Blog Bits

Board Meeting
The Board of Trustees met in regular session last evening at Jefferson Elementary. In addition to their regular business, the board adopted map B-2 for the elementary attendance districts. Mrs. Neidlinger gave a report on the Jefferson School Improvement Plan.

Summer school programs were approved for 2006. The high school’s first trimester will meet from May 30 through June 23rd. The second trimester from June 26th to July 24th. Courses will be offered in Economics, Government, History, Biology, Pre-Algebra, Algebra, Geometry, and Ag Experience. Lincoln Junior High summer school will be from July 28th to August 4th. The Junior High and High School Migrant Studies Program will be at that location along with 7th and 7th grade Intensive Math and 7th and 8th grade Remedial Math/Language Arts. The elementary program will be at Washington Elementary from July 28th through August 4th. The federal breakfast and lunch programs will be offered at both Lincoln and Washington.

Construction Update
The contractors are working on the punch lists for Webster, Washington, Riverside, Lincoln, and Plymouth High School. At Jefferson Elementary, the installation of the floor tile has begun in the restrooms and classroom areas. Casework will be installed over spring break. The installation of the carpeting will begin shortly thereafter.

At the new Menominee – cement pours continue in section A. In lower B, the soil is being prepared for a cement pour. In upper B, preparation of the metal deck will begin for a cement pour a week from today. The masons are in the process of rubbing walls for block filling and painting. Construction of interior walls continues. The closing up of the open area on the south side of the building will begin on Friday.

Change Orders
The board received a report for two change orders that have taken place during the last two weeks. Both change orders resulted in a $20,000 return of funds to the building corporation. The total cost of all change orders at this point for Phase I and Phase II is $22,094.80.

Loose Equipment Bids
The loose equipment bids were approved by the Board. The total amount of the low bids was $255,655. The estimated bid price was $343,165. The reverse auction process created a savings of $87,510 from the traditional bid process.

Congratulations
Congratulations to the high school girls’ basketball team for a successful season.

Congratulations to Tony Ross. At last Tuesday’s Culver Military/Plymouth home basketball game, Tony was presented the Distinguished Media Service award from the IHSAA. Along with the IHSAA, we appreciate Tony’s dedication to Plymouth High School athletics and his loyalty to Plymouth Community Schools.

Corrections

The Plan B-2 posting now contains the corrected demographic information. We apologize for the misinformation.

Blog Bits

Menominee PTO
On February 9th I had the pleasure of meeting with members of the Menominee PTO. The members shared those characteristics we should look for as the selection process for the new Menominee principal begins.

Those characteristics include:
-one who is available
-possesses integrity, initiation
-is friendly and is approachable
-a high-spirited person
-concerned about the health and safety of children
-willing to adhere to policies yet be flexible
-maintain rapport with parents and families
-gets along with staff members
-tries creative ideas
-not afraid of change
-willing to do something that is different
-maintains discipline in a positive and respectful way
-agrees but can disagree in the right way
-greets students outside the building in the morning
-knows the students
-will blend well with the rest of the staff
-has time management skills
-knows innovative ways of discipline
-sees every child as an individual
-is open-minded
-is not afraid to say something that needs to be said
-ability to work with parents
-involved in the various activities at school
-accessible to parents
-willing to have community involvement


Thank you to those persons who took the time to meet and discuss this important decision.


Congratulations
The Lady Pilgrims completed an outstanding season last weekend. The never-give-up attitude of our team is the result of the efforts of our coaching staff and the support of our community. Thank you for a great year!

Revised Plan B

Dr. McKibben has tweaked Plan B to decrease the size of Jefferson. The result is as follows:
Demographics for B-2

School/Students/ Hispanic Students /Median Household Income
Jefferson/ 312 /44/ $43,519
Menominee 347 /50 /$46,299
Washington 351/52/$43,769
Webster 337 /59/$47,421

Blog Bits

Board Highlights
The Board of Trustees met in regular session last evening at Plymouth High School. In addition to its regular business, the board conducted a hearing on redistricting. The majority of those patrons present favored Plan B. Concerns were expressed about the potential size of Jefferson.

The Board adopted the 2006-2007 school calendar.

August 15 First Teacher Day
August 16 First Student Day
September 4 Labor Day (Paid Day)
October 18-19 Student ½ Day
Parent/Teacher Conf.
October 20 Fall Break
November 1 In-service Day
November 23-24 Thanksgiving Break
December 1 In-service Day
December 25-Jan 5 Winter Break
January 17 In-service Day
February 16 In-service Day
February 19 President’s Day
March 6 In-service Day
March 26-30 Spring Break
April 6 Good Friday (snow make-up)
April 19 In-service Day
May 24 Last Day for Students
May 25 Last Teacher Day


The board employed ForeSight Engineering to serve as civil engineer for the rehabilitation of the Soccerplex.

