Even with a pandemic thrown into the mix, the staff and administration of William Allen White are continuing to make great progress with education redesign within the school.
That was the overall report from WAW staff during the USD 253 Board of Education meeting Wednesday evening. Principal Tell Kirk says there has been an even balance of challenges and accomplishments throughout the school’s redesign journey which began back in 2018.
He says the pandemic certainly took its toll on the school’s progress when it first hit including restricting learning to classrooms, an inability to gather in large or mixed groups, teacher fatigue and even an increase in “tardies” from year to year. That being said, the school is also seeing some tremendous positives despite the pandemic including a stronger sense of community in classrooms, fewer behavioral issues during lunch and breakfast times and increased awareness of students’ individual academic standing.
WAW kindergarten teacher Jenny Wendling says staff has demonstrated a tremendous amount of resilience over the course of the pandemic which sends an important message to their students.
Also in the report, staff detailed multiple programs that have either begun or will soon as part of the school’s emphasis on community partnerships. Kirk says all of the programs will be focused on developing and improving their students’ soft and employability skills.
Kirk says it’s never too early to prepare students for the real world.
In other business, the board unanimously approved an extension of the early retirement benefits deadline to April 1st. Interim Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Dr. Brad Kempf says the extension will give district staff additional “decision-making time” with the COVID-19 pandemic still in effect.
Kempf says he does not expect a large number of educators will take advantage of the extended deadline, however, the district felt it was “value” to offer them the additional time.
During the consent agenda portion of the meeting, the board approved Kempf’s resignation as the interim Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources effective this coming July. Additionally, the board approved the appointment of Jared Giffin to Direcetor of Human Resources and Dr. Jessica Holden to the role of Director of Teaching and Learning effective this July.
Separately Wednesday, the board received the latest update on the multi-million dollar Building for the Future Bond initiative from Eric Woltje of McCownGordon Construction. Woltjie will join KVOE’s Newsmaker segment at 7:15 am Friday morning to update the project further.
District administration also presented a strategic planning update, board members approved a bid of more than $430,000 for a partial roof replacement at Walnut Elementary and held one executive session regarding student remote access.
The USD 253 Board of Education will next convene at 6:30 pm Wednesday, Feb. 23 inside the Mary Herbert Education Center.
