superintendent's newsletter march 2012

8/2/2019 Superintendent's Newsletter March 2012

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March 2012

CURRICULUM HAPPENINGS

Curriculum CouncilWe are in the midst of

Curriculum Council

meetings this year for

the content areas of

World Languages,

Library, and Language

Arts. The purpose of curriculum council is to

make recommendations regardingcurriculum development and coordination.

From there, task forces will be created to

write curriculum guides, develop program

goals, and suggest in-service

recommendations based on curricular and

instructional needs and the Curriculum

Council recommendations.

Task Forces have been meeting in the

areas of Social Studies and Music toprioritize the recommendations from last

years Curriculum Council and develop

action plans to carry them out.

Additionally, these areas will be revising

curriculum and purchasing materials as

needed to be implemented next year.

Elementary Math

Task Force has

been diligently

meeting to write

curriculum and

develop practices

that are aligned to the Common Core

Content Standards and the Standardsfor Mathematical Practice. We are in

the process of looking at texts and

materials that will help to enhance our

written curriculum and provide

support for our elementary staff as we

make this shift. Similarly, our

Secondary Math Task Force will be

meeting regularly to work on

realigning our curriculum to match theCommon Core.

Task Forces in the areas of Visual Arts

and FCS/Business/Technology are

meeting throughout this year to work

on any incomplete action steps and

review implemented curriculum.

Superintendents

Newsletter
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The areas of Science, Wellness/Fitness, and Guidance have now

begun the second phase of the curricular review process. These

areas have been meeting to analyze their implemented

curriculum and determine whether there is a need to enter into

Curriculum Council for next school year.

As a reminder, all curriculum documents, the curriculum cycle

process, Curriculum Council recommendations, and action plans can be found on the

Departments tab of our website under Curriculum and Instruction.

Nothing Short of Tiger Pride at the Middle School and NorthwesternElementary School

Middle School

On December 5, 2011, we held our first PRIDE assembly of the school year. Individual

students and student groups were recognized for demonstrating the core values of our

PRIDE. We are pleased to share that 103 students were recognized for earning all 5 of

the PRIDE stickers. Students can earn these letter stickers by demonstrating the

values of our PRIDE on a daily basis. Every staff member in the building distributes

stickers. Students collect the stickers on the inside cover of their agenda books.

Nine students were recognized during the second marking period for demonstrating our

core values. Students and their families were asked to join team representatives at a

breakfast recognition program in honor of the students. Each student also placed their

handprint on our Tiger PRIDE wall near the cafeteria.

Northwestern Elementary

The students and staff of NWE made the news in the Morning Call on March 11 about

their Tiger Paws Program. The program is similar to the Tiger Pride initiative in the

middle school. The Weisenberg staff is currently developing a similar school-wide

behavior program. Thank you to all staff members for continuing to find new ways to

help our students learn!
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Northwestern Lehigh Educational

Foundation Continues to Provide Funding

to Support Extras for District Students

The Northwestern Lehigh Educational

Foundation has been busy working to

support the school district with a number of

fundraiser and state grant programs. The

Foundation has a number of new board

members, and the energy we see at every

meeting is exciting! We wanted to share

some of the projects the NWLEF has funded

for the district over the last few years.

Through the Educational Improvement

Tax Credit Program (EITC), the

Foundation has sponsored the

following projects:

High School Marketing Program &

Marquis

High School Fitness Center

Equipment Upgrades &

Purchases

Middle School Mac Laptop Cart for

Related Arts Classes

Broadcasting Equipment for the two

Elementary Schools

21st Century Learning in Visual Arts

purchase of interactive white

boards, document cameras,

laptops, etc. for the Visual Art

classrooms in each building

Upgrades to the Environmental Lab at

Northwestern Elementary School.

Money to support creation of

Environmental Lab at Weisenberg.

Reading Intervention Resources for both

elementary schools.

! Middle School World LanguageProgram Online Pilot

! We are implementing a High SchoolInteractive Whiteboard Project that

will bring a total of 34 Interactive

whiteboards to the HS.

Since 2008, the Northwestern Lehigh

Educational Foundation, through EITC

Funding, has donated approximately

$314,000 in new and enhanced services for

our school district.

In addition to the EITC Funding, the

Foundation has sponsored the teacher

Mini-Grant Program since 2007. Over

that time, the Foundation has funded

over $25,000 in programs for our

teachers to have new and innovative

teaching tools in their classrooms.

These include, but are not limited to:

Voice Recording Equipment to be

used across all grades

Robotic Systems to be used in the HS

Physics Classes

Advanced math software for the HS

Continued on page 4
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Continued from page 3

Book Series for use in the MSAcademic Literacy classes

Several complete sets of musical

instruments at Northwestern

Elementary

Flip Cameras & Digital Cameras for

3rd Grade Classrooms at

Weisenberg

Incubators and Egg Turners for

Northwestern Elementary 3rd

Grade Team

Math Instant Learning Centers for

Kindergarten at Weisenberg

We are thrilled to have the support of

the Foundation, and know that they

have funded many programs that

would not have been feasible within

our budget.

