Inside Schools w w w. c l o v e r p a r k . k 1 2 .w a . u s

October 2018

CPHS students gain nursing skills, path to certifcation Hands-on experience is essential for anyone trying to explore a new career. Students working on a high school diploma ofen have to wait until afer graduation to fnd opportunities that can get them up-close-and-personal with their chosen career path.

Students at Clover Park High School who are interested in a career in nursing can start receiving hands-on training as early as their junior year. The Nursing Assistant Certifcation (NA-C) program, ofered as part of a partnership with Clover Park Technical College, provides students with hands-on experience to get started in a career in the medical feld all while earning high school credit.

“The NA-C program ofers students a real opportunity to get their career started while still working toward their high school diploma,” said Diane Carver, Clover Park School District’s director of career and college readiness. “Some students already know what they want to do afer graduating, so we ofer these kinds of opportunities to give them a head start on the professional world.”

Students enrolled in the course take the frst steps toward earning their NA-C, which allows them to work as a basic care provider under the supervision of a professional licensed provider such as a registered nurse. A NA-C is an entry level path into the nursing profession.

At the end of the course, students can apply to take the National Nurse Aide Assessment Program (NNAAP) exam, which includes both a written and skills test. Passing the test allows students to apply for

the certifcation and begin employment in a health care setting.

“In addition to the classroom work, students also spend 40 hours working in a long-term care facility,” said program instructor Sylvia Wells-Clark. “Going through that really gives students a look at the nitty-gritty of working in the nursing profession.”

The program is broken into three parts: lecture and bookwork; hands-on training for the 22 skills

required to pass the NNAAP exam; and clinical experience to apply their newly-gained skills and assist in taking care of patients.

Students who complete the course also earn fve college credits for their eforts, which makes it enticing for any student who is interested in the medical feld even if they have their sights set on higher education.

Clover Park High School’s NA-C program provides students with an interest in nursing or other healthcare careers to get hands-on experience in the feld.

New middle school groundbreaking this month Join us for an ofcial groundbreaking ceremony for the new middle school project Wednesday, Oct. 24, at 4 p.m. in the Mann Middle School gym. All members of the public are invited to attend.

Prior to the groundbreaking, the district will host an open house Thursday, Oct. 18, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in the Mann cafeteria. The open house is an opportunity for community members to see plans and talk with project architects.

The new school will consolidate Mann and Woodbrook Middle Schools into one building on the existing Mann campus. The new building is expected to open in fall 2020.

OPEN HOUSE Thursday, Oct. 18

5:30 to 7 p.m.

Mann MS Cafeteria 11509 Holden Rd SW, Lakewood

Learn more about the new school design and talk with the architects

GROUNDBREAKING Monday, Oct. 22

4 to 5 p.m.

Mann MS Gym 11509 Holden Rd SW, Lakewood

Celebrate construction of the new middle school

CLOVER PARK SCHOOL DISTRICT #400 10903 Gravelly Lake Dr SW Lakewood, WA 98499

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New school visitor procedures begin Oct. 22 School safety remains a top priority here in Clover Park School District. In recent months, various projects have been completed to enhance school safety and security at schools, including perimeter fencing and parking lot improvements.

New visitor entry systems have been installed at 12 schools that restrict access to our school buildings from unauthorized visitors. The front doors of these schools will be locked during instructional hours until dismissal, and all visitors must enter the school using the new visitor entry system.

To gain access, a visitor will push a button on the call box in front of the school. School staf will respond and verify each visitor. The door will be unlocked and visitors will enter through the main entry doors. All visitors must sign in and out at the main ofce.

In the coming months, all schools will move to using these new visitor entry systems and procedures. Vestibules will also be built at some schools to provide additional protection by adding a secured space prior to entering a school.

Everyone plays an important role in keeping our schools safe. We welcome your visit to our schools and appreciate your support by following these new visitor procedures.

Please contact Community Relations, 253-583-5040, if you have questions about the district’s safety and security projects.

New curriculum makes math interactive Last year, the district piloted two new middle school math curricula, hoping to zero in on one that would bring the district more in line with state teaching standards. By the end of the piloting process, the choice was clear.

“When the pilot test concluded, math teachers were given the option of going back to our previous curriculum or continuing with Go Math,” said Michael Vincent, the district’s supervisor for math and technology. “They all wanted to continue with Go Math.”

Go Math is being used in all middle school math classes this year.

Making math engaging Go Math provides teachers with resources that make math accessible to students of all skill levels. In addition to providing instruction for students that fts better with Common Core math standards, Go Math makes math more engaging and interactive.

Instead of following along in a book as it shows students how to work through diferent examples and then asks them to do their own work, Go Math lets students learn by doing. Students work through the examples as the book guides them along.

“I have had a lot of kids comment about how the examples really made sense to them and how they felt they could do it on their own quicker now,” said Lochburn math teacher Emily Ulmstead.

