tripoli community schools · tripoli community schools striving for excellence...in rural schools...
TRANSCRIPT
Tripoli Community Schools Striving for excellence...in rural schools
February 2016
Superintendent’s Comments by Troy Heller
We are extremely proud of the direction the Tripoli School District has gone and what we have achieved over the last several years. Even though, as with all small districts, we are struggling/challenged with legislative funding, we believe we are offering a variety of academic and activity choices. The school districts around us have all lost students which, in turn, means we are all losing funding from the state. Due to this fact, like all small districts, we have to reduce our overall expenditures. Our school district is the hub of our community and will continue to be the main focus in our community for years to come.
Budget This past Monday the Tripoli School Board discussed budget items for the 2016-‐17 school year. This year we were pleased to gain 17 students, which came as surprise, but a pleasant surprise. With that being said, the predictions for the future have us dropping more students (see attachment). In fact, this spring we are graduating at least 42 students; and it appears that we will enroll 23-‐25 kindergarten students. Each student is worth approximately $6,500. This, in itself, will reduce our budget approximately $110,500. However, behind the scene, I have been working very diligently with numerous districts to try and bring in extra monies from the Department of Education called Operation Sharing Monies. So far, I’ve been able to share enough items with neighboring districts that will allow our district about $96,000 in extra dollars each year for the next three years or through 2019. We also received the Teacher Leadership Grant which will bring in another $145,000 for the next several years starting this fall. All of these extra monies are going to help Tripoli get a firm grip on its budget numbers and help support bringing back at least two programs this summer and next fall. At this past Board meeting, the Board allowed me to put EWALU and MS summer sports (most likely) back on the budget. The MS sports item is pending whether or not enough games will be able to be solicited from surrounding districts. Sports schedules are made 2-‐3 years in advance, and this fall we backed out on the contracts that we had.
Report Card The Department of Education has recently released the Iowa School Report Card, and only 17percent of the school buildings in Iowa had a better rating than the rating that Tripoli received – Commendable. This rating is based on assessments, college-‐ and career-‐ready growth, closing the achievement gap, annual expected growth, attendance, and staff retention. This, in turn, means (using the Department of Education’s facts) that our district, for being small, is offering outstanding programs, a safe environment, and 21st century education. Even though, as with all small districts, we are struggling/challenged with legislative funding, the district has made key reductions and key-‐sharing opportunities to help stabilize our financial standing.
Two Entities Working Together to Help Boost Wellness Awareness As I talked about last year, during the past couple of years, our community and school have been working together to improve the community’s options for total wellness and the ability to access areas to allow this to happen. The city, along with the Community Club, have been writing grants to help finance a community bike trail, and the school has done its best to help in this area. The Welcome Center has been built, and the bike trail will be built this spring. While the city is working on its outside recreation ideas, the school opened two years ago the Tripoli Community Wellness Center, and it has been a success. The school, with the community’s support, built our new gym addition, along with the Tripoli Community Wellness Center. The Center and our old gym are open to the patrons of the district from 4:00 a.m.-‐11:00 p.m. seven
days a week, except when classes are in session (8:00 a.m.-‐3:30 p.m.). This is exciting and past due for our district. We can’t take too much credit without involving the Tripoli Booster Club. Within a very short period of time, some very ambitious volunteer adults and students helped the district raise over $60,000 to supply the Community Wellness Center with the needed pieces of equipment. We truly feel that our partnerships are moving us in the same direction, and we want to continue the relationship for the betterment of the community. Our current membership is nearing 70 paid customers. This, in turn, has allowed us to purchase several new pieces of equipment. Our Weight Room Committee and Board have just recently opened our facility to out-‐of-‐district customers. Please see the school’s website for all details (www.tripoli.k12.ia.us).
Iowa Alerts Keep your eyes open for new information on the State of Iowa’s emergency system called Iowa Alerts. We currently use this system to alert parents/students about weather concerns and important information. This past week I listened to a webinar highlighting all the new changes that will be coming out in March. We will be sending out details through our JMC program to all PK-‐12 parents.
