March 29, 2024

Principals discuss professional development, state standards

Newton Community School District’s principals discussed professional development at Monday night’s school board meeting. Much of the discussion involved adjusting to the Common Core State Standards.

Aurora Heights Elementary Principal Jim Gilbert said one of the main focuses right now is the content of the curriculum and how it is applied to state standards.

“We have to teach to those standards. That’s our main focus now is to take a look at those standards,” Gilbert said. “Then take a look at what resources do we use to teach those standards.”

Woodrow Wilson Elementary Principal Todd Schuster said the schools will be more efficient next year when it comes to teaching to meet state standards because they are now taking a deeper look at the materials.

“We’re not going to pull anything away, but (we’re asking) ‘what are some things we could spend less time on?’” Schuster said. “What are some things we could spend more time on? There’s going to be gaps that we’re looking at and we want to reduce those gaps.”

Tom Bartello and Jolene Comer, principals of Thomas Jefferson Elementary and Emerson Hough Elementary, respectively, also addressed professional development. They are working with the district’s kindergarten teachers on a subcommittee to answer questions about the transitional kindergarten program.

Bartello said kindergarten students enter school at various skill levels developmentally, socially and academically. There is a little bit more of a gap between kindergarten students’ needs versus the needs of other group levels, Bartello said.

“What we’re working on is trying to collaborate with our kindergarten teachers and also looking at research to come up with a few plans,” he said.

Comer introduced a new idea called “kindergarten switcheroo” that Emerson Hough plans to try this fall. For the first two weeks of school, kindergarten students won’t have an assigned teacher. Instead, they will be taught by all three kindergarten teachers. By allowing two weeks at the beginning of the year, teachers will be able to get to know the kids better.

“So then we can better balance classrooms,” Comer said. “Right now we have one teacher whose classroom is definitely different than the other two. We want to be able to better balance the students’ needs for academics, behaviors, social and emotional needs.”

In other business, the school board approved a bond sale of up to $10 million in general obligation bonds for 2017. Director of Business Services Gayle Isaac it is a legal requirement for the board to approve the district to publish the bond sale. The resolution also approved electronic bidding procedures.

The bond sale is part of the $26.9 million resolution passed last fall, which will go toward the new Berg Middle School, Isaac said.

Board president Travis Padget and vice president Robyn Friedman discussed the Denison Culture Survey update at Monday’s meeting. The culture subcommittee dove further into discussing its goals at its meeting last week, Padget said.

“I think we, as the committee, are still developing our culture,” Padget said. “I think as we develop our culture and have a subculture in there, that’s I think really what we’re doing first.”

The culture team’s toughest times are ahead of it, Padget said. Friedman said the group needs to build a strong core and get on the same page by allowing open lines of communication.

Contact Justin Jagler at 641-792-3121 ext 6532 or jjagler@newtondailynews.com