Unlike the district’s previous math books, which would be passed down from year to year, Go Math acts as a workbook. Each student receives his or her own copy at the beginning of the school year and is encouraged to write in its pages to work through examples.

Extra resources The Go Math curriculum goes beyond the pages of the math book. It ofers teachers a full complement of extra paper and digital resources to help students learn each lesson. Teachers can assign videos or interactive programs, which are accessed through QR codes in the book or by logging into the district learning apps, to

help struggling students learn the concepts in diferent ways.

It also provides options for students at diferent language levels.

“Students who need more language support might get a version of the assignment that has more visuals, while students that are ready for an additional challenge might get ones that have more story problems and some numbers that push their thinking a little bit more,” Vincent said.

Language is included as a part of each lesson’s objectives. The book teaches students vocabulary terms alongside math problems. For example, a lesson on positive and negative numbers can teach students that negative numbers aren’t bad, they’re just less than zero.

The district’s new middle school math curriculum makes math more engaging and inclusive.

SPOTLIGHT on Schools

The Clover Park High School band participated in Husky Band Day Saturday, Sept. 22. They played alongside the University of Washington marching band and 33 other prep bands during halfime of the UW’s game against Arizona State. Nearly 72,000 attendees watched the more than 3,000 combined band members perform.

“Our kids were just in awe,” said CPHS band director Dennis Dearth. “It was just a fun vibe!”

www.cloverpark.k12.wa.us

BEST Academy mentor Shelly Knoll watches as frst-year teacher Patrick Kelly works with his students at Mann Middle School.

BEST Academy helps new teachers shine Houston T. Jackson IV had plenty on his plate as a frst-year teacher at Lakeview Hope Academy in 2015. Not only was he getting a handle on basic teaching tasks like lesson planning, grading and classroom management, but he was also working on earning his teaching certifcate from PLU.

“Everything was such a blur,” he said.

Luckily, he had Jessica Connor to help him. Connor is one of Clover Park School District’s mentor teachers through the Beginning Educator Support Team (BEST) Academy.

Available to all frst-year teachers, BEST Academy ofers intentional support for teachers in their frst few years on the job. That support includes a week-long summer orientation, weekly mentorship through their frst year and as many training classes as the teacher can handle.

“When I became a teacher, I was hired three days prior to the start of school and had three new courses to teach. It was not a pretty sight,” said Jan Lonsway, the district’s supervisor for professional development. “We provide extensive support so that teachers are ready on their frst day of school.”

Jackson said the mentorship Connor provided helped him stay afoat throughout his frst year, and he continues to rely on her as resource now that he’s in his third year as a ffh-grade teacher.

“That frst year is unlike any you’ll ever have,” Jackson said. “Any frst-year teacher needs that mentor you can depend on and who can help you as you’re trying to fgure things out on the fy.”

In addition to helpful words of advice, Jackson said Connor helped him keep his sanity and stay steady through the daily grid of teaching. She helped him blueprint out ways to approach diferent situations and watched videos of his teaching to provide feedback.

To accompany the mentor program and summer orientation, BEST Academy also gives teachers access to bi-monthly roundtables with other frst-year teachers, observations of experienced teachers in the classroom and lesson planning workshops.

Mentors in BEST Academy are experienced and highly trained, both in their subject areas and in their role as mentors. Shelly Knoll, who has served as a mentor each of the last fve years, said she fnds the role rewarding for many reasons.

“It’s rewarding for me to see something we’ve talked about and it works with their students,” she said. “It’s great to work with them and see them be successful on their own.”

Any frst-year teacher needs that mentor you can depend on.

– Houston T. Jackson IV, Elementary Teacher

City of Lakewood: Lakewood Truck and Tractor Day

What: 12th Annual Lakewood Truck and Tractor Day

When: Saturday, Oct. 13, 12 to 3 p.m.

Where: Fort Steilacoom Park

Details: Join us at Fort Steilacoom Park and enjoy free hayrides, pumpkin painting, crafs, games and a giant slingshot for pumpkin chucking! Make this free fall festival your family’s new tradition. Children can climb on dozens of giant trucks and tractors, sit in the driver’s seat and honk the horn. Free hard hats and pumpkins available (one per family while supplies last). Hot dogs and popcorn will be available for purchase from food vendors.

Harrison Prep students (lef) celebrated the frst day of school with signs and school pride. Lakewood police ofcers were on hand at Park Lodge to greet students with high fves.

Student leaders from Harrison Prep (lef) and Clover Park (center) and Lakes (right) high schools introduced themselves at the Sept. 10 school board meeting. Board President Marty Schafer noted “having great leaders is one of the most important aspects of building a healthy community.”

www.cloverpark.k12.wa.us

Featuring our great students and staf We are making a concerted efort to feature more of our students and staf on social media this year. Two ways we are doing that is through our #PromisingFuturesFriday and #CPSDStafSpotlight features. You can see examples of both right here and remember to check out our Facebook (cloverparksd), Twitter (@cloverparksd) and Instagram (cloverparkschooldistrict) feeds each week for more great content!

