, former parent.
After hearing from several concerned supporters of PE and athletics, the BOE voted to increase the bond issue to $370 million to keep the improvements to PE and athletic facilities.
“I was struggling with what to take out and what we put in,” said Lynn Rogers, BOE President. “Our concern is the kids and I will ask the community to support this.”
“My kids don’t want to come back to a city that doesn’t value education,” Rogers said. “This is about the future of our community. We are educating our future leaders and we want them to stay in Wichita, but why would they want to stay if the community shows it doesn’t support education and our kids.”
More information about the bond issue can be found on the Wichita Public Schools website.
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Educate, don't advocate: Do's and Don'ts for staff
District and school district staff may educate voters about the bond issue, but they may not advocate a particular position in doing so. Simply put, staff can provide factual information regarding the bond issue, but in doing so they may not advocate a yes or no vote. Employees can advocate when acting as a private citizen, i.e., when you are not at work and off the district clock.
The Attorney General said school staff as to a bond election must maintain a "semblance of neutrality" regarding a bond issue.
Here are some examples of what you CAN do:
• Educate others about the facility upgrades the bond issue will support
• Talk about the facility needs of your school
• Give tours of your building to community members
• Encourage people to register to vote
• Answer people's questions - as long as you don't advocate voting a certain way
• Talk about how the bond issue would impact your school and community
• Provide information materials to people or direct them to resources where they can get questions answered
• Allow students to participate in campaign activities as long as it is not during classroom time.
• Provide factual information to the media as long as it does not advocate a stance on the issue and you must provide information equally to people on both sides of the issue
• Talk about what the impact would be on your school and students if a bond issue is not approved
• You can vote on November 4.
Here is what you CAN'T do when you are acting in your official capacity as a staff member:
• As an employee serving on a site council, you can't take a position on the bond issue if membership on the site council is part of your employment. Non-school or non-district employees can take a position.
• You can't use district-owned equipment or materials for campaign activities where a yes or no vote will be advocated.
• You can't encourage the community to vote yes for the bond issue.
• You can't encourage the community to write letters to the editor, call the Opinion Line, etc. to support the bond issue.
• You can't wear buttons or pins promoting passage of the bond issue while at school or while otherwise acting as school staff.
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Hadley teacher in Latvia for exchange program
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| Victoria Bulavkina, left, from Lativa, will teach at Hadley Middle School. Rose Moon, teacher at Hadley, will teach at a school in Latvia as part of the Fulbright Teacher Exchange. Photo by Susan Arensman | Rose Moon, Language Arts teacher at Hadley Middle School, has been awarded a Fulbright Teacher Exchange grant to teach in Latvia for the 2008-2009 school year. She will teach English in a Latvian High School this school year.
"I wanted to go for the sake of learning other cultures," Moon said. "I also want to learn how they run their schools and get the opportunity to travel the area."
Moon purchased several Wichita State, Kansas State and KU items to give to her new students as incentives and prizes. She is also anxious to bring back Latvian mementos to share with her Hadley students upon returning.
Victoria Bulavkina, a teacher from Latvia, will teach Language Arts at Hadley as part of the Teacher Exchange Program. She said she is excited to teach at Hadley, but a little nervous. She said the staff has been really supportive with her transition. She brought her family with her and her children will attend school in the district.
Moon is one of 450 U.S. teachers who will travel abroad through the Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program.
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Truesdell staff visit families before school starts
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| A Truesdell staff member knocks on the door of a student during home visits conducted August 8. Photo courtesy Truesdell | Before the school year began, teachers and staff members at Truesdell Middle School visited the homes of students to make sure they were ready for the new year. Fifty groups of staff members walked the neighborhoods around Truesdell to meet the students and their families to make them feel welcome.
Staff made personal contact with more than 200 families. The rest of the homes had “Welcome to Truesdell” hangers placed on the doors with a personal invitation to the school’s open house.
This is the second year the staff has done the home visits. The goal of the home visits is to strengthen the connection between a student’s home and school.
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Newspaper in Education program is now electronic
New this year, the Newspaper in Education program is now available exclusively online. Printed copies of The Wichita Eagle will no longer be delivered to schools and classrooms. Teachers and schools will have online access to every issue of The Wichita Eagle via an E-Edition subscription.
