Superintendent's Update

Another school year is off and running.  We had our first home volleyball game and now it's time for our first home football game.  With the building project going on there will be some changes you will notice.

The football field is ready for the first game.  

First, the entrance to the stadium is currently south of the old concrete driveway.  It is just a grass walkway to the field, but will eventually be graveled for this year.  In the future, it will be concrete as it's been in the past.  We still have handicapped parking spots at the stadium, but they are limited.  If you normally park at the stadium and sit in your vehicle, you should be able to continue to do that.  In addition, a huge shout out to State Bank for allowing us the use of their golf cart to shuttle people from the parking lot to the stadium.  If you have trouble getting to the stadium, please let one of the car parkers know and we will call a golf cart to come pick you up.

Second, we currently have less parking spots than normal.  We will be having the football players park in another spot to help the situation.  We will get about 30 spots back once they are done installing the water main, but until that time, thanks for your patience in dealing with the parking situation.  

They yellow line is the construction fence and the red arrow denotes new path to stadium.  

It's great to see the project finally progressing as they begin the pre-construction site work.  At this time, they are moving or installing most of the water lines.  When that process is complete they will begin removing much of the soil where the new building will go and they will replace it with new properly compacted material to provide a solid base for the foundation of the new building.  I will share photos on a regular basis to keep everyone updated.  Be sure to follow the district's Facebook page for the latest updates.

School Bus Reminders

With the new school year starting, I wanted to remind everyone about driving when school buses are out.  Each year we have a number of stop arm violations.  When the red lights are flashing and the stop arm is out it is illegal to pass a school bus from either direction.  When the yellow lights are flashing it means the bus is about to stop and put the arm out and red lights on.  If you see the yellow lights, you should start slowing down and prepare to stop.  The safety of our children is our highest priority and it starts with them being safe on the bus.  

You can check out more at the Iowa DOT website.  

Speaking of children on the buses.  Parents please take a few minutes to discuss with your children bus expectations and also proper procedures for getting on and off the bus.  If your child has to cross the road to get on the bus, please remind them to look for traffic and wait for the driver to motion them across.  When the driver stops he/she looks to make sure all vehicles have stopped or are stopping before letting kids off the bus or motioning them across the road.  The same would apply when getting off the bus.  Please remind them to make sure they stay in the driver's line of sight when going around the bus and again be alert for any traffic that may be coming that isn't stopping for the bus.  

Finally, driving a bus is a rewarding occupation with a lot of responsibility.  Please remind your child to talk quietly so the driver can hear the radio or anything else that may require his/her attention.  In addition, it's especially important that everyone on the bus is quiet when the bus stops at a railroad crossing.  The driver has to look for and listen for an approaching train.  If the students are making too much noise, the driver may take off without hearing the train coming.  If we all work together, we can keep our kids safe.  

  

Our Ideal Graduate

Creating a New Vision

NHHS staff spent an afternoon talking about what our ideal high school is and how we focus our vision to help students find that ideal. What does a graduate need most from us? What do we want for our OWN kids as they work through high school? Staff narrowed the list down to six characteristic for our 2017-18 focus and to help us drive our PBL work.

As we worked through what the ideal graduate is, we had a rich dialogue about how this hits our core values and how we need to continue to work toward creating the conditions that bring us to the ideal graduate.

And we worked on creating our own visual for the ideal graduate.  This meant we had to key into our own creative nature to be able to share with students what we want them to become.

But What Do Our Students Need from Us?

We created what we want students to be when they leave us, but what do they need from us to help them continue to be successful past our doors? Mary Kenkel writes in KnowledgeWorks.org (2016) about the 5 Necessities for an Ideal High School, According to College Freshmen. Our student want us to give them the following:

1. A welcoming environment
2. A focus on students' futures beyond school
3. Opportunities for real world experiences
4. Less importance on testing; more importance on comprehension
5. Greater emphasis on working as a team

See the article for more information: http://knowledgeworks.org/worldoflearning/2016/01/college-students-reimagine-school/

School Year Off to a Start

With the first week of school now in full swing, student and staff have spent significant time building relationships and establishing routine to help make the school year successful and fun. Wednesday and Thursday were full of group meetings and the 2nd Annual Chickasaw Games led by high school staff.

