Dear Parents and Guardians,

It is with a heavy heart that I prepare this communication. As all of you are probably already aware, last Friday our country suffered a terrible tragedy when a gunman entered Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut and took the lives of 26 people. As a parent of young children myself, and as a school administrator I have found this incident to be very upsetting as many of you have as well. My heart and I am sure yours as well goes out to the families and communities impacted by this event.

I have received several emails from parents with questions that one would expect after such an incident: How would my school handle such an incident? What will the school do to assure my student’s safety? Will there be a specific communication or message from the school? What do I say to my child? I hope this communication provides answers to those questions, useful information, and to the best of my ability reassurance.

First and foremost, I want everyone to keep in mind that schools are statistically the safest location for your child/student to be. Be sure to reassure your student(s) of this if the topic of school safety arises. While it is highly unlikely that we will ever be in the same situation as Sandy Hook Elementary school, we still prepare for the improbable because we recognize that it is possible. We have in place specific protocols and procedures for school shootings, threatening incidents nearby, and threatening people inside the building. They are designed to strike the balance between providing a safe environment, while maintaining a welcoming, healthy environment.

We regularly revisit our response protocols and from time to time make changes as necessary. For example, two years ago we added the automated communication system. We primarily use it for communicating semi-regular school notices, but the driving force for its implementation was to communicate to all parents in the case of emergency or school cancelations. We purposefully selected a web based application so that communication could be pushed out to parents from any location. In the case of an emergency, be sure to keep your phone/email nearby as we will use that to communicate updates, important information, and specific directions if needed. If you have not been receiving the automated phone calls or emails, please contact Carolyn Spangler in the school office 262-537-2216 EXT 3903 and she can update your profile.  

Following this most recent incident, I plan to consult with local law enforcement and seek their input as to whether or not we need to revise our current response plan. We have all seen a noted change in the method used by the Colorado shooter and now the Connecticut shooter. I would like their input as to whether or not our current plan of action is still their recommendation. I am sure this will be reviewed at the state and national level as well.  As a parent and an administrator I want to assure you that we have the best procedures in place as recommended by law enforcement and state agencies and I will strive to assure that we continue to have them in place.

Three years ago I attended a special FBI sponsored training on school shootings. What I took away from the training was that the only way you can prevent something like this from happening is to have open communication with stakeholders and stop the event before it takes place. In almost every incident there have been signs and “chatter” before it took place. If you or child ever hears anything, sees a facebook posting, a note, an email, or anything that would cause concern. Don’t sit on it. Refer it to authorities or to us at the school and we will refer it to the proper channel. We will communicate this message to all students in an age appropriate manner.

In regards to communicating with children, the school will follow the recommendations outlined by the National Association of School Psychologists. I linked a copy of the document to this post so thatyou can read it as well. Please be sure to review it as there are recommendations for what parents can do as well. In short, we as adults should model calmness and control; Reassure the children that they are safe; Remind them that trustworthy people are in charge; Let them know it is ok to feel upset; Observe their emotional state (behaviors as well as words); Keep your explanations developmentally appropriate.

I wish you all well and it is my hope and prayer that we never have to deal with such an event. I want all of you to know that the staff at Wheatland loves and cares for your children very much, and we will do everything we can to protect your children as if they are our own. Thank you for taking the time to read this message and I wish you all a very happy holidays. You will soon have extra time to spend with your children. Be sure to hold them close and let them know how much you care for them.

Sincerely,

Jason Tadlock

District Administrator

 

Wheatland Students to be Showcased at State Convention

I am very pleased to announce that Wheatland Jt 1 School District has been selected by the Project Lead the Way State Leadership Team to represent Gateway to Technology STEM education on Wednesday Januarary 23, 2013 (from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm) at the 92nd Annual State Education Convention. Wheatland is among just six other districts that were chosen from a field of nominations to be highlighted at this event. Four to five students along with their teacher Mrs. Zirbell will be display one of their current or past projects at the event.

10 Attend SLATE Conference 2012

Wheatland recently sent a team of 10 staff members to Wisconsin's School Leaders Advancing Technology in Education (SLATE). The conference was exceptional, with 1000 of Wisconsin's educator's sharing innovative practices and resources with each other. Our team of teachers have returned to school with many new ideas and great resources to share with all the staff. 