The E-Edition is an electronic version of the printed paper that is easy to read. It will appear on the computer screen exactly as it does in print. There is also the capability to search content by topics of interest, have access to local and community news 24 hours a day and can download the entire paper and read offline. The E-Edition paper will be delivered to your computer by 5 a.m. each day.
To subscribe, click here.
For more information, contact LaNesha Washington, Newspaper in Education Coordinator, 268-6564.
Top Teachers: Transcript deadline is Sept. 10
Any certified teacher that has acquired college credit to move up for a Track increase in pay, needs to turn in his/her transcripts to Human Resources, attention Linda Wagner, by September 10. Once the transcript has been received in Human Resources, a confirmation letter will be forwarded to the employee for verification.
The agreement with the United Teachers of Wichita states "All salary placements are subject to verification of experience and training and shall be adjusted in any direction for each school year to the level for which the teacher proves his/her entitlement on or before September 10 of each year."
If you have any questions, please call Linda Wagner, Certification Technician, 973-4619 or email lwagner@usd259.net.
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Reception for fall student teachers
Student teachers for the fall semester are invited to a reception on August 28, 3:45 – 5 p.m. in room 307 in the Alvin Morris Administrative Center, 201 N. Water. Principals and cooperating teachers are encouraged to attend the “come and go” reception as well.
The reception will allow student teachers to meet each other and to learn about employment opportunities that are available to them once they complete their student teaching.
For more information, contact Shelly Martin, Director of Licensed Personnel, at 973-4615.
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Fine Arts receives grant for music teachers
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Front row left: Teri Harpool, Cloud; Sharon Parks, Cleaveland; Dr. Elaine Bernstorf, Associate Dean, WSU College of Fine Arts; Cindy Anderson, Griffith; Holly Taylor, Emerson; Lauren Hirsh, Gordon Parks Academy
Back row left: Susan Will, Riverside; Judy Mareda, Benton; Shawn Chastain, Executive Coordinator of Fine Arts; Kirk Olson, Colvin and Director of Kodály Programs, WSU; Justin Rorabaugh - WSU Fine Arts Grant Writer; Dr. Rodney Miller, Dean, WSU; Nancy Rose, Greiffenstein; Don Gray, Vocal Music Curriculum Coach. Photo by Susan Arensman | The Wichita Public Schools’ Fine Arts Department has received a grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Professional Development for Arts Educators Program. Wichita was one of 24 schools in the country to receive a grant from the PDAE Program, valued at $355,000. The money will be used fund the Accentuating Music, Language and Cultural Literacy through Kodály-Inspired Instruction project, in partnership with Wichita State University and the Kodály Music Educators of Kansas.
The Kodály concept is a child-centered, discovery-based approach to teaching music that emphasizes the “music is for everyone” philosophy. The children use singing games, movement, folk songs, and rhythm syllables to learn music. Music teachers in 72 schools will receive professional development at Wichita State in the Kodály method and receive at least 5 hours of graduate credit.
Kirk Olson, music teacher at Colvin Elementary, has been teaching the Kodály method for more than 10 years. He said he could immediately tell a difference in the way his students enjoyed learning music.
“The students love music more and the teachers love teaching music more,” Olson said. “And that’s what it’s all about.”
School Supply Landslide helps Wichita students
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| School supplies collected by the Board of Education and district administration was displayed during the Aug. 11 meeting. Photo by Susan Arensman | The 13th Annual KAKE-TV School Supply Landslide will collect supplies from now until August 24. The goal of the Landslide is to offer qualified families and students with necessary school supplies to begin the school year. The Landslide is co-sponsored by Credit Union of America, The Wichita Eagle, Radio Disney, Wichita Public Schools, The Salvation Army, and Arby’s. The Salvation Army will distribute donated items to locations throughout the Wichita area.
School supplies may be delivered to KAKE-TV or Wichita-area Credit Union of America locations. Monetary donations are also accepted. All checks should be made out to “The Salvation Army” with “School Supply Landslide” noted on the memo line at the bottom of your check.
For several years, the BOE and district administration have had a friendly competition to see who can collect the most school supplies. The collection of supplies were displayed in front of the BOE table during the August 11 meeting.
For the 2008-2009 Wichita Public Schools school supply list, click here.
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