Foundation Over the last several years, a few people, along with myself, have been working to try and start a Tripoli Education Foundation. We are only in the beginning stages, and we are one of the only districts around that does not tap into a foundation to help the districts financially. This has been a slow process, but it appears that we are getting somewhere with this. On Monday, January 25, the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa will be presenting their ideas to the Community Club. If you have any thoughts or would like to be a part of working with this group of people, please call the school; and I will get you in touch with the right people. If we can get this set up, this will help in the long run with our financials. Please see the attached document for our purpose statement for the Tripoli Education Foundation.
Open Enrollment If you are considering Open Enrolling into our district, the due date is March 1, 2016, to turn in your paperwork to the Superintendent’s office. You can find all of the material you need on the Iowa Department of Education’s website (www.educateiowa.gov). Look under the A-‐Z Index tab at the top of the screen and click on Open Enrollment.
Make-up Days Wow – knock on wood, we have not missed a single day as of the writing of this newsletter….this is a first, in my time as an administrator. Keep your fingers crossed for good weather the rest of this winter.
Hard-Surface Roads Only In the near future, our Bus Transportation Director, Mr. Tom Blume, will be outlining the new 2015-‐16 hard surface bus routes. All bus students/parents will be able to visit the Tripoli website to get their updates. If the district needs to go hard-‐surface only, the district will contact our local TV/radio stations. The parents can find out where their son/daughter will need to be dropped off and where they will be picked up by their daily bus driver. We are hoping this will give the district another option in case of inclement weather or when the gravel roads are not drivable during spring. Last year we had good luck. Let’s hope for the same this year.
Calendar – Dates To Remember February 3 No School – Teacher PD February 6 Large Group Speech February 15 No School February 17-20 State Wrestling February 20 Large Group Speech February 22 & 23 Parent/Teacher Conferences February 24 ISC Speech February 25 HS Pops Concert 7:00 p.m. February 26 No School February 27 District state Speech February 28 & 29 DECA State Competition March 2 No School March 8 Blood Drive March 10 Science Fair March 11 End of 3rd Quarter March 14-18 Iowa Assessment Tests
TRIPOLI COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT
“Go Panthers!” 209 Eighth Avenue, SW
Tripoli, IA 50676 319-882-4202 MS/HS Fax 319-882-3103
www.tripoli.k12.ia.us
Tripoli Community Schools Foundation Investing in the Future
Mission Statement
The purpose of the Tripoli Community School Foundation is to support the Tripoli Community School’s vision of “Education to meet tomorrow’s challenges” by:
∗ Providing financial support to enhance and enrich the experiences of students for generations to come.
∗ Affording a channel for donors who want to leave a lasting legacy.
∗ Involving the community in assuring quality programs, services, and facilities for the leaders and workers of tomorrow.
________________________________________________________________________________
Superintendent Board Sec./Bus. Manager K-‐5 Principal MS/HS Asst. Principal Activities Director Troy Heller Tracie Fette Sarah Figanbaum Karen Neuendorf Tony Sneiderman
Elementary News by Sarah Figanbaum
Iowa Assessments Students in 2nd through 11th grades will be taking the Iowa Assessments during the weeks of March 7 and March 14. The Iowa Assessments are a series of tests measuring important aspects of the Iowa Core. Your student’s scores on the Iowa Assessments can be used to:
• Understand how your student performs in key areas such as reading, writing, math, science, and social studies
• Help identify your student’s relative strengths and limitations in these key areas
• Monitor your student’s performance over time
• Compare your student’s performance to other students in the nation
• Provide information about your student’s proficiency level as defined by the state of Iowa
Kindergarten Registration Will Take Place on March 10 On Thursday, March 10, 2016, from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., the Kindergarten staff will have registration for students entering Kindergarten for the 2016-‐2017 school year. Students must be age five on or before September 15, 2016, in order to register. Please bring a copy of your child’s immunization record and birth certificate. If your child currently attends the Tripoli Preschool Program, you will NOT need to register at this time. An informational form for Tripoli Preschool students will be sent home prior to March 10. If you have any questions, please contact the Elementary Office at (319) 882-‐4203.