We know that relationships among staff and students are key to engagement and students' comfort at school.  By focusing immediately on the FISH philosophies of Choose Your Attitude, Play, Make Their Day, and Be There, we can continue the journey to a positive culture and climate at NHHS.

For a refresher on the FISH philosophy check this out: Brush up on FISH

From the Middle Aug 28

Back to School:

Teachers welcomed back students on Aug 23.  During the assembly, staff showed a video demonstrating this year's theme of "Try Everything".  Students and staff are encouraged to try new things this year.

Teacher Professional Development:

Staff have worked had during inservice to further develop interventions based on student need and use the data to support decisions.  In addition staff have continued to think about how PBL can be incorporated into their content areas.  Below are some some ideas of driving questions and ideas staff have about incorporating PBL into their classrooms.

Kwik Star Cards:

Students are now selling Kwik Star cards as our Middle School fundraiser.  This is a great program because it allows you to support the school and get a gift card for entire amount you buy.  Students began selling cards on August 23rd and will sell through August 29th.  We will also be selling them through the Middle School office after the kickoff event.  Please support our school with this fundraiser because the proceeds go back to the students to help fund field trips, guest speakers, PBIS events and other student needs.

Smiling kids are back!

Open House Night took place on August 21st, lots of families came and enjoyed the supper!

TRIBE expectations were being taught the first day of school from in the classroom to the playground, then wrapped the day up with an assembly.

T-Trustworthy

R-Respectful

I-Involved

B- Be Prepared

E-Effort

New Hampton Elementary staff continues the conversation about what we want from our children when they graduate from New Hampton High School........

Teachers are back!

What a great day this has been.  We start the morning with breakfast served by the local chamber of commerce and heard from Mayor Deb Larson, Industrial Development Director Tammy Robinson, and school board member Jay Matthews.  The teachers are eager for the year to start and we had a good kick-off.

We have 8 new teachers this year and they are eager to start.  Tiffany Bredman will be our 3 year old preschool teacher; Melissa Sinnwell will be teaching 6th grade science and social studies; Amanda Ries will be teaching preschool; Kimberly Wedeking will be teaching 4th grade; Maggie Konecne will be teaching high school English; Tami Tomkins will be the district's teacher-librarian; Lorraine Dunagan will be teaching elementary/middle school art; and Caleb Ciavarelli will be teaching high school P.E.  If you see them around the community, please be sure to welcome them to New Hampton.

New Teachers:  Ms. Bredman, Ms. Sinnwell, Ms. Ries, Ms. Wedeking, Ms. Konecne, Ms. Tomkins, Ms. Dunagan, and Mr. Ciavarelli.  

Introducing our new staff members this morning

The staff also heard from local business leader Mr. Kurt Croell.  He shared his thoughts on the many opportunities that exist for our students that don't require a four year college degree or going deeply in debt to get the skills they need.  He shared his experiences with his own business in hiring people with college degrees for jobs that require no degree, because they cannot find a job in the field they trained for.  It was good to hear the perspective from someone in the business community.  

Mr. Kurt Croell sharing some perspectives with staff members

Finally, the teachers are getting their rooms ready for next Wednesday.  A quick reminder that the back to school open house and barbecue will take place on Monday night from 4 to 6.  Even if you don't have any students in school, please feel free to stop down to the middle school playground and have a hotdog and enjoy the back to school atmosphere!  

PBL, HTH, and the Gold Standards

Staff Attends High Tech High Training as Part of Ongoing PBL Efforts

On August 14 and 15, staff were given the opportunity to work in Charles City with practitioners from High Tech High in San Diego on their upcoming J-term classes and rolling out Project Based Learning in the classroom. During the four sessions, a variety of staff worked through philosophy questions, design, modular planning, and a protocol for reflection.

