Leaders of the Jones Early Childhood Development Center are attributing recent success, and forecasted student improvement, directly to the building’s approach to “teaching the whole child.”
McGhee and her staff presented to the USD 253 Board of Education Wednesday night during which time they outlined a series of goals for the remainder of the academic year. The stated goals include reducing the number of students at social-emotional risk by 25 percent and to increase academic levels for 65 percent of students in the areas of math and literacy.
McGhee says there are some challenges to accomplishing those goals, namely time.
That being said, McGhee states Jones has already accomplished similar feats in the past year and believes the emphasis on social-emotional learning is a chief contributor to that success.
McGhee adds that some have been critical of the recent emphasis on social-emotional learning in recent years, however, she says the willingness to educate “the whole student” opens avenues to prolonged student success not previously available to educators.
In separate business Wednesday evening, board members began to outline some of their key desires in the ongoing search for a new buyer of the Maynard Early Childhood Education building. Board members stated Wednesday they are largely in favor of securing the services of a local realtor to assist with those efforts.
Board President Leslie Seeley stated that while useful, she did say she would like to see a formal presentation of proposals rather than simply picking a realtor “arbitrarily.”
With that in mind, the board voted to postpone the conversation to allow time for local realtors to assemble proposals to be presented to the board at its next regular meeting. On a related note, board members also discussed the possibility of including “earnest money” – a downpayment of the facility to demonstrate a buyer’s intent on following through with the purchase – as part of the parameters for securing a new buyer.
Seeley says this was not a condition included in the original search, where Simmons submitted and later withdrew a purchase plan, and something she feels will help the district avoid “being burned” a second time.
In separate business Wednesday, board members received the latest construction update from McCownGordon Construction for the ongoing Building for the Future bond renovation initiative. According to the update, work at Village Elementary and Emporia Middle School is now over 30 percent complete with construction bids to be sent out for work on Riverside and Timmerman Elementary later this month.
Programming for William Allen White is scheduled to begin next month. A budget update by Director of Business Stephanie Pope showed the district’s general fund saw a five percent decrease in spending from this same time last year, however, utilities and gas were up nearly double compared to 2021-22.
Pope says the district’s supplemental fund is expected to remain largely flat. An update from the students of William Allen White Elementary School, resolutions establishing regular meeting times and locations and the extension of officer terms were also presented Wednesday evening.
Board members approved both resolutions unanimously. The USD 253 Board of Education will reconvene on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 6:30 pm at Emporia High School.
