Superintendent Message: 

JANUARY 2010

The Christmas holiday is upon us.  This time of year is always a challenge with the weather changes, getting things done on time for the holiday celebrations as well as keeping up with the regular daily lives that we already have.  Our students and staff have worked very hard as the first semester comes to a close.

The old adage about living is Iowa is, “Wait ten minutes and the weather will change,” has come true once again.  The decision to delay, cancel or dismiss classes early due to weather is one of the main responsibilities of my job.  In making these decisions, I check with our transportation director, John Stender, early in the morning by driving the roads.  Area superintendents often call each other to see what is happening.  I have also been reading the radar a great deal.  The primary goal is to get the students to school and home again in a safe manner.  We have missed two days of school thus far due to snow.  Those days will be made up on April 1st and May 24th.  If we miss more school days, those will be made up on May 25th and so on.

During the month of December I was able to serve on a site visit committee for the State of Iowa for the Alburnett School District.  I found this to be a very valuable experience in that I was able to see how other school functions with which I have no ties to and it will prepare me for the preparation for our own state site visit next year.  I want to thank all of those who have to step up and cover my duties while I am out of the office throughout each month.  Mrs. Hansen, Mr. Cox, Mr. Park, Mrs. Bahnsen, Mrs. Hainstock and many others step up and help out a great deal.

I want to wish you each a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.  Enjoy your time with family and friends and remember the true meaning of the holiday.  Thank you once again for welcoming me and my family to the Midland Community.

DECEMBER 2009

     I hope you all have a good Thanksgiving holiday.  This is always one of my favorite times of year.  I always marvel at how much work goes into the annual harvest and how gratifying it must be for a farmer to see their hard work of planting and tending to their crops resulting in a good harvest.  I know the weather did not cooperate very well with getting the crops out in a timely fashion, but I want to thank all of the farmers for producing a safe and reliable source of food for our country and the world.  It is also a time to be thankful for living in a free democratic society where your voice can be heard and you can get a quality free public education.  It is also a time to spend with family and show your thanks for how your family has been blessed.
 
     I would like to update you on a few key issues that Midland has been dealing with during the past few months.  First, the school board voted to have our football team compete in the 8-man team concept for the next two years.  Our enrollment is below the limit and this option was considered along with staying with the 11-man game.  After meeting with the coaches, players, and community it was the consensus that going to 8-man football may benefit our program.  We had more interest expressed by the players to give 8-man a try.  It is our hope that we would get enough players out so that we could play an adequate JV schedule so our players would be able to develop their skills in the appropriate level of competition.  Other schools in our area are playing the 8-man game and it looks like a lot of our games will be closer, which should increase gates and interest in the games, as well.  This was not an easy decision, but one that was done with the best interest of our students in mind.

     Second, we will be getting final drawings and bid documents ready for the elementary addition and remodeling project at Oxford Junction.  We should be seeing those final drawings at our December school board meeting and having the bids due in mid-January.  Hopefully they will come back within budget and we can proceed with the project in a timely fashion.

     Finally, the Olin school district had contacted three local schools to present the possibility of doing a partial day sharing agreement for their high school students beginning with the 2010-2011 school year.  The school districts presented information to the Olin board, attended a community meeting and provided a tour of their facilities for a committee of staff, students and parents.  The Olin board decided to enter into a partial-day sharing agreement with Anamosa.  I want to thank all the people who helped me with the presentations and tour.

NOVEMBER 2009

The first quarter is over and it seems as if the first day of school was just yesterday.  Hopefully most of the parents were able to make it to parent-teacher conferences.  If you weren’t able to make it to conferences during the scheduled time, please contact your child’s teachers and set up an appointment.  Supporting your child with their school work goes a long way in making school more meaningful for your child and leads to greater success later in life.

The major educational news that you are most likely aware is the across-the-board budget cut of 10% that the governor announced a little over a week ago.  The across the board cut takes place after the school budgets have already been established and negotiated contracts have been done.  The amount of this cut for the Midland school district is about $284,000.  You may have heard that schools are to use their cash reserves to weather the storm. 
    
Where does Midland stand?  According to our Certified Annual Report (CAR) our cash balance on June 30, 2009 was $451,485.34.  You can see we have enough to weather the storm at this time, however we cannot rely on that all of the time.  We will have to watch our spending for this current budget year very closely and look at how we can control costs in the future budget years.  You may have heard that districts may have to raise the cash reserve levy to generate money to support their spending authority.  That will be an option we will most likely look at, keeping in mind that increasing the tax rate is not something you take lightly.  The school board, administration and staff will work together to address these trying financial times with the primary focus of providing a high quality education for all of our students.

     I want to thank all of the students, staff and community members who have worked so hard to make Midland a good school.  The students have represented the communities very well in the classroom and out in the community.  We have had a number of substitute teachers’ comment on how respectful and well-behaved our students are for them as substitutes.  I have been impressed with the effort our students have given in their outside activities.  Even though the wins have not come very easily, the students, coaches and sponsors represent us very well.

September 2009

We have made it through the early fall schedule without very many disruptions to the schedule due to heat or fog, knock on wood.  Since I have started at Midland, just over two months ago, I have been learning a great deal.  I have had the chance to meet a lot of the parents and have found them to be very cooperative and supportive of the school and their children.  Midland is involved in a state wide program called Iowa Sustaining Parent Involvement Network.  This program allowed us to organize the welcome back celebration that many of you attended at the Wyoming and Oxford Junction sites before school began.   The purpose of the program is to find ways to engage and sustain family partnerships with the school to improve the education of their children.  In a series of studies it was found that there exists a positive and convincing relationship between family involvement and benefits for students, including improved academic achievement.

According to these studies the impact of a solid home-school partnership working together can have great results for the students.  A few of these results are higher grades and test scores, enrollment in higher level programs, the opportunity to earn more credits, attendance improves, students develop better social skills and go on to higher education at a higher rate. 

What can teachers do?  In a 2001 study, Westat and Policy Study Associates, found that reading and math scores (grades3-5) improved 40-50% faster when teachers met with families face-to-face, sent materials on ways to help their children at home and telephoned routinely about progress.  Midland will be making attempts to do these things to cultivate that positive home-school partnership. 

What can parents do?  It has been found that programs and intervention that engage families in supporting their children’ s learning at home are linked to higher student achievement.  Family involvement at home appears to have the greatest effect on student achievement.  This might include spending time talking to your child about their day or your day, reading to them or listening to them read or just spending time with your child encouraging them to do their best.

In today’s society, the family is often stretched to the limit with the time and financial commitments that we all have to deal with on a daily basis.  In order for a strong home-school partnership to exist we need to respect each other and respect the differences that exist in family units.  The focus of the partnership needs to increase student achievement.  I am excited about the possibility that being involved in the Iowa Sustaining Parent Involvement Network has for Midland and its families and students.  More information will be forthcoming concerning this program.

I want to thank all of you who have made me feel very welcome at Midland.  I look forward to working with you in the future.