News from around the district at MSD114

  • We have wrapped up another busyyear! We have completed our first successfulyear overseeing ourDevelopmental Kindergarten (now entitled, Kindergarten Specialized Instruction), and Preschool Screening along withour second successful year withEarly Childhood Program.
  • May was a very busy month at Wilson Creek! Students did a wonderful job in the Kindergarten Music Program. Thanks to Mrs. Pedziwater and the Kindergarten teachers for their work in coordinating and practicing with the kids. Thanks to our PTO, parent volunteers, and teachers that helped make a great Olympic Day for our students. Students enjoyed the games and challenges and wore their medals proudly. This year, 2nd graders got to get a taste of Field Day by playing some games outside. Our 1st graders took a field trip to Pilcher Park for nature walks. The 2nd graders visited the Manhattan Public Library to learn about the Summer Reading Program and were able to walk over and tour Anna McDonald. Thanks to the Manhattan Park District for allowing our 1st and 2nd grade classes to have picnic days at The Round Barn Farm. In addition to the Kindergarteners “trip” to Mexico, the Junior High Band, Orchestra, and Choir tour, and a Risk Watch lesson on Water Safety from the Manhattan Fire Protection District, our students finished the year with many exciting experiences.
  • In addition to what we’ve learned from assessment data, our Reading Committee will play a big role in literacy instruction at Wilson Creek next year. The committee met several times to study, interpret, and plan for the 1st grade pilot of Houghton-Mifflin Harcourt Journeys. The 1st grade teachers will continue to learn more and prepare through the summer. The 1st grade committee reps, Kelly Davis and Stephanie Chamberlin have devised a plan for implementation that will get the team up and running when the year begins. There will be a great deal of time spent and conversation had next year to ensure that our students are getting consistent, effective ELA instruction. It is exciting that our 1st grade students will be receiving this instruction, as 94% of them scored at or above grade level target on the spring STAR Early Literacy benchmark assessment!
  • Check out what our kids are doing in Art with Mrs. Boersma at
  • Mrs. Kirk’s page
  • Mrs. Ramsey’s page
  • Mrs. Elliot’s page
  • At Anna McDonald, all (4) curriculum committees find themselves in a good place as they close out the 2014-15 school year and prepare for 2015-16.
  • The Reading committee will be piloting a new series by Harcourt Houghton Mifflin called Journeys. Six classrooms across the building will be implementing these new materials. A strategic plan is in place, pre-identifying concepts, materials, and instruction. The goal is toprovide consistency at each and every grade level.
  • Math committee enjoyed a successful year emphasizing & implementing basic math fact instruction this year and will continue to enhance such for next school year. The enVision math program, coupled with effective instruction, continues to provide us with valuable experiences for the students.
  • The Writing committee enhanced thecurriculum this year and piloted the integration of writing instruction and language arts. This new component will be implemented across entire building in 2015-16 and phases out an older McGraw Hill language arts product and incorporates a logical progression of necessary grammar skills 3rd through 5th grade.
  • The Science committee has finally finished writing (4) brand new units aligned to the new NGSS. These units were piloted this year and recently enhanced to ensure ELA and STEM activities were integrated. This will continue to be a work in progress in 2015-16 to ensure the NGSS is more than adequately covered with our instruction.
  • All staff enjoyed another year integrating the iPads into their daily instruction. Mrs. Elliot and Mrs.Ramsey, enjoyed a challenging 2nd semester with their 1:1 initiative and have plans to do summer work together so they can continue to build on their successes in 2015-16.
  • Manhattan School District honored over 130 graduates at the annual commencement ceremony at LWC on June 3. The Board of Education had wonderful representation from Scott Mancke, Dawn Murphy, Dan DeCaprio, Liz Boyles, and Susan Prynn. Superintendent Ragon addressed the graduates and everyone in attendance.
  • The annual Great America Trip for 8th graders had the best weather possible and the kids could not have been any better behaved, while thoroughly enjoying the day on June 1. Jen Orr, Joyce Watson, Paula Webb, Amy Goberville, Beth Molitor, and Betsy Dobczyk chaperoned the event.
  • The 8th grade night gave the graduating class an evening to remember.The day began at 6:00 with an awards assembly that concluded with student essays and a slide-show. The students then enjoyed 2 hours of food and dancing until 9:30 p.m. Many staff helped the evening run smoothly, however, special recognition goes to Joyce Watson and Michelle Schussler for arranging the entire event.
