August 24, 2007 “The ability to focus attention on important things is a defining characteristic of intelligence.” - - Robert J. Schiller, Professor of Economics, Yale University Board Letter: 1. Day Care Center: This goes under the heading of “no good deed goes unpunished.” Last spring the Day Care Center Committee sent out six RFP’s to various day care centers when they were looking for someone to run the center. All providers declined and it looked as if they would not be able to open this fall. I personally contacted the Tot Spot and Rhyme Tyme to ask them to reconsider and come visit us. As a result of that contact both sat down with the committee and both changed their mind and expressed interest. The committee then had a dilemma. It had gone from none to two. The committee met to consider the two providers and overwhelmingly selected Tot Spot run by Wendy Mendola. Martha Reimer of Rhyme Tyme is now upset and sent me a letter suggesting that Wendy had an inside connection with the school district. I have responded to her, assuring her that the school district did not decide on the selection. I actually would have been personally happy with either choice but understand why, based on the two interviews, people felt Tot Spot would be better. By the way the center looks awesome.
2. New staff orientation: We had staff orientation these past three days for all probationary staff. Mrs. Cox did an outstanding job organizing the program and the principals each played a role. I believe we have a great group of teachers who have tremendous potential to become master teachers.
3. Maureen Nagel: As many of you are aware Mrs. Nagel who teachers MS Spanish was out most of last year with a voice injury. She has made good progress but is not yet ready for the rigors of teaching a language each day. To make sure the voice fully heals and to avoid a repeat of last year when we had to find a replacement part way through the year, we have hired a one year replacement for her. Maureen will work with her replacement and the other two new Spanish teachers to made sure they and their students are successful. She will also work with any students who are struggling in Spanish. With her help we also hope to be able to finish revising the Spanish curriculum. Maureen’s doctor believes she will be fully healed and ready to resume all her duties the following fall.
4. Lunch date: I had a very productive lunch meeting with Scott Freischlag. I think we made excellent progress and I believe both of us are looking forward to working with each other this year. I expect to continue my work with him throughout this year.
5. District Office Picnic: The district office will close next Tuesday at 1:00. I am having the ladies over to camp for an end of the year picnic. If you need to get a hold of either Lori or I you can call us on our cell phone. If you are hungry stop over for a hotdog or hamburger.
6. Mike Pullen: Ontario Elementary principal, Mike Pullen, will be starting his son at OP this fall. He lives in Pal-Mac currently but is taking advantage of our staff agreement that allows their children to attend here. We have several teachers who have taken advantage of this provision. Michael is the first administrator.
7. Blankenberg Addition: It has been three weeks now since the Blankenberg family has welcomed a new addition to their family. Marc and his wife are the parents of a third baby boy. Mother and son are both doing well now, but Marc wife was readmitted to the hospital shortly after coming home with an infection. She has recovered and is the busy and happy (and probably tired) mother of three. Congratulations to the Blankenberg family.
8. District Office reconfigurations: We will need to make some adjustments to the space in the district office. While I know we are considering moving the district office space altogether, we are in need of addressing some current needs. We are, as you know, adding a position to the HR office. We will be moving Mrs. Switzer into a shared space with Mrs. Jensen. While this decision is not necessarily popular in terms of the space squeeze, these two essentially job share in both the Accounts Payable area and overlap in the tax collecting position, so the move is the most logical. We are brainstorming to optimize the office space to accommodate them as much as possible. We have also needed to address the space needs of our Public Information Specialist, Amy Gebhardt. We really just brought in a couple moveable walls when she came on board, always thinking it was a temporary situation. Time has gotten away from us, and months have turned into years. We need to allow her adequate space to work, and a quiet area to do so.
9. Tutored/Suspended Students: I met with our district tutor and Mrs. Cieplinski earlier this week to briefly review our long term suspended/tutored students. Ms. Wagner joined us last year after Mrs. Cieplinski came to the District Office as a teacher on special assignment. She seems to have a terrific handle on the students at the tutoring center. She knew each student’s name, background, recalled their grades and academic successes and struggles. I was very impressed with her commitment and her energy. These are generally a challenging group of students, who can sometimes be less than motivated. I believe this is a good step in meeting success this year to see our tutor already looking to gather work for her students, determine schedules, and plotting her year.
10. Upcoming Events:
10. Upcoming Events: 9/4 – First day for Staff/Welcome Back Session
9/5 – First day for students
9/5 – OP/FE Kindergarten Orientation
9/7 – 10/10 – Senior Trip Magazine Drive
Athletics ( Home Games Only): 8/28 – Girls JV Tennis vs. Naples – 10:00 a.m.
8/30 – Girls V Tennis vs. Bloomfield – 10:00 a.m.
8/31 – Boys V Football vs. Brighton – 7:00 p.m.
9/4 – Girls JV & V Volleyball vs. Canandaigua – 5:00 & 6:30 p.m.
9/4 – Boys JV & V Soccer vs. NRW – 4:30 & 6:30 p.m.
9/5 – Girls JV Tennis vs. Newark – 4:00 p.m.
9/5 – Girls JV & V Soccer vs. Newark – 4:30 & 6:30 p.m.
9/6 – Boys JV & V Soccer vs. Marcus Whitman – 4:30 & 6:30 p.m.
9/7 – Boys V Football vs. Canandaigua – 7:00 p.m.
9/7 – Girls V Tennis vs. Waterloo – 4:00 p.m.
9/7 – Boys JV & V Volleyball vs. Midlakes – 5:30 & 7:00 p.m.
Letter to the Board
