Press Release
Manhattan SD #114
August 2014 Monthly Press Release
From the desk of Superintendent Rusty Ragon:
- Mrs. Kelly Davis (1st grade teacher) Mrs. AlexaPascarella (3rd grade resource teacher) and Mrs. Michele Zmigrodski (JH Library Aide) were present at the August board meeting, introducing the students that are participating in “One Book, One Manhattan” and to report on the project. It has been a great project and I am looking forward to the announcement of the “One Book” that will be shared by our students with all of Manhattan. The participating students are: Claire Andersen, Maddie Andersen, Isabelle Bergin, Holly Brown, Jason Cler, Jimmy Cler, Madeline Davis, Olivia Froling, Olivia Hopper, Owen Hopper, Kate Jensen, Sydnie Lenz, Jessie Marshall, Drew Murphy, Olivia Murphy, Sara Ott, Ben Pluskota, Jered Podgorny, and Tera Sparks Some of our staff attended a “Co-teaching Training of Trainers” workshop that was absolutely wonderful. We had 4 attendees from our district, including: Paula Paymaster, Betsy Dobczyk, Amy Goberville and Mrs. Karalus. It provided all of them with many fantastic ideas, a wealth of resources and many technological apps and programs that will be shared with staff. Planning for their first presentation to administrators and the Board of Education has already begun and they are also beginning to plot out Early Dismissal Days/Institute Days that they can begin to present to and train the rest of our staff this year.
- Jan Nass, social worker at the junior high, offered to present as part of the PLASE, parent group, arranged by Dist #843. She will be presenting in April at Manhattan Jr. High at 6:30. Jan's presentation will be entitled,
"Our Wired Teens: What Parents Need to Know." We are hoping for a great turn out! - Kindergarten met again this month. This time, they developed a progress report card to be sent home at report card time each quarter in an effort to more thoroughly communicate to parents their child's progress and skills over the course of the year. These objectives, both academic and developmental (social/emotional, fine motor, etc.) lend themselves to potential standards-based report cards in years to come.
- First grade met to develop a consistent, comprehensive plan for writing instruction in first grade this year. They will continue to work and adjust their curriculum and materials as they get to know their new writers, coming from full-day kindergarten. They identified different types of writing instruction and activities that will take place across the grade level. Also, they met to discuss details of The Daily 5, as they will all implement it into their guided reading structure this year. A special thank you to Kindergarten teachers: Susan Kubik, Dana Schuttler, and Karen Wingfield who spent time working with first grade to answer questions and share their experiences with The Daily 5.
- Second grade met this month to develop a calendar for reading instruction. The CCSS and ELA instructional shifts call for supplementation of our Treasures series. Therefore, the new reading scope and sequence will all 2nd grade teachers to "dig deeper" and expand upon several texts to implement CCSS-based units throughout the year.
- Enrollment UpdateTotals per Bldg
K 1501st1512nd154455
3rd1474th1525th142441
6th1537th1438th135 431 Total Enrollment: 1327
- In addition, many changes continue to occur on the district website in regards to transportation. I would encourage everyone to visit the website and look over the information. We cannot thank our parents enough, for the patience and the understanding they have given to us as we transition to LW210 for our transportation needs. Everyone is working very hard and have been doing all that they can to make this a huge success.
- Finally, bonding representatives were present to speak before the board about their credentials and about their companies. Due to a retirement and the firm representing Manhattan 114 for it bonding needs the past several years, electing not to work in Illinois any more, the district needs to find a new representative. The most pressing need will be to restructure some of our current bond debt in order to avoid significantly higher bond payments over the next few years, coupled with the significant drop in local property values. The net result would be a tremendous rise in the tax rate, something we want to try and avoid. Please look for more information on this subject in the coming months.
Thank you,
Rusty Ragon