NEWSLETTERCentralia School District 401

WIN

TER

2015

www.CentraliaSchools.org

S M A R T E RASSESSMENT

New assessment system replaces MSP, HSPE

When students sit down to take their annual state assessments this year,

the tests will be very different to those they have become accustomed to. The High School Proficiency Exam (HSPE) and Mea-surement of Student Progress (MSP) tests are being replaced by the Smarter Balanced assessment. The move is propelled by the state’s continued implementation of Com-mon Core standards. CHS, Washington, Ed-ison, Fords Prairie, and Jefferson Lincoln participated in a pilot test of the new exams last year. This will be the first year that stu-dents at CMS and Oakview have tested un-der the new system.

she explained. “Students will now be asked to do more writing about the thought pro-cesses that lead them to answers, even in mathematics assessment,” she said. “Math questions, in particular, are now more of a multi-step process, as opposed to simply asking students to solve a given equation.”

The assessment window for 2015 begins in March for third grade students, and con-tinues through Spring. Due to the increased rigor of the exams, educators nationwide are cautioning communities that they ex-pect to see test scores decline in the first year. “Standards and expectations have changed, we’re basically resetting the

The new tests measure student profi-ciency in math and English Language arts, under new standards defined by the state. An assessment for science is still under de-velopment, so students in grades 5 and 8 will continue to take the MSP science test, and high school students will take the End of Course biology exam. Some juniors and seniors may have to retake HSPE exams to fulfill their graduation requirements.

Smarter Balanced exams are much more cognitively demanding of students accord-ing to Shelley Habenicht, Director of Special Programs. “They require much more critical thinking than the MSP and HSPE tests did,”

CHS students participate in the 2014 Smarter Balanced pilot test

assessment system in our state,” Habenicht said.

Special challenges have emerged from the fact that the new tests are administered via computer. “We’ve found that we are hav-ing to help some of our students enhance their keyboarding skills,” said Habenicht.

“We also found that it was necessary to increase our inventory of computers so that we can efficiently get all students through the tests within the state-defined window. To accomplish that in a cost-efficient way, we’ve created “herds” of Chromebook com-puters that will greatly broaden our tech-nology reach,” she added. (Story on pg. 3)

SOCIAL MEDIA SAFETY RESOURCES FOR PARENTS Social media extends far beyond Face-book. Do you know what your kids are doing online?

OSPI and the Centralia School District have gathered a wealth of useful information aimed at helping parents keep their children safe in the ever-expanding universe of social media. Facebook is barely the tip of the iceberg in terms of the tools children are using to com-municate online and through their Internet connected devices.

The most effective tactic for keeping kids safe from Internet bullying, predators, and other harmful activities is to simply look at your child’s phone and social media accounts. “As parents you have the right to know what your kids are using their phones and social media accounts for. There is no expectation of privacy between parent and child. Look at the apps they’re using, and know what they’re communicating via those apps,” said Middle School Principal Greg Domingos

Even though most social media services have a minimum age of 13 for users, more than 54 percent of District students in grades 4-6 reported having social media accounts of some kind. A small percentage of the same group also reported using matchmaking web-sites and apps like “Tinder,” which are wide-ly known to be used by adults for casual en-counters. “Children shouldn’t be near those apps. What may be considered appropriate for an adult is not necessarily appropriate for a child,” Domingos said.

A broad list of tips for keeping kids safe on-line can be found in the headlines section at our website, www.CentraliaSchools.org.

WASHINGTON ELEMENTARY ROBOTICS TEAM PARTICIPATES IN STATE SEMI-FINAL COMPETITIONTeam scored high in December competition vs. 32 schools

CENTRALIA HIGH SCHOOL HOSTS WELDING COMPETITIONContest held at Centralia College

Centralia High School hosted a Welding Fab-rication Contest at Centralia College on Saturday, January 31, from 6 a.m to 7 p.m.

Teams of three students worked together to fabricate a given product using a variety of welding techniques and equipment. Judging was based on safety, proper use of tools, product ad-herence to plans, and weld quality. “I would like this to be the first of many collaborative competi-tions,” said CTAE Director James Bowers.

Airgas generously provided dinner and prizes for students, as well as a judge.

CONSTRUCTION CLASS BUILDING LOGAN DISTRICT HOME FOR CENTRALIA COUPLECompletion expected before the end of the school year

SUPERINTENDENT SEARCH UPDATEApplication window is closed, Board names Search Committee members

Follow the Centralia School District on Facebook for updates on district news and events as well as school delay and clo-sure information.

Washington Elementary’s after school robot-ics team participated in the state semi-final robot-ics competition in Olympia on January 17th. The invitation came after the team performed well in a competition, also in Olympia, on December 6th.

Team advisor, Kate Seward, said the team placed first out of 32 teams in the project research portion of the December 6th competition. “We’re really proud of our team for their efforts, and so happy that they can see some results and recogni-tion for their hard work,” she added. “We’re com-peting against larger teams with larger budgets, and these kids are driven to win!” The team did not place on Jan. 17th, but they performed well!

