Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Alpine School Board Meeting Highlights

The Board of Education met in a study session prior to the dedication and the regular Board Meeting at Sage Hills Elementary School on January 26. The purpose of the study session was to discuss the boundary options for the new schools.

The dedication of Sage Hills Elementary began with three students sharing “What Makes Sage Hills a Great Place.” First grader Kealani Luke said that it is because “teachers care about what we learn.” Third grader, Bryanna Dye loves the huge library, and fifth grader Kayla Hauer appreciates the fun activities and great people. Principal Sherrie Holbrook talked about the past, present, and future of Sage Hills and has dared her students to “learn, soar, and excel.” PTA President Kirsten Stack expressed appreciation for all of the volunteer help that has been given and acknowledged that there is more to be done. After the students and faculty did a great job singing the school song, K-12 administrator Kathy Janzen spoke followed by Board Member Chrissy Hannemann. The dedicatory prayer was given by Board President Debbie Taylor.

There were two action items in the regular Board meeting. The first was the approval of the boundaries for the new schools. Boundary maps for the new Traverse Mountain and Eagle Mountain elementary schools as well as the new Saratoga Springs middle school/Willowcreek Middle/Timberline Middle/Lehi Junior are attached. The entire area west of the Jordan River is part of the new middle school boundary. The Traverse Mountain area students are now part of the Willowcreek Middle School boundary instead of Timberline Middle School.

For your information, the principal of the new Traverse Mountain elementary school will be David Stephenson, current principal at Alpine Elementary. The principal of the new Eagle Mountain elementary school will be David Turner, current principal at Rocky Mountain Elementary School. The Saratoga Springs middle school principal, Steve Stewart, was named last spring and is the former principal of Orem Junior High School.

The Board also voted to open the new Saratoga Spring middle school with seventh and eighth grade students only. Ninth grade students will continue to attend Westlake High School next year.

The second action item was property agreements. Both the sale of the “EsNet” property as well as the purchase of three building lots for Career and Technical Education were approved.

Thank you to the faculty, staff, students, and patrons of Sage Hills Elementary for being great hosts!

The next Board meeting will be on February 9 at the district offices in American Fork.

National PTA Action Alert

Ask Congress to Reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Now!

The word on the Hill in 2009 was that the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), formerly known as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), would begin in January and be wrapped up by the end of the 2010. However, this legislation shows no signs of moving through Congress. Let's increase the momentum for ESEA! Please urge both of your Senators and Representative not to wait any longer and reauthorize ESEA now.

Learn more about National PTA Takes Action and sign up for their newsletter here.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Alpine School District Highlights

The Board of Education met in a study session prior to the regular Board Meeting on Tuesday, January 12. The purpose of the study session was to: 1) review boundary information for the new schools, 2) discuss growth information and a timeline for a future bond (the Board is looking at the fall of 2011), and 3) debrief from the USBA Convention.

The regular Board Meeting began by recognizing three outstanding employees:

1. Crispen Anderson was recently named the 2009 Utah Junior High School Teacher of the Year at the UAAPHERD conference held at BYU. Crispen teaches health and PE at Lakeridge Junior High School.

2. Garrick Peterson was named Junior High School Principal of the Year for the state of Utah. Garrick is the principal at Lakeridge Junior High School.

3. Rick Clark was named High School Principal fo the Year for the state of Utah. Rick is the principal at Mountain View High School.

Congratulations!!!

Following the recognitions, there were two discussion items:

1. Boundary options for the new middle school and two elementary schools - This will be an action item at the next Board Meeting. (There will be maps sent in the highlights after the next meeting.)

2. Addition to the Scope of Employment Policy - This will also be an action item at the next Board Meeting.

The Board of Education received a report about school improvement plans in the west area of the district. Kathy Janzen, K-6 administrator over this area, did an excellent job reviewing statistics and sharing data with the Board. She shared her excitement about the great things going on in our elementary schools out west.

The next Board Meeting will be on January 26 at Sage Hills Elementary School. There will be a school dedication at 6:00 p.m. The regular Board Meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m.

Friday, January 8, 2010

National PTA News

National PTA has released its 2010 Public Policy Agenda outlining policy priorities and recommendations for the second session of the 111th Congress. Bolstered by research to back up the recommendations, the 2010 Public Policy Agenda focuses on three key priorities.

I suggest you take a look at the agenda, familiarize yourself with it, and make sure you get time on your local board agenda to speak about it. Maybe even put some information in your newsletter. This will go a long way toward comforting some of our members who are afraid our national agenda is too liberal.

2010 Legislative Session

The 2010 legislative session begins January 25 and runs for nine weeks.

On your original Region 9 calendar there was a region PTA day scheduled, but since our region calendar was created we have received the Utah PTA calendar which has PTA Day at the Legislature scheduled near the beginning of the session, making our region day unnecessary.

My reasons for scheduling our own day were that I thought it would be more effective to get us all up to the capitol early in the session, meeting our legislators and learning the ropes.

I would still like to be available to you as a guide if you are interested. I will be available at least one day each week during the session to take you around, discuss bills, and help you meet your legislators. This will be by appointment, so please contact me if you're interested and I'll let you know which day I'll be there.

The first day of the session is generally given over to ceremonies, swearing in new legislators, etc., but any time after that, just let me know and we can make arrangements.

Please let me know if you have questions. I'd love for you all to feel comfortable at the capitol and with your legislators, which is how we can begin to make a difference.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Alpine School District Update 1-5-10

1. The Utah County Health Department is sponsoring a free H1N1 vaccination clinic tomorrow, January 7, from 3-7 p.m. at American Fork Junior High School. Appointments are encouraged but not required. All varieties of the vaccine will be available and are free to anyone. To make an appointment go to the Utah County Health Department website at www.utahcountyhealth.org.

2. The Utah Association of Secondary School Principals have announced this year’s high school and junior high school principals of the year, and we are proud to say that they are both from Alpine School District. Congratulations to Rick Clark, principal of Mountain View High School, and to Garrick Peterson, principal of Lakeridge Junior High School. They were both honored at an awards ceremony today and will be honored again at the UASSP conference later this month.