National School Counseling Week National School Counseling Week 2016, “Celebrating School Counseling,” will be celebrated February 1-‐5, 2016, to focus public attention on the unique contribution of professional school counselors within the U.S. school systems. National School Counseling Week, sponsored by ASCA, highlights the tremendous impact school counselors can have in helping students achieve school success and plan for a career.
Buddy Bench Tripoli Elementary students are encouraged to be people who help each other, cheer each other on, share with one another, think of others, and focus on building a strong community. The Buddy Bench is a reminder to all students to do each one of these
things and to reach out to one another. The bench is a place where students may gather to meet new friends to play with and a place to feel included. The bench will be placed in the Elementary playground. Madeleine Ambrose donated the Buddy Bench.
School Counselor’s Comments by Kara Marsh
SADD, once again, had a very successful Penny Drive! SADD would like to thank all the students and parents for helping in our efforts to raise money towards gifts for area families. We would also like to thank American Savings Bank in Tripoli for helping count pennies and silver.
National Honor Society will be selling Valentine Cookie Grams starting in February. The price for one Cookie Gram is $.50. National Honor Society students will be selling Cookie Grams during lunch starting February 3. Cookie Grams will be delivered to any PK-‐12th grade student and faculty member on February 12.
High School/Middle School News The 8th-‐11th grade students will be picking out courses for the 2016-‐2017 school year. We just completed the process of updating four-‐year plans. Please discuss with your student their academic plan. Every student has the ability to log-‐in to the “I Have A Plan Iowa” website so that you can review their plans. The Tripoli High School course book is available on the Tripoli webpage under “Parents/Students.” The next ACT Testing date is April 9; the registration deadline is March 4. We are offering an ACT prep class for $35.00 on March 7-‐8, and 10. This course will help prepare your student for the ACT testing and will provide them with a book to study prior to the test. Students must attend all three nights. Seniors should be applying for scholarships. I have a binder full of scholarships in my office available to them. Please encourage them to keep applying.
Elementary News
February guidance lesson covers Protective Behaviors. We review NO, GO, Tell, and we discuss the importance of personal safety. Please contact me with any concerns or questions. I am available through email at [email protected] or 319-‐882-‐4202. Thank you.
Middle/High School News
Thursday, February 4 The Tripoli HS Art students and Kristie Schult
will host a Valentine "Paint and Sip" in the Tripoli Art
Room Sweet treats and beverages will be served alongside the
guided painting. The money raised will go towards the studentsʼ art trip to Chicago. $35 each – 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
To enroll, email Kristie at [email protected], and the fee is payable that evening. We'd love to see you there. Guided painting involves you following step-by-step as Kristie guides you through the painting. We all work together, and itʼs so cool how all of your paintings turn out
similar but unique. Kristie would love to invite you to try this even if you've never painted before. Anyone can do this; you do not need experience. Tripoli High School DECA Competition Results On January 22, 2016, 19 Tripoli High School students competed at the District 1 Competition held at Wartburg College in Waverly. Over 180 students from Cedar Rapids Jefferson, Hampton-‐Dumont, Janesville, Oelwein, Starmont, Tripoli, and Waverly-‐Shell Rock competed in business competition events. Eleven of the nineteen students from Tripoli received special recognition. In Accounting Applications, Erin Moeller earned 1st place. Jennifer Stumme also placed 1st in the individual event of Restaurant Food Service Management. The team events of Sadie Bobst and Claire Biermann took 1st place in Travel and Tourism, Natalie Eick and Kiley Morey earned 1st place in Hospitality Services, and Dalton Tonne and Nate Luebbers received 1st place in Buying and Merchandising. Also receiving awards for Tripoli were 3rd place Eric Henry and Nic Moore in Hospitality Services Team and 3rd place Kyle Gilbert in Principles of Finance. Next, Tripoli DECA will compete at the state competition at Southeast Polk High School on February 28 and 29.