Centralia High School’s construction class is building a home in Centralia’s Logan district for Ron and Karen House. This is the 16th home that the class has built over the years.

Instructor Mitch Smith says the home will be completed by the end of the school year. “The owners pay for the land, materials, and all sub-contractor costs,” he said. “They also buy tool belts for all the students in the class, and make a contribution to the school’s Skills USA Woods Club,” he added.

The District’s carpentry program prepares students for real-world employment. “After two years, students are ready for direct entry into the Carpenter’s Union,” Smith said.

www.CentraliaSchools.orgwww.facebook.com/centraliaschooldistrict

Centralia’s search for the District’s next superintendent is progressing on schedule, and the process is moving into a new phase. The application window closed on January 31st with 18 candidates from across the country completing that part of the process.

Board members began screening applica-tions on February 11th, with first interviews planned for February 21st. If the process stays on schedule, the Board hopes to extend an offer to the District’s next superintendent by March 18th. The chosen candidate would then take the District’s reins from Interim Su-perintendent Steve Warren on July 1st.

The Board made their final decisions on the makeup of the superintendent search committee in a workshop before their Jan-uary 21st board meeting. The ten member committee will consist of: John Elmore (Cen-traila City Council), Edna Fund (Lewis Coun-ty Commissioner), Robert Frost (President, Centralia College), Kerri Kite (Kindergarten teacher/CEA co-president), Josue Lowe (CHS Principal), David Eacker (Jefferson Lincoln Principal/Representing Hispanic parents), Amy Schofield (PTO representative), Sherri Norman (Executive Assistant to the Superin-tendent), Tom Alderson (Owner of Alderson’s Awards West-Printwares), and Beverly Clark (a parent volunteer). The committee will provide input to the board during the selec-tion process.

CENTRALIA SCHOOL DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION

Superintendent:

Assistant Superintendent:

Dir. of Curriculum & Instruction:

Dir. of Special Programs:

Steve Warren

Matt McCauley

Kristy Vetter

Shelley Habenicht360.330.7600

www.CentraliaSchools.org

Newsletter EditorEd Petersen

publicrelations@centralia.wednet.edu

Please recycle this publication.

Technology is among the many challeng-es school districts statewide face with the transition to new Smarter Balanced assess-ment tests this year. The tests are admin-istered by computer, meaning districts must ensure that they have enough computers available to students during assessment windows. Additionally, network infrastruc-ture must be enhanced to accommodate the increase in traffic. Centralia is preparing to meet these challenges head on with the re-cent purchase of 210 Chromebook comput-ers that will be used not just for assessment, but for year-round learning.

The devices are being gathered into “HERDs” of 15 units each (H.E.R.D. stands for Human Educational Research Device). Each HERD will be housed in a lightweight, but rugged and waterproof, pelican case that allows for easy transportation between classrooms and school buildings. Each HERD has integrated wheels and handles to make movement even more simple. “Now we can move devices as necessary, we don’t have to move students to a room where the devices are housed,” said Network Special-ist John Murray. If a teacher needs Chrome-books for a lesson, or for testing, we simply pick up a HERD and have it delivered right to

CSD CREATES “HERDS” OF CHROMEBOOKS TO ACCOMODATE NEW STATE ASSESSMENTSDevices will help facilitate administration of Smarter Balanced assessments & enhance learning throughout the district

NEW FEATURES EXTEND REACH OF NEWSLETTERSpanish language version/audio readings make CSD Newsletter more accessibletain hard drives or many other peripherals

that add to the cost of computers. “They live in the cloud and run Google’s Chrome oper-ating system. Every student and staff mem-ber will be provided CentraliaSchools.org Google Docs account where their files can be stored and accessed easily from any of our Chromebook devices, or from home on a Windows or Mac computer.

Adding 210 brand new devices creates additional burden on the District’s network. In order to accommodate the new demand for bandwidth, the District has upgraded the wireless networks at both the High School and Middle School. In addition to adding new access points in the buildings, some of the new HERDS will actually have a wireless access point built in so that capacity can be added where needed, or where wireless coverage does not currently exist. “We just have to find a wired access point, plug it in and, boom, instant Wi-Fi for that area,” said Murray.

Director of Special Programs, Shelley Habenicht, says there are more benefits to this type of technology distribution system. “The demand on building budgets for tech-nology has always far exceeded what we are able to allocate to each individual school,” she said. “These HERDs are assigned to

A Chromebook in use at Futurus High School

the classroom.There are time and cost benefits as

well. Setting up a brand new Windows de-vice for use in the District can take as long as 60 minutes each. “Technology staff can fully configure a new Chromebook device in five minutes,” Murray said. “That’s far more productive for us.” Additionally, every Chromebook is centrally managed. “We can add apps, and configure the Chromebooks for testing periods from our office, without gathering and putting hands on each indi-vidual device.”

Chromebooks are also far less expensive than a traditional laptop. They do not con-

HERDs will be housed in wheeled Cases

school buildings, but they belong to the Dis-trict and we can move them around as de-mand requires,” Habenicht said.