The next board meeting will be at Jefferson Elementary on February 16, 2006 at 7:00 p.m.


Construction Update

Last Thursday and Friday at Webster, Washington, Lincoln and Plymouth High School, a walk-through was conducted by the construction manager and corporation administrators. The Punch Lists were updated. Contractors will begin concentration on those incomplete items or those items in need of correction.

At Riverside, the project is complete with the exception of the installation of white boards.

At Jefferson Elementary, the ceiling grids in the new edition have been installed. Light fixtures are now in place. The new fire alarm system has been completed. Windows in the new edition are installed. Carpeting and casework will arrive the first week of March. Painting will be completed during the next two-week period. Contractors are anticipating the delivery of the HVAC classroom units during the next month.

At the new Menominee, a major concrete pour in the Kindergarten and administrative area is scheduled to take place on Wednesday. The work on the roof over the western section of the building will take place as weather permits. Plumbing and electrical rough-ins continue throughout the building. Sheet metal work is in progress in the dining room, art, and kitchen areas. Bulkheads are under construction in the dining room and commons area. The windows for the building have been delivered. Installation of the windows will take place in the near future. Preparation for concrete pour #3 is underway. The masons are completing the brick veneer on the south side of the building and installing the non-supporting walls in section A.


Change Order Report
The change order report is as follows: At Plymouth High School there have been a total of 17 change orders for a cost of $42,685.29. At Webster, Washington, and Lincoln, there have been a total of 35 change orders for a cost of -$9,825.49. At Jefferson, Riverside, and new Menominee there have been seven change orders for a cost of $9,235.00

Student Wellness Programs

The Indianapolis Star continues the series on childhood obesity.

Blog Bits

Each school district in Indiana is required to develop a corporation wellness plan for students. A committee of staff members is currently involved in that effort. Information sessions will be scheduled with each PTO prior to the completion of the plan. The Indianapolis Star is running a series of articles which provide background for the requirement. Stay tuned for further updates.

Redistricting Update

The Board of Trustees will conduct a public redistricting hearing during the Monday, February 6th meeting at 7:00 PM in the Plymouth High School cafeteria. Dr. McKibben has prepared two scenarios which meet the goals of buildings of approximately the same size, socio-economic, and ethnic composition. Both of the plans are displayed below. The maps can be enlarged by double-clicking the illustration.

Redistricting Map A

Redistricting Map B

Please note the eastern boundary of the Webster district is US 31. A walking area bordered by nursery, South Michigan, and Oakhill is assigned to Webster. The zone area will be divided between Webster and Menominee to balance the buildings.

Missing Maps

The proposed re-districting maps are being e-mailed this evening. We apologize for the delay.

Blog Bits

Webster & Washington Elementary Schools
Congratulations to the Webster staff. Sue Ellen Reed announced yesterday that Webster has been named a 4-star school. This honor reflects the hard work of the staff, students, and parents of the Webster community. To be designated as a 4-star school, the school must be fully accredited, meet adequate yearly progress, and perform in the top 25% of all the schools in the state in each of the following four areas. Student attendance rates, mathematic proficiency scores, English/Language Arts proficiency scores, and the percent of students passing both English/Language Arts and mathematics.

Washington missed being named a 4-star school by .08 of a percent on the attendance rate. Congratulations to the Washington staff, students, and parents for their efforts.

Construction News
A walk-through is scheduled with the construction manager and administrators on Thursday. The process will begin at Plymouth High School and move through each of the Phase I buildings during the day. And if not completed on Thursday, then the process will continue on Friday. The purpose of the walk-through is to compare actual work with punch list completion items that have been reported and add or delete to the punch list.

On February 7th, bidders will be taking part in a reverse on-line auction for the educational equipment for Riverside and the new Menominee schools. On February 21st, the district will be receiving requests for proposals for the equipment in the television studio at Plymouth High School.

Blogging with our local representative

Steve Heim, who represents our district in the General Assembly's House of Representatives, has established a blog to enhance communication with his constituency. We encourage you to read Steve's blog regularly and communicate your concerns or words of encouragement. A link to the blog is located to the right of this article.

Cooperative Purchasing

There are two bills in the Indiana General Assembly that directly encourage Indiana schools to do more in the area of cooperative purchasing. Portions of these bills enable schools to build upon past cooperative purchasing efforts. Indiana Education Service Centers have been active in this arena by pooling resources with member districts and private schools for 25 years. Plymouth Community School Corporation has been an active member of the Northern Indiana Educational Services Center for 25 years. Through our association we have saved thousands of dollars on a yearly basis, not only through cooperative purchasing of equipment and materials, but through many other services and products. If we focus only on the cooperative purchasing done by our school corporation during the 2004-2005 school year, $96,472 in savings were achieved. These savings were made on items such as school buses, cafeteria food and supplies, waste removal, copy paper, light bulbs, carpeting, school furniture, and thousands of other items. Through NIESC we have access to a web based purchasing system that allows us to purchase thousands of materials at bid prices or at reduced catalog prices. Many of these items are on statewide or multi-state bids.