I wanted to take a moment and recognize Rachel and Thomas Hartley for their efforts as presenters. The title of their presentation was Extreme Lesson Makeover: https://sites.google.com/a/wcspk8.org/elm/ Be sure to visit their presentation website as it is full of great resources. By all accounts they did a fabulous job! It is always a little nerve-racking to present in front of over 100 teachers with standing room only. Great Job Rachel and Tom, way to represent Wheatland!

This was my second time attending SLATE and I have to say this experience was very different from the first. This time it was very refreshing to see and hear that as a school we are WAY ahead of the curve and our teachers are now at the forefront and cutting edge of technology integration. I want to let all the staff know that I am very proud of all the work you have done to make Wheatland a shinning star in regards to technology integration and 21st century preparation. I suspect that next year we'll have a similar number of presenters at slate as we did at the Wisconsin Association of Middle Level Educator's conference (6). The work you are doing is truly leading the way!

New State Report Cards

The public versions of the preliminary School Report Cards will be released Monday, October 22. The report cards will be available at approximately 8:00 a.m. through a link on the Accountability Reform page at http://dpi.wi.gov/oea/acct/accountability.html. These report cards are generated using the Fall 2011 WKCE Test Scores. Due to the test being a fall test it is really a reflection of an achievement level primarily developed during the previous school year. In this case, the 2010-2011 school year.

We desired to have a more timely assessment of our school’s current performance level and determine whether or not the initiatives we began to put in place in the 2011-2012 school year have had a positive impact. In order to do this we used the formulas used to create the state report cards and substituted current Fall 2012 Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) data in place of WKCE data. By using the MAP data and MAP/WKCE linking study reports we are able to create a projected report card for the 2012-2013 school year. 

I am pleased to announce that while we have several areas are still in need of improvement. We are making marked progress and we should move from the meets expectations category in 2011-2012 to the Exceeds Expectations category in 2012-2013.

How are we addressing the new changes to the state assessment?

Since the start of last school year we began communicating with parents regarding the change in the state WKCE test cut scores, and the impact that it would have regarding the number of students that are considered proficient and advanced. In preparation for the new standard, we raised the cut for students identified as in need of additional academic support from the recommended 25th percentile to the 45th percentile. This meant that we began providing additional school intensive instruction in reading and math to many more students, and we worked to get a greater number of students into our summer school program. This past summer we experienced a summer school enrollment of approximately 45% of our student body.

After the release of the NAEP cuts we realized that we needed to raise cut scores for academic interventions even higher. We have since pushed them to approximately the 55th percentile range for mathematics and the 65th percentile range for reading. You may have noticed that your student in the past was not recommended for academic interventions, but now they are. This is not necessarily a reflection of deteriorating skills, but more likely a reflection of the significant change in what is considered a proficient skill level.

How are we working to improve overall student achievement?

Since the fall of 2011 we have implemented the following:
•       New rigorous math curriculum at the middle school and primary grade levels that has resulted in excellent student growth
•       Two excellent literacy programs designed to address individual student needs and maximize growth for all students.
•       K-8 Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics program
•       After school tutoring and homework help programs
•       K-8 World language program
•       Academic intervention programs for students projected to be below the new proficiency cuts
•       New science and social studies curriculums designed to be integrated with English and math
•       Continued staff development related best instructional practices
•       New focus on student growth and proper use of MAP data to guide instruction

We are excited about the work we have done to this point and we have seen excellent initial results reflected on our local assessments, but we are still in the early stages of our initiatives. We don't expect to see significant changes to show on the state school report card for another 1-2 years. One has to keep in mind that the report card that is being released at 8:00 A.M. on October 22nd, 2012 was student performance from the fall of 2011 WKCE, which really reflects student learning from the 2010-2011 academic year.

Because the report card data is antiquated, our primary use of the report card will be to identify how we were doing two years ago and identify trend data as we move forward. However, our primary data focus is on assessment tools that give us immediate, accurate results so that we can make instructional decisions in real-time rather than a year later.

What are the local assessment tools that you use?

Listed below the primary assessment tools we use:

•       Measures of Academic Progress (MAP), a test that is taken three times a year and gives immediate results. The MAP assessment identifies a student’s instructional level or Zone of Proximal Development and provides us a benchmark.
•       AIMS WEB is also administered three times a year as a benchmark test to all students, and we also use it for short targeted assessments (1-2 minute probes) every week for students receiving additional academic support. This allows us to track student progress on a weekly basis and make adjustments as necessary.
•       STAR Reading and Math assessments as bench mark tests at least three times a year.

By using the data from all three assessment we can get an accurate “real-time” picture as to how are students are performing, what their needs are, and if we are making progress toward meeting their academic goals. These data points are valuable to us because they are immediate, accurate, and help us make informed instructional decisions. As such, they essentially render the WKCE as practically useless. That being said, because the WKCE is the primary focus of the public eye, we recognize that we cannot rush through it to just get it done and out of the way. In the future we will spread out the test sessions, and take steps to assure that the students give their best effort on the test, so that the results are an accurate reflection of our student’s achievement level. Even though the data may not be very timely or relevant, it is still in the public eye and we want it the results to reflect the good work your students are doing in our school.

As we move forward our focus will still remain on providing students with access and opportunity to rigorous relevant experiences that will prepare them for the 21st century. We are confident that by doing so our students will experience increased student achievement. In addition, in two years when the new state assessments are finalized, we know that our students will be well prepared to demonstrate the higher level problem solving, technology, and application skills that they will have gained.

Competency Based Education

I found this article very interesting and quite compelling. http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2012/10/17/... It fits into the model of learning that Sir Ken Robinson refers to, and what we have been striving for in Wheatland. Competency Based Education (CBE) is not a new concept. It's been discussed in educational circles since the seventies and in many ways it was practiced in one room school houses. I believe that the common core will begin to force all schools back in into the direction of focusing on individual students and maximizing growth for every child. 

Lake Geneva Site Visit

Last Friday Lake Geneva sent a team of administrators over to visit our school. They had heard about the exciting paint colors in the classrooms, the new carpet in some of the halls, and the updating that had taken place in the 4k and Special education rooms. They were excited to gather ideas that they can take bake to their district. It is always a pleasure to host other district's when they want to come and visit. It is a great opportunity to collaborate and share ideas, as well celebrate the reason why they are visiting us in the first place.Link to Facebook Building Photo Album

Welcome Back Letter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I wanted to write you a short message and let you know how excited we were to have your student(s) with us today. It is always great to see their smiling faces, energy, and excitement for the school year to begin. It is my hope that we can work together to sustain this excitement and enthusiasm throughout the school year. If you have any needs or concerns related to busing or procedures in general, please contact the school office. If you have any questions related to a specific class or teacher, don’t hesitate to contact them directly. The staff is more than happy to speak with you and answer any questions that you may have.

This will be an exciting year with many changes at the district and state level. Mrs. Clements and the staff organized an excellent beginning of the year orientation for all students to learn about new school procedures and our Positive Behavior Intervention Strategies (PBIS) program. We have exciting new curriculum materials in reading and writing, and several new additions to our after school programming will be forthcoming. 7^th and 8^th graders have received new laptops as part of our laptop for each student in grades 4-8 program. The new laptops are capable of running every program we utilize at school including Autocad Inventor.  Our teachers have spent numerous hours in training and preparation for the upcoming year and we are excited to see what it brings.

At the state level you will notice significant changes to the state testing cut scores (what is considered passing) and there will be a new school report card issued for every school in the state of Wisconsin. We are anxious to learn more about the school report card system and see where we are currently at. What we know is that the new state test cut scores are significantly more challenging. For example in the past in reading if there were 100 students taking the test and your son or daughter placed 78^th out of the 100 then it was likely they were still considered proficient in reading. The new bar has been raised to the point where a student would need to place 35^th or higher in order to be considered proficient. In short, every school in the state will have a significant number of students below proficiency. I expect us to fall from around 90 percent of our students proficient or advanced in reading, to about 30-35 percent proficient or advanced in reading. The same will occur in mathematics and the other subjects. We are committed to meet this new rigor level and we began taking steps to meet it two years ago as we learned of the upcoming change.

In order to meet this new state proficiency level we know that we must work with students in the most effective way possible, give teachers the most effective tools possible, and structure our programs to reflect proven models. Thus, we have provided our teachers with the latest technologies in the classrooms. We have adopted proven curriculum in all of the core subject areas and we have structured reading/language arts and math so that every student will have both subjects for a minimum of 90 minutes a day. In addition, students who are not meeting proficiency levels in math and reading will have access to additional skill instruction on a regular basis during the school day through our response to intervention program. If your son or daughter is selected for one of the intervention programs, please do not be alarmed as it is likely that up to 65 to 70 percent of our students will receive additional support in order to help them reach the new proficiency levels. The extra support should be viewed as a positive help and resource for your student.

As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to give us a call.

Sincerely,

Jason Tadlock

District Administrator

P.S.Please be sure to check our school website and facebook page for regular updates, pictures and videos.

First Robotics Program

As a school we had been working on a way to provide additional access to rigorous and relevant academic experiences outside of the regular school day. We are pleased to announce that this year Wheatland School District will continue to build on our Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math focus by providing students the opportunity to participate in First Robotic’s www.usfirst.org, First Lego League competition.

First Lego League introduces younger students to real-world engineering challenges by building LEGO-based robots to complete tasks on a thematic playing surface. FLL teams, guided by their imaginations and adult coaches, discover exciting career possibilities and, through the process, learn to make positive contributions to society.

Elementary and middle-school students get to:

  Design, build, test and program robots using LEGO MINDSTORMS® technology
  Apply real-world math and science concepts
  Research challenges facing today’s scientists
  Learn critical thinking, team-building and presentation skills
  Participate in tournaments and celebrations

What FLL teams accomplish is nothing short of amazing. It’s fun. It’s exciting. And the skills they learn will last a lifetime.

Registration information will be provided prior to the season’s start date in November. In the meantime we are looking for parent volunteers to assist with coaching, supervision, or establishing community partnerships. If you are interested in participating in the First Robotics program as a volunteer please be sure to indicate your interest on the parent volunteer form. 

Laptop Program Update

New Devices for 7^th & 8^th Grades:

We are excited to enter our third year of our one to one laptop program. Due to the number of new students attending our school and the greater larger enrollment numbers in grades 4-8, there has been a need for us to acquire additional computers. Making the decision as to which computing device to purchase was one in which we spent a lot of time and effort with. We looked at multiple tablets, Chromebooks, and other versions of netbooks. Ultimately we selected the Lenovo ThinkPad. These computers had the performance we were seeking, the durability, and the right price. The new computers will be issued to all 7^th and 8^th graders. Students in grades 4-6 will continue with the netbooks for an additional 1-2 years. We are very excited that our 7^th and 8^th graders will now be able to utilize the Auto Cad Inventor program, which is used in their science classes, on their laptops at home.

Carrying Cases:

After two years of the laptop program we have found that our damage rates are higher than we would like to see. Some schools choose to restrict the computers from traveling between school and home. At Wheatland we feel that the greatest advantage of our 1 to 1 computing program is that all of our students have access to the computers at both school and home. Transporting the computers between home and school does however come with a higher damage rate. To help alleviate this concern, the school will be providing a satchel style carrying case for all students to use. Please do not purchase a separate computer case for your student, as they will be required to utilize the school provided carrying case whenever they are transporting their computers.

Laptop Insurance:

We are continuing our self-funded insurance program. The annual premium is $15 and is a part of your school year fees. Due to the breakage rates there is also a need to add a deductible to the insurance program for damage not covered under warranty. By adding the deductible we can keep the insurance rates low and keep the charges to those that damage the machines. Deductibles are as follows per each incident:

$1-$75 Damage (Typically screens and keyboards) = 50% of the repair cost, not to exceed $30

$76-$350 Damage = 40% of the repair cost not to exceed $150

*In the cases of economic difficulties arrangements can be made for payments of deductibles.

If you have any questions regarding the insurance program, please contact Mr. Tadlock, District Administrator