Upon reflecting on this time, staff in attendance noted that they were able to refine their plans from June while also beginning the process of integrating PBL into their classrooms throughout the year.  Many of the resources given will be used in our own building professional development this year in partnership with the Buck Institute materials.

Why the Gold Standard PBL and the Essential Project Design Elements?

Staff is spending opening professional development reflecting on the Gold Standards of PBL and the essential project design elements as they relate to the J-term courses that are being created this semester in preparation for January 3-16. Without all of the elements, our PBL courses will connect to each other, our community, and our students.  What is your definition of the 8 elements? How do you think they all fit together?

• Challenging Problem or Question
• Sustained Inquiry
• Authenticity
• Student Voice and Choice
• Reflection
• Critique and Revision
• Public Product

As we collaborate in our PLC groups, how can you ensure your courses is meeting all of the standards? These standards are all focused around key knowledge, understanding, and success skills we want all of our graduates to have and be able to use.

PBL for Thought: Teaching to the Edges Using PBL

Next week-- The 4 Cs and how we know it is happening

From the Middle Week of Aug 21

Our staff is welcoming students back at our open house on August 21 from 4pm to 6 pm.  There will be a 5th grade parent meeting/new student meeting in the auditorium from 5:30-6 pm.  Our school also invites everyone to the Back to School BBQ on Aug 21.

Kwik Star Fundraiser is now underway.  Students will be selling Kwik Star cards from Aug 23-Aug 29.  Please support our students in this fundraiser because the profit is used for student activities such as field trips and our PBIS program.   New Hampton Middle School has adopted PBIS - Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports.  Students have went through the building with staff and learned the expectations in the different settings.  You may hear your student talking about minors or TRIBE tickets.  Students receive minors for infractions in the different settings and then attend reteaching at the end of the day to review the expected behavior.  At the end of each quarter, students will be able to participate in the quarter activity if they have less than 8 minors.  Students also receive TRIBE tickets as they are acknowledged for making positive choices and going above and beyond.  Students can turn these TRIBE tickets into the office to be part of the weekly PBIS drawing.  Students can also collect three TRIBE tickets to turn into their homeroom teacher to take off one minor at a time.  Below are the TRIBE expectations for our students:

Elementary teachers are back in full swing!

Paraprofessionals and staff participated in CPI training on Monday, August 14th. CPI training equips staff with proven strategies for safely defusing anxious, hostile, or violent behavior at the earliest possible stage. 

Groundbreaking took place on Monday, August 14th for the new middle school.

This has been a very busy week for most of us staff finishing up the final schedules, supplies, trainings that need to be done before the K-4 kids start back on the 23rd. Preschool will join us on the 24th.  
On Tuesday, August 15th in Charles City some staff also attended training provided by High Tech Tech (https://www.hightechhigh.org/).  What I loved learning about this day was how the school projects integrate hands and minds and incorporate inquiry across multiple disciplines, leading to the creation of meaningful and beautiful work. Students engage in work that matters to them, to their teachers, and to the world outside of school.
Heading into next week don't forget about Open House August 21st: K-4 4-6pm and Preschool 11-1 and 4-6.  Auditorium presentations: 3rd grade 4-4:30, 4th grade 4:45-5:15pm, 3yr old 6:30-7:17. Supper on the playground from 4:30-6:30.

Superintendent's Weekly Update

Welcome Back!

It's time for school to start again.  August 23rd will be here before we know it.  There are a lot of exciting things happening this year.  The most prominent is our building project.  We will hold our groundbreaking ceremony Monday, August 14th at 4 p.m.  Please come out and join us to celebrate this milestone for our school and community.  

As the construction process starts, there will be some changes you will notice on our campus.  First, you will notice the construction fence and new entrances to the football stadium.  The fence is scheduled to go up on Wednesday, August 16th with work to begin shortly after that.  We will lose some parking during construction and the path to football stadium will be crushed rock instead of the cement we are used to.  The inconvenience is the price we pay for the new construction.  Thanks in advance for your patience as we work through our project.  I have shared some pictures below of the facility before any work begun and also some in the current stage of preparation.  