“This idea came out of our Technology Committee as we struggled to find an equi-table way to bolster our ability to provide adequate computer coverage during testing periods,” said Habenicht. “Now we can eas-ily meet that need, while providing technol-ogy that can be used in the classroom year round for any number of potential purpos-es. This is a great benefit to our students.

The District spent $63,377 to purchase the Chromebooks. IT staff expect to have the computers operational in February.

New features are making the Centralia School District newsletter accessible to more Centralia residents than ever, part of an effort to improve community engagement among all segments of the District’s population. The District has long mailed a quarterly newslet-ter to every mailbox in the city, and has made online versions of the newsletter available for easier access.

“We have 560 students in families that identify Spanish as a primary language at home,” said Communications Coordinator Ed Petersen. “There are many more families in the district without school-age children who speak Spanish at home. We have an obligation to reach and engage those families as well.”

The District recently hired Laura Martinez, a Spanish language interpreter, and Spanish instructor at Centralia College. “We wouldn’t be able to provide this without her patient and expert help,” Petersen said.

To better reach Spanish speakers, the Dis-trict is publishing a Spanish language version of this newsletter. It will be distributed to all English Language Learner students in the Dis-trict, and will be made available online as well. “We hope to build a mailing list soon so that we can deliver the Spanish version by mail to the right households,” Petersen said. The publication will also be available in all of the District’s schools.

There are changes for the English version as well. “We recently revamped the layout to make the newsletter easier to read and recog-nize, but that didn’t really address readabili-ty for people with vision impairments. Now we’re adding an audio feature to the online version for vision impaired readers,” Petersen said. “All they will have to do is click an identi-fiable button on each article and it will be read to them.”

Non-Profit OrganizationU.S. Postage

PAIDPermit #214

Centralia, WA 98531Carrier Route Sorted

POSTAL PATRON

2320 Borst Ave. | Centralia, WA 98531centralia.k12.wa.us

Equal Rights Compliance - The Centralia School

District #401 complies with all federal and state rules

and regulations and does not discriminate on the

basis of race, color, creed, religion, national origin,

age, honorably-discharged veterans or military status,

gender, sexual orientation including gender identity,

marital status, the presence of any sensory, mental,

physical disability, or the use of a trained dog guide

or service animal by a person with a disability. This

holds true for all district employment and opportuni-

ties. Inquiries regarding compliance and/or grievance

procedures may be directed to the school district’s

Title IX/RCW28.A640 Officer, Section 504 Coordinator,

Matt McCauley, Assistant Superintendent, 2320 Borst

Avenue, Post Office Box 610, Centralia, WA 98531-

0610, (360) 330-7600.

DATES TOREMEMBER

NEWSLETTER!

FRED MEYER MAKES BIG DONATION TO SIXTH GRADE CISPUS FUNDGenerous gift eases fundraising burden on students and parents

A representative from Fred Meyer’s Chehalis dis-tribution center paid a visit to Oakview and Wash-ington Elementary School sixth grade students on December 1.

She brought some very good news, and a big paper check with her. Fred Meyer revealed a $4,000 gift to the students to be used to help finance their an-nual trip to Camp Cispus, near Randle.

“The trip costs about $15,000 every year,” said Oakview principal, Jay Sparks. “This goes a long way to helping defray that cost, much of which is borne by the families.”

“These kids are incredibly grateful to Fred Meyer for this very generous gift,” said Washington prin-cipal Danielle Vekich. “This really helps lift some of the fundraising burden from our families.”

CENTRALIA MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHER HIRED TO NEW ROLE AT OSPIAmy Thierry will oversee statewide ELL programsAmy Thierry, who has taught English Language Arts at Centralia Middle School for seven years, has accepted a new position at the Office of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction as Program Manager for English Lan-guage Arts/Learning Assistance Program Research. “I will be helping create and revise the best practice menus for math, language arts, and behaviorism,” Thierry said.

“We’re sad to see Amy go, and at the same time very proud that one of our own will be playing a statewide role,” said Interim Superintendent, Steve Warren. “We absolutely wish Amy all the best in her new adventure.

Feb. 27 - TWO HOUR EARLY RELEASE

Mar. 9 - WA SPRING CHOIR CONCERT

Mar. 10 - 4-12 ALL CITY STRINGS CONCERT

Mar. 12 - CHS BAND CONCERT

Mar. 18 - SCHOOL BOARD MEETING @ CHS 6 p.m.

Mar. 18 - CTE OPEN HOUSE 5-6 P.M. @ CHS

Mar. 24 - HIGH SCHOOL BAND FESTIVAL

Mar. 25 - HIGH SCHOOL STRINGS FESTIVAL

Mar. 26 - HIGH SCHOOL CHOIR FESTIVAL

Mar. 26 - MIDDLE SCHOOL BAND FESTIVAL

Mar. 27 - TWO HOUR EARLY RELEASE

Mar. 27 - CMS STRINGS @ Evergreen

Mar 30-Apr. 3 - K-12 CONFERENCES

CSD BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Kim Ashmore

Bob Fuller

Chris Thomas

Amy Buzzard

Neal Kirby