March 19, 2024

School board members recognized for service

In addition to conducting district business, the Newton Community School Board of Education celebrated School Board Recognition Month at this week’s regular meeting.

The district’s principals were on hand to thank the school board for their hard work. Each school also contributed toward gift bags for each board member. Montana Mike’s chipped in gift certificates for each board member.

Woodrow Wilson Elementary Principal Todd Schuster said being on the school board is not always easy, and he thanked board members for their time and effort.

“We appreciate everything that you do not only for us, but more importantly, for the kids,” Schuster said.

Newton High School Principal Bill Peters and Berg Middle School Principal Lisa Sharp shared their appreciation, too. They were joined by WEST Academy’s Mike Moran, Thomas Jefferson’s Tom Bartello, Emerson Hough’s Jolene Comer and Aurora Height’s Jim Gilbert in thanking the board.

“It’s great to have a committed group like this working and advocating for kids in our district,” Bartello said.

Superintendent Bob Callaghan handed out a certificate to each board member.

Also at Monday’s meeting, NHS teacher and instructional coach Mark Burnett provided a summary report of the Teacher Leadership System (TLS). The end-of-year report was sent to the Department of Education.

Burnett said he thinks Newton is doing really well, and he is proud of the NCSD teachers. The first goal outlined in the report was to attract, develop and retain promising new teachers. The district’s teacher retention rate was 93.2 percent this year.

The addition of professional development time for teachers on Mondays next school year was also discussed during Burnett’s report. He thanked the district for working with teachers on selecting a calendar that allows more time for teacher learning communities.

NHS’s Ann Nelson, who is taking over as TLS coordinator, provided the board with future TLS considerations. She said the vision of TLS is to empower teachers.

“That empowerment leads to increased student achievement,” Nelson said. “That’s always our center focus.”

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