We also have a new class coming to the high school.  It will be called Multi-occupations Careers Class and will be taught by Mrs. Anderson.  This class will be open to seniors who are on track to graduate.  If they can make it work in their schedule, students will be allowed to attend school for half the day and take their required classes.  They will also attend MOC class and then spend the other half of the day working in a job.  They will also be earning high school credits for their work experience.  We know that we all learn valuable skills while working and that includes students.  They are learning things that will serve them for a lifetime in ways we just cannot duplicate in school.  If you or your child would like more information on this program, please contact the high school office.  We are excited to offer this opportunity to our students.  

We will be sending this out on a regular basis.  If you didn't get this via email and would like to, please take time to sign up.  

 Aerial view before work begins

District Athletic Facilities before work begins

 Aerial view after we've started clearing the area

 District athletic facilities after

Overall view of high school and community

Welcome Back to NHHS

Why PBL?

Our Chickasaw Challenge and introduction to Project Based Learning (PBL) was incredibly successful last April.  NHHS will continue it's journey with PBL by implementing J-Term from January 3-16 and then working on integrating PBL into classrooms throughout the year.

The goal is to implement PBL where students:

• engage in a rigorous, extended process of inquiry focused on complex, authentic questions and problems
• work as independently from the teacher as possible, and have some degree of "voice and choice"
• demonstrate in-depth understanding of academic knowledge and skills
• build 21st century skills such as collaboration, critical thinking, and communication
• create high quality products and performances which are presented to a public audience.

So why PBL and why now? Well-designed and well-implemented PBL can be more effective that traditional instruction in increasing academic achievement and also improves mastery of 21st century skills.  PBL focuses on student motivation and shows retention of knowledge over time. We know there is often a disconnect between what students are taught and tested on and what the world around them is demanding in continuing education, in the workforce and in job training. 

Traditional learning centers around students being told what they need to know, memorizing it, and being assigned a problem to illustrate how to use it.  Alternatively, PBL starts with the problem, requiring the students to identify what they need to know to solve it, and then learning and applying knowledge to solves the problem.  The content is still in the learning and students are driven to get the knowledge in order to solve the problem.

To get started on more information, please see http://www.bie.org/about/why_pbl

Registration Under Way

August is in full swing and we a prepping for students and staff to return.  Registration is open online and face-to-face registration was held August 7 for families needing assistance.  If you need help registering, please call Ms. Karen at 394-2144.

Activities Welcome Back
Fall sports also began on August 7 at the high school. Students involved in cross country, football, volleyball, cheer, and marching band are on-campus and working hard to prepare for fall participation and competition.  These girls were so excited to be back to volleyball that they were still in the parking lot an hour after practice.

Middle School New Year 2017-2018

Welcome back to the 2017-2018 school year.  We are excited to be back in school and working with your students.  Our staff is excited to continue to work with your students to help them become their very best.  This year we will continue to focus on the needs of every student and continue to make our intervention program more effective.  In addition, our staff is looking forward to continuing our PBL journey and the second year of Midmester.

Back to School : Here We Go

Week of August 7th

Teacher Mrs. Jamie Wickham and family making changes to her 1st grade classroom.

Exciting times lie ahead at New Hampton Elementary! While summer is coming to a close for students at New Hampton Elementary, the staff has been busy preparing for an exciting school year!  We are eager for the students to return as we will welcome them back with loving hugs, high fives and oh yes- rigorous curriculum! While we will continue our venture on Early Literacy and Go Math (new series this year), we want to also stress the importance of the 4C’s of education.  Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Creativity, and Communication will be skills we will start investigating and what does each of these skills look like in classrooms moving forward.  

Mrs. Cheri Demaray preparing in her new Kindergarten classroom.

Teacher Leadership Team investigates learning labs in Elkader on August 7th.