  • The Blue Crew at the Junior High definitely made a stellar name for themselves in their first year. Under the guidance of Mr. Perrillo, Mrs. Dobczyk, and Miss Gilbert, the students raised money for an 8th grade scholarship as well as supporting local community service efforts throughout the year.
  • The Junior High Student Council hosted yet another successful fundraising effort for the Manhattan Food Pantry.
  • Committee reviewed their academic focus in reading/literacy based on STAR data from the winter term. ALL subject areas focused on a literacy standard (ex. RI.6.2) that all subjects focused on. We are pleased to report that we noted an average of an 11% gain in mastery for the standard since the second benchmark. This also created further dialogue as to how such data pieces are vital to our district PERA draft.
  • The Band, Orchestra, and Choir presented their end of the year community concerts and performed for the two grade schools. The band performed for the annual MJHS Commencement Ceremony, marking their 27th performance of the year. 11 of the 15 LWC Madrigals are Manhattan graduates, comprising73% of the group. Furthermore, MJHS graduates occupy 7 of the 8 members (88%) in the "Intuition" jazz vocal group for the upcoming school year.
  • The Class of 2015 tile wall tribute at MJHS is installed and completed. Most of our 8th graders worked on their cut paper portraits in 7th grade. Radial symmetryprojects from 6th grade are in place for students that were in the Spanish program. This is a gift to Dr. Ron Pacheco and the 8th grade class from supporters of Square 1 Art and the MJHS Art Dept., Mrs. Ambrosini and her student teacher Ms. Whalen.
  • The MJHS Mural Club will have their first Art Exhibition at Manhattan Public Library this summer. They will have their Super Hero posters that they designed for the 8th grade play this Spring, to coincide with the summer reading program at our Local library, on display. Also, our artists will have their book cover canvases on display for the summer at the library. After that, they will be on permanent display at our three local schools in the Fall. Twobook canvases were designed by Claire Anderson and were auctioned off at Anna McDonald's Prime time night for the past 2 years. Mrs. Ambrosini started the Mural Club last year at MJHS. It has worked on a variety of community projects. The club has grown from 15students last year to 28 this year.
  • The District Curriculum and Instruction Committee spent the year reviewing and ensuring that the non-negotiable items for math, agreed upon the previous year, were being implemented with integrity and consistency throughout the entire district, K-8. The committee also began discussion of the new ELA curriculum and made the decision to move ahead with Journeys (K-5) and Collections (6-8), after careful review at all three buildings. After the decision on the ELA curriculum, the process of planning the implementation began taking place at all three buildings. During the final meeting of the Curriculum and Instruction committeefor the 2014-15 school year, the committee reached the following conclusions;
  • Agreed that by August, all (3) buildings will present a written plan on the implementation/execution of Journeys / Collections to the Superintendent.
  • Members of the Curriculum and Instruction committee will present an update to the Board of Education at the October board meeting.
  • Everyone has committed at each grade level to deliver what is intended or expected, based on the committee’s recommendations.
  • The Committee will provideand guarantee to all of our stakeholders, a level of consistency and a quality of instruction at all levels, K-8, in an established, COMMON CORE curriculum
  • Manhattan School District 114 will used the data that we are collecting from our local quarterly assessments and from STAR to drive our future curricular decisions.
  • The PERA Joint Committee concluded the 2014-15 school year on a positive note. 2015-16 will begin with a draft plan for integrating student growth into the teacher evaluation plan. The 2015-16 school year will provide us with 2 years of STAR data alongside staff evaluations and the stats/examples to ensure the final product is attainable, fair, reliable, and valid.
  • Principal Ron Pacheco received notification that he is a 2015 recipient of the LW Community Extra Effort Community Award.The LW 210 Board of Education annually presents this award to individualsthat support academic and social growth of all Lincoln-Way students. Dr. Pacheco will bepresented the award at the June 11thLW 210 school board meeting. Congratulations to Dr. Pacheco!
  • Thank you to Mr. Pacheco and the staff at the Junior High for all the planning and preparations that went into the 8th grade Graduation. It was a wonderful evening for all of our graduates.
  • I want to remind our parents that the Online Registration is open and available. If there are any questions or concerns, then please contact Michele Zmigrodski at Wilson Creek Elementary.

Thank you,

Rusty Ragon