We have actively pursued these savings for years. A ten-year history would show savings approaching $572,178 for Plymouth Community School Corporation. Yearly savings have grown significantly as more opportunities have been added. While there are concepts found in HB 1006 and SB 323 that need continued work and clarification, the cooperative purchasing portions of the bill will enable Indiana schools to do even better and save more dollars to be used directly for instruction. That is what we have worked to do in the past and will continue to do in the future.

Board Highlights

The Board of Trustees met in regular session last evening at Menominee Elementary. In addition to its regular business, a report on the Menominee School Improvement Plan was given by Mrs. Kruger and Mrs. Durbin. They explained the results of the ISTEP+ and the interventions the staff at Menominee is undertaking to improve student achievement in that building.

Three new courses, Entrepreneurship, Peer Tutoring, and Beginning Orchestra, were approved at Plymouth High School.

The board accepted Conflict of Interest statements from board members and school administrators.

Dr. Hill gave a report on transfer students. This year there are 58 ½ students who are cash transfer-in or placement-in students. The district is paying the tuition for 17 students placed in settings outside the district.

Eric Wolfe, construction manager for the building project gave a report on the progress at the new Menominee building. The construction has been hampered by Mother Nature. High winds blew down a wall in December workers are battling muddy conditions. Mr. Wolfe presented a schedule that will result in the completion of the project in time to register students August 1st and open school on August 16th.

The next board will be held on Monday, February 6th at 7:00 p.m. in the Plymouth High School cafeteria. During that meeting a hearing on redistricting will be held.

Town Hall Meetings

On behalf of the Board, thank you very much for attending the Town Hall meetings. Dr. McKibben was able to garner valuable input that will be used in the design of two scenarios for Board consideration in February.

A special thank you is extended to Ed Rodriguez for serving as the interpreter for both sessions.

The new scenario maps will appear on the blog as soon as they are available. The target date is February 2nd.

Welcome to the Blogosphere!

Keep up-to-date with the Pilgrim boys' basketball team. Please double -click "Pilgrim's Basketball", located in the index to your right.

Latest Scenario with road names

Meeting with Webster PTO

I had an opportunity to meet with the Webster PTO last week. It is apparent that the strong PTO, along with the dedicated staff, has contributed to Webster’s success. We discussed redistricting and the selection of a new principal.

The PTO members shared the characteristics of a new principal as the search begins. Those characteristics included a person with elementary teacher or elementary experience,
-who cares about kids;
-who is willing to get experience;
-who is willing to search for opportunities for the building;
-who is someone like Donna;
-who will do the work;
-who is willing to keep some of the old but bring in new ideas;
-who is excited to work with the PTO;
-with high moral standards;
-with a calm demeanor;
-who is a good listener;
-who is flexible and willing to try new things;
-who will bring new ideas;
-with a diversified background;
-with some foreign language experience;
-who is a servant leaders;
-who is a nurturer

I wish to express a “thank you” to the members of the Webster PTO who took the time to be willing to share.

Prepared by John Hill.

6+1 Traits Writing Rubric

Students and parents will start seeing a new writing rubric in the next months. The 6 Trait s of Writing model was developed by researches from the Northwest Regional Education Laboratory in Portland, Oregon in the mid 1980’s. The +1 was added several years ago. The research-based writing assessment is designed to be comprehensive, reliable, and teacher and student friendly. Plymouth Schools adopted it because it provides teachers and students a researched-based rubric that uses common language from grades K-12.

The following is a brief definition of each trait.

1. Ideas: Ideas make up the content of the piece of writing – the heart of the message.

2. Organization: Organization is the internal structure of the piece, the thread of meaning, the logical pattern of the ideas.

3. Voice: Voice is the soul of the piece. It’s what makes the writer’s style singular, as his or her feelings and convictions come out through the work.

4. Word Choice: Word choice is at its best when it includes the use of rich, colorful, precise language that moves and enlightens the reader.

5. Sentence Fluency: Sentence fluency is the flow of the language, the sound of word patterns – the way the writing plays to the ear, not just the eye.

6. Conventions: Conventions represent the piece’s level of correctness – the extent to which the writer uses grammar and mechanics with precision.

+1. Presentation: Presentation zeros in on the form and layout – how pleasing the piece is to the eye.

To read more about this new writing assessment, visit the website for the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory at www.nwrel.org/assessment/department.php?d=1