The Woodland Brag Blog

5/9/08

Good afternoon!  It is hard to believe it is already Friday, May 9th!  This year has really flown by!

As you know the last several months have been filled with planning for the 2008-2009 school year and making the necessary staffing changes to reduce our district budget by $16.3 million.  That planning is now complete and I will send a letter home next Wednesday outlining the impact at Woodland.

I have made a commitment to be in classrooms every day!  I need to let you know that I continue to be so impressed with the level of teaching and student engagement in this building.  Children are on-task, lessons are focused on district curriculum, and there are very respectful interactions between teachers and students.  Though I only stay in classrooms for 3-5 minutes during these short visits, I consistently am wanting to stay and watch the wonderful teaching going on.

Here are some quotes from subs:

"The students were great!  They were respectful and cooperative.  They practiced being responsible and respectful and were good listeners.  This is a great school!"

"The students were a fabulous group of kids to work with!  They were extremely respectful and cooperative.  They had good study skills and practiced excellent listening skills.  It's always a treat to be able to come in as a substitute and work with such a wonderful group.  I would come back to Woodland anytime!"

Have a terrific weekend!!

Linda

4/25/08

Happy Friday!!

During the past two weeks I have spent several minutes each day observing in classrooms.  I am so proud to tell you that in every classroom I have observed teachers facilitating learning and teaching in a manner that is engaging and motivating for the students.  The children have been focused and active participants.  In each classroom I have observed respectful interactions and a climate that is respectful and focused on learning.  Impressive!

I'd like to share some information about our school's movement to bring an Advanced Placement philosophy into our K-6 programming.  As we implement "AP", we are working with the staff at Brooklyn Junior High to vertically align curriculum so that we are challenging children at all levels and preparing them to to Advanced Placement courses when they get to high school.

Here's what we have done so far under the leadership of Mrs. Jennifer Leslie, our AP Lead Teacher. 

• Ten teachers and myself attended one-day Pre-AP/APclasses put on this spring by the College Board in Math, English, Social Studies, Science, Language Arts and Professional Development.
• Five to six teachers will attend a one-week class at Augsburg this summer in either Math or English Vertical Team acceleration.  Teams include subject-specific district teachers from grades 5-12.  This means that, as cross-grade level teams, teachers will be  aligning curriculum from elementary school (primary focus on grades 5 and 6) through high school.  Woodland and Garden City are the only two district elementary schools participating in the AP project.
• 68 Woodland sixth grade students took HP tests for junior high in January.  After looking at NWEA and MCA test data and classroom performance for all sixth graders, 19 more students met with Mrs. Leslie and were encouraged to look at HP testing in preparation for junior high.  Those 19 students participated in a second round of HP testing at Woodland in March after it was determined that they would be good candidates for HP classes next year.

We are very excited about the Advanced Placement work and look forward to working with teachers from Brooklyn Junior High to align our curriculum, challenge all learners at a higher