Today I was fortunate enough to be visited by Katie Bachmeyer from Sentaor Johnson's office. We spoke about funding issues, as well as, the direction of education for the future. We discussed the possibility of more of a cut for next year's budget and..........what that would force our school to have to do. Also, we spoke about No Child Left Behind and how it seems that it is becoming increasing more difficult to attain the marks written in the law. The education issue has been put on the back burner for now as Capital Hill is deciding on the debt ceiling, which is unfortunate in more ways that one.
It was nice to see the Senator Johnson is sending out his staff to speak with many of us who are affected by the items that are pressing us today. I believe it will be important to keep in contact with our national legislators over the coming months and years.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Interesting things are happening around the school these days...
Head Custodian, Tim Washenberger and the rest of the custodial staff (Scot, Gary, Galen, and Don) are really making progress on the buildings right now. New paint, fresh wax, and less lockers are making the high school building look amazing. We hope the students will like the new look and functionality of the high school building. The gym looks amazing as we approach the final days of the wait time for the finish to harden. The temperature and humidity have been stifling in the building but the guys have dealt with it and made all of the building look great.
Mr. Mower is in the process of installing new computers in the high school computer room. New computers and increased bandwidth should help students find information more quickly for all of their projects.
We have started our big summer projects over that last few days, as well. Carpet has been put in the middle school classrooms, by Lance Stuwe and his crew, to help with the acoustics in each of those rooms. The carpet looks great and it seems like it is going to be very functional for us.
Those of you who have driven by the school in the last few days may also have noticed that we have started work on our parking lot that was in pretty bad shape. Over the next few weeks Lien Construction will be milling, shaping and chip sealing the parking lot so that we are ready for the first day of school and all of the events that we host.
Another project that we hope will help visitors to our school is the remodeling of the old Elementary Principal's office into a Welcome center for visitors. Mrs Heinz will be stationed in the center and will be able to greet visitors as they enter the elementary portion of the building.
Our final addition for this year will take care of communication issues on many levels. We will be replacing our dated phone system and will be putting phones in all classrooms. All phones will be voice mail ready so that parents can contact teachers directly or at least leave them a voice mail. We hope this will also help our teachers communicate with their parents even more efficiently. But don't worry, the phones will still be answered by staff and not an automated system.
Mr. Mower is in the process of installing new computers in the high school computer room. New computers and increased bandwidth should help students find information more quickly for all of their projects.
We have started our big summer projects over that last few days, as well. Carpet has been put in the middle school classrooms, by Lance Stuwe and his crew, to help with the acoustics in each of those rooms. The carpet looks great and it seems like it is going to be very functional for us.
Those of you who have driven by the school in the last few days may also have noticed that we have started work on our parking lot that was in pretty bad shape. Over the next few weeks Lien Construction will be milling, shaping and chip sealing the parking lot so that we are ready for the first day of school and all of the events that we host.
Another project that we hope will help visitors to our school is the remodeling of the old Elementary Principal's office into a Welcome center for visitors. Mrs Heinz will be stationed in the center and will be able to greet visitors as they enter the elementary portion of the building.
Our final addition for this year will take care of communication issues on many levels. We will be replacing our dated phone system and will be putting phones in all classrooms. All phones will be voice mail ready so that parents can contact teachers directly or at least leave them a voice mail. We hope this will also help our teachers communicate with their parents even more efficiently. But don't worry, the phones will still be answered by staff and not an automated system.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Your opinion would be greatly appreciated.
Welcome to the new blog board. I would like to entertain any appropriate questions concerning the School District on this blog. I will be posting ideas and congratulations from time to time. I will also provide answers to questions that you may have. Generally if you have a question, someone else has the same question.
As I settle into my new position, in my old office, I find that it would be very helpful to speak to those of you who are interested in answering questions and offering opinions about the school district. So please feel free to stop in and say hi, starting in July of this year or by sending me an e-mail to trent.osborne@k12.sd.us. I would be very interested in your thoughts. Thank you and have a great summer. Go Tigers!
As I settle into my new position, in my old office, I find that it would be very helpful to speak to those of you who are interested in answering questions and offering opinions about the school district. So please feel free to stop in and say hi, starting in July of this year or by sending me an e-mail to trent.osborne@k12.sd.us. I would be very interested in your thoughts. Thank you and have a great summer. Go Tigers!
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