#CPSDStafSpotlight: Our Sept. 19 #CPSDStafSpotlight featured a pair of teachers from Beachwood Elementary School. Jennifer Soika and Charlene Anibaba are the third grade team at Beachwood. Their students showed signifcant growth in

both English Language Arts and Math last year.

“They are intentional about planning together and they’re competitive with each other – in a good way,” said Beachwood Principal Paula Gayson.

Jennifer and Charlene both identifed collaboration, high expectations and a focus on data as drivers of their success but also noted that their family lives play a role in their teaching. Both are military spouses with kids growing up in a military household. “We get it – we identify with the families and these kids and understand that they sometimes need their social and emotional needs to come before we get the data we need,” Jennifer said.

Their teamwork is another example of great work happening right here in Clover Park School District!

#PromisingFuturesFriday: Dower ffh grader Steven G. was our #PromisingFuturesFriday featured student Sept. 14.

Steven takes his role as a ffh grade student very seriously. “I am a king of the school,” he said. “Which means all the kids in fourth grade look up to me and I need to set a good example.”

His favorite class is PE, which he said lets him get more exercise than he would be able to get at home. When he’s not at school, he is a devoted Cub Scout, working on bonding with his pack and building leadership skills.

Dower principal Megan Qualls can talk about Steven all day. “He’s the frst kid who will speak up for what’s right,” she said. “He is constantly reminding others of the expectations.”

Steven started learning how to code last year in his technology class and looks forward to learning even more coding going forward.

Superintendent’s Letter: Safety, teacher training and career-connected learning in Clover Park

Another year has successfully started here in Clover Park School District. As staf and students have spent the frst month getting back to the important work of teaching and learning, I wanted to take this opportunity to update our community on some of the important things happening in the district.

As part of our never-ending quest to create promising futures for our students, we work hard to implement new programs and procedures to support students and keep them safe during the school day. You can read about some of the ways we are doing that in the pages of this newsletter.

First, the district has made safety and security one of its top priorities this year. In addition to constructing new perimeter fencing at a number of our schools over the summer, we are implementing a new buzzer entry system at schools around the district this fall. We hope that you will help us in our eforts to make schools safer for our students.

Second, we introduced a new math curriculum at all middle schools this year. The Go Math curriculum is more interactive and better able to teach Common

Core standards to Clover Park students. In addition, it provides resources parents can use to better follow along and help their kids learn and do their homework.

Third, our calendar this year focuses on career-connected learning and all of the tangible ways we are helping create promising futures here in the district. Each month we are writing a new feature story that relates to the photo on the calendar for that month. Read this month’s feature, which looks at our Nursing Assistant Certifed program at Clover Park High School, in this issue of Inside Schools.

Fourth, teacher training is one of the best ways we can ensure our students receive the highest-level of instruction we can ofer. Our Beginning Educator Support Team Academy is one of the training tools we ofer that gives new teachers the support they need to thrive in their frst year of teaching. Read more about BEST and its benefts in this issue!

Finally, I want to welcome you to interact with us on social media this year. We are doing more to feature our great students and staf on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram through our #PromisingFuturesFriday and #CPSDStafSpotlight initiatives. Feel free to engage with us and share the content you enjoy!

We are of to a great start, and I know 2018-19 is going to be another great school year in Clover Park!

Dr. Douglas Kernut, Superintendent

. Douglas Kernutt perintendent

DrSu

Check out the Events Calendar online!

District, school and athletic events are listed on the district website under “Calendar” and “Events Calendar.”

Now hiring— Apply to join the CPSD team! Get started on a career

in education. Please visit the district website for current positions or call Human Resources at 253-583-5080.

Inside Schools Production Crew

Writer & Editor: Ben Miller Layout & Design: Shelley Thornton-Simon Printing: Swarner Communications Group

Clover Park School District Board of Directors

President, Marty Schafer Vice President, Carole Jacobs

Becki Kellcy Alyssa Anderson Pearson

Paul Wagemann Dr. Douglas Kernutt, Superintendent

and Secretary to the Board

Clover Park School District does not discriminate in any programs or activities on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, veteran or military status, sexual orientation, gender expres-sion or identity, disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal, and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. Address correspondence to one of the following in-dividuals who have been designated to handle ques-tions and complaints of alleged discrimination at Clo-ver Park School District, 10903 Gravelly Lake Dr., SW, Lakewood, WA 98499-1341: Title IX Coordinator, Ron Banner, Deputy Superintendent, (253) 583-5050; Section 504/ADA Coordinator, Ron Banner, Deputy Superintendent, (253) 583-5050; Civil Rights Com-pliance Coordinator, Lori McStay, Executive Director for Human Resources, (253) 583-5080.

www.cloverpark.k12.wa.us