Dont forget the 2012-2013 TeacherMini-Grant applications are available

now! They are due to your principals

on April 11th. Take advantage of this

opportunity to request funding for a

project you would like to have in your

classroom next year!

Look for opportunities to support the

Foundation in their Fundraising efforts.Upcoming this year they hope to host a 5K,

the Annual Golf Tournament and the Annual

Clay Shoot!

Three Cheers for Food Services!

The Food Service Departmentreceived aperfect CRE-SMI review in November. !Thestate reviewer was in for two days and

observed lunch at the high school. !Nofindings were reported. !

Lily Seyfried at NWE Jared Stitzel and Charissa

Dengler at WEIS

The Healthier US School Challenge (HUSSC)

mini grant that was received by food service

department to promote bean sampling in the

elementary schools was so successful that anabbreviated 4 week sampling was conducted

at the Middle School beginning on February

9th.

Ventilation Upgrade to High SchoolFCS Room Completed

Thank you to Shay Wagner and her students for

their cooperation with Bob Kripplebauer, his

staff, and contractors during the recent upgrade

to the FCS ventilation system. The much needed

upgrade improved the environment during foods

classes so food preparation can be done without

excessive steam and heat in the room. Bob had

the foresight to bid the work to be done during the

evening hours for the most part, limiting the

impact to the classroom instruction. !
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strategic

planning

strategic planning process. The survey result

will assist the school teams with the

development of building/department and

District goals.

Building and District teams will meet

during the months of March and April

to develop action plans to support goals

identified as priorities.

If youre unable to attend a meeting,

you can follow our progress on the wiki!

All strategic planning information is

posted on our website at https://

nwlsd.wikispaces.com/. Check the

website frequently for updates.

Continued on page 6

Times are exciting at NWL as the

Northwestern Lehigh Community works

together to develop the Strategic Plan for

2013-2016.

113 community members, employees, and

business representatives along with 23

students volunteered to participate in the

strategic planning process. The District-wide

committee officially began planning on

January 25 and met again on February 29th.

The focus of the first two sessions was on

revising the Districts vision and mission

statements, updating the description of our

educational community, and converting and

revising our belief statements into shared

values.

Employees and community members were

invited to complete a survey that accompanies

the PA Department of Education (PDE)

Alesha White Luis Rivera
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Continued from page 5

Student Focus Groups - Capturing

Student Voices!

Students provided insight into planning

through interviews during FocusGroups. If you really want to know how

our students learn, just ask and they

will tell you!

That is exactly what 23 of our

elementary, middle, and high school

students did. Jennifer and I met with

students at each of our four buildings.

They answered questions we asked themabout how they learn best, what activities

provided them with good learning experiences,

and how technology plays a role in helping

students learn and how do they think

technology will play a role in the future of

education.

Jennifer, along with some technical

assistance of Kathy Fiedler, created a

DVD of the student interviews that wasshown at the February 29th Strategic

Planning Meeting. I sincerely

appreciate the students for their

willingness to talk with us.

The students who participated in the

interviews are Alesha White, EmmaBurton, Luis Rivera, Brianna Althouse,

Michael Rader, Eric Bilous, Molly

Mitman, Domenick Harding, Samantha

McGinley, Taylor Page, Elizabeth

Fornauf, Jarett White, Mikaela Koenig,

Abigale Chisdak, Jackson Bernhard,

Jacob Reppert, Zach Anderson, Allyson

Myers, Matthew Caccesse, Ali Lister,

Ryan Sellers, Alex Bobbyn, and JennyVonHolt.

The DVD is too large to place on our

website, but Jennifer would be happy to

share it with employees.

The next two Strategic Planning

Meetings are scheduled for May 8 and

May 30.

BenchmarkingShows ImprovedPerformance at

All Schools

Principals in each of our

four schools report

measurable

improvement in student

performance as

measured by benchmark

assessments.

Additionally, middle and

high school staff report

that students are

improving reading skills

through the use of the

Reading 180 program in

the middle and high

schools. I have

confidence that your

hard work along with

that of the students will

produce excellent PSSA

scores!


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2012-13 Budget

2012-13 Budget

Work officially began on the 2012-13 budget in December. The Board passed a resolution to stay within the Act

1 index, which for NWL is 2%. That means our millage cannot go above a 2% increase. The employees of our

District worked diligently over the past years, most specifically the past three years, to work as effectively and

efficiently as possible. All of our employees have been cautious and efficiency conscious of expenditures,spending funds as needed to support the learning of our students. The Board set goals for the 2012-13 budget,

which are very similar to the goals of the 2011-12 budget. I appreciate all of your efforts in continuing to

provide the best education we can afford for our children and our community. It is your collective efforts that

make NWL a great place to live, work, and learn!

Goals for the 2012-2013 Budgetare as follows:

Maintain instructional programs with modifications, as necessary.

Provide appropriate class sizes.

Align the budget with strategic planning mission, vision, and goals.

Develop a budget with long-term & short-term focus.

Continue to identify areas to maximize efficiencies without negatively impacting programs.

Maintain current tax millage level.
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superintendent's newsletter march 2012

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