Setting the tone for the future

Setting the tone for the future of the Sioux Center Community School District.  That is what is happening this spring.  Four years ago the Sioux Center Board of Education, in an attempt to achieve the financial goals of the district, offered early retirement to the teaching staff.  Through the current school year, fourteen staff members have opted to take advantage of the incentive. 

Early retirement is a double edged sword.  The purpose is to provide relief to the general fund which is the main operating fund of the district.  This is realized by allowing veteran staff to retire and filling those positions with younger teachers thereby reducing salary and benefit costs.  The flip side of the process is that the district loses experienced and good teachers who are the core of the staff.  These staff members have faithfully served the children of the district for many years. 

The fact that we have so many veteran staff is a testament to the district and the community of Sioux Center.  When a person becomes a member of the teaching staff they generally stay for a very long time.   The average years of service for the seven teacher s who will be retiring at the end of the current school year will be thirty years.  Therefore, hiring replacements for these positions or any other becomes extremely important.  The climate and culture of the Sioux Center Community School District will be determined through the hiring process.

The district has hiring procedures that are very detailed and designed to be objective in hiring the process.  These procedures help the district maintain reliability and validity to hire with as little bias as possible.  The Sioux Center District is blessed to be attractive to candidates allowing a very strong candidate pool.  For the seven positions vacated by early retirement over two hundred and fifty applications were received.  Candidates are segregated by job criteria, experiences, and preparation.  Candidates that are selected for interview will be judged upon their technical capabilities and how they fit the culture of a district striving for excellence. 

The board and administration of the district rely on this process to provide our children with the best possible instruction by teachers who will challenge and push the talents of their students.  The district wants teachers who will bring their “A” game every day.

The district would like to thank those teachers who are retiring at the end of the school year for their dedication to our children, parents, and community.  We wish you the best in your retirement years.

Boys Substate Information

ATTENTION ALL WARRIOR FANS!!  SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR THE WARRIORS
AND SHOW UP FOR THE GAME ALL IN ORANGE!!  IT'S AN ORANGE OUT!


Advance Tickets for the game against Western on Saturday night are on sale in the High School office.  Cost is $6.00.  Spectator doors will be open at 6:00.  There will be 3 ticket lines—1 for spectators presenting a ticket, 1 for spectators who have exact/correct change and 1 for spectators who do not have exact/correct change. 

The game will be played at the MOC-FV high school gymnasium.   Doors will open at 6:00 p.m.

           

            

Once the gym is determined to be at capacity, The doors will be locked.  At that point, no one else will be allowed to enter even if they are holding a pre-sold ticket.

STATE WRESTLING SEND OFF

There will be a Send off in HS Gym - 3:05 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 15

                                                     

Good Luck Colton and Kyle!

Hupke Wrestling Productions will be broadcasting LIVE from the State

                     Wrestling Tournament.   Click here for more information about the Tuesday night

                     Preview Show and for live coverage of Colton and Kyle's matches on Wednesday.

What does effective instruction look like?

In the fall of 2002 the Sioux Center Community School District began a partnership with the Iowa Association of School Boards (IASB) to become a pilot school for the Lighthouse Project.  The Lighthouse Project was a study in how to positively impact student achievement at the Board of Education level.  The district’s participation in the Lighthouse Project was a great success.  The change in culture regarding professional learning for staff was significant in how the district conducts business today.  The Sioux Center Community School District remains very progressive in its approach to improving learning for all students.

During the last two school years, the staff has been working on a process call Curriculum Mapping. This is a process that focuses on what our staff feels is the ‘guaranteed and viable curriculum’. Our teachers have been entering this curriculum information into a special ‘mapping’ program where it can be accessed by administration and other instructors across the district. Our teachers have also been heavily engaged in learning about effective instructional practices, one of which you might remember is called AIW or Authentic Intellectual Work.

Embedded in the mapping process is effective instruction and formative and summative assessment.  I would like to share with you the qualities of effective instruction.  The key relationship in the learning process is the relationship between the student and the teacher.  The district works very hard to hire the best teachers possible and then work to keep the staff current in their craft.  In the classroom there are certain characteristics that have been proven to increase student achievement.  By focusing on these characteristics teachers improve that interaction with students.

Rigor and Relevance creates the challenge that keeps the student focused while authentic work helps the student understand how the concepts relate to the real world.  Rigor is achieved by creating lessons that require higher order thinking skills and reasoned and elaborated explanation on how a question was answered.  Relevance is created by helping the student recognize the value beyond school for what he or she is learning.  Teachers continually challenge the student’s thinking to go deeper.

When the word assessment is mentioned many times the thought is of chapter or unit tests to provide the student with a grade.  These types of tests are actually what are called summative assessments because the results summarize the student’s grasp of the taught concepts.  A Formative Assessment is assessing for learning.  It is the part of instruction that provides feedback to the teacher so that the teaching and learning can be adjusted.  It is monitoring tool used by teacher.  In order to be successful the teachers need to have a deep understanding of essential concepts and skills and have clear learning goals.  Formative assessment can be achieved by the use of descriptive feedback, self and peer assessment, and/or a collaborative classroom climate

Teaching for Understanding creates deep conceptual and procedural knowledge that can be applied in a variety of settings.  In teaching for understanding learning is a long term, thinking centered process.  Teaching for understanding involves project based learning, problem solving, and inquiry based learning.

Effective instruction yields classrooms that are Student-Centered.  In a these classrooms students are directly involved and invested in the discovery of their own knowledge.  Collaboration occurs between the teacher and student and also student to student.  Learning is authentic, holistic, and challenging and students reflect on their learning.  The instruction is authentic which requires students to engage in higher-order thinking.  Assessments are meaningful and in real-world context.

In a student centered classroom staff must Teach for Learner Differences.  Not all students are at the same point in their learning or learn in the same way.  Teachers must plan and respond to learner differences.   Data gained through formative assessment is used for instructional decision-making.  All students, including special education students, English language learners, and talented and gifted students have access to and success in core curriculum.  The classroom instruction is flexible and provides a variety of activities to meet learning styles of all students.

The Sioux Center Community School District is committed to providing a world class education to all students.  This requires the commitment of resources such as financial support and time.  Every Wednesday the district dismisses an hour early to provide staff time to collaborate, plan, and discuss topics such as effective instruction.  The district appreciates the parental and community support in the professional growth of our teachers.

Inclement Weather Information (make up days)

Here is the schedule to make up the days that have been missed due to inclement weather.


November 22, 2010 will be made up on President's Day, February 21, 2011
January 10, 2011 will be made up on April 21, 2011 (Thursday of Easter Break)
January 11, 2011 will be made up on April 25, 2011 (Monday of Easter Break)
February 1, 2011 will be made up on May 27, 2011
February 2, 2011 will be made up on May 31, 2011

 Any days missed from today, February 2, 2011 to the end of the year will be made up on June 1, 2011 and thereafter.

2011-2012 School Calendar

The 2011-2012 School Calendar was approved by the Sioux Center Community School District Board of Education at the regular monthly meeting on January 17^th.  Highlights of the calendar need to be brought to the public’s attention.  Here are some of the highlighted changes for the 2011-2012 school year.

The school year will start on August 24.  This is the corresponding date to the two previous school years.  Prior to the 2009-2010 school year the district started school one week earlier.   Construction projects at the high school and at Kinsey Elementary school required the start date to be moved back one week. . As the calendar for next year was designed the start date of the fourth week of August seemed more appropriate than the earlier start..

Professional development is extremely important to the success of our teachers and student achievement.  There will be a one hour early release for professional development every Wednesday of the school year.  Kinsey Elementary School will dismiss at 2:05 and the middle school and high school will dismiss at 2:15 every Wednesday.  These one hour early outs are used for teacher collaboration time.  Research on student achievement has demonstrated that teachers need to collaborate with their peers regarding the development of lessons, the practice of lessons, and the sharing of student work.  In the 2012 school year there will be one half day early dismissal for professional development on April 27, 2012.  Students will not be in school on October 7, 2011, February 17, 2012, and April 10, 2012 as these days are designated as full day professional development for school staff.

Traditionally the third Monday of February has been a day of no school in observation of President’s Day.  President’s Day will remain a day of no school unless the district misses a day of school for inclement weather prior to President’s Day.  Additional days missed due to inclement weather will be made up within the school year with April 21^st and April 25^th, the Thursday and Monday of Easter break, being the make up day.  Beyond these days, all snow days will be made-up at the end of the school year as in the past.

Dates of Note include:

• August 24, 2011 – First day of school
• October 28, 2011 – End of the 1^st quarter
• November 8 and 10, 2011 – Parent Teacher Conferences
• December 23, 2011 to January 2, 2012 - Christmas Vacation
• January 13^th, 2012 – End of the 1^st Semester
• January 16^th – Begin the 2^nd semester
• February 28 and March 1, 2012 – Parent Teacher Conferences
• March 21, 2012 – End of the 3^rd quarter
• April 5, 2012 to April 10, 2012– Easter vacation
• May 20, 2012 – Commencement Ceremonies
• May 24, 2012 end of the 4^th quarter

Inclement Weather Information (make up days)

Here is the schedule to make up the days that have been missed due to inclement weather.


November 22, 2010 will be made up on President's Day, February 21, 2011
January 10, 2011 will be made up on April 21, 2011 (Thursday of Easter Break)
January 11, 2011 will be made up on April 25, 2011 (Monday of Easter Break)


Any days missed from today, January 11, 2011, to the end of the year will be made up after the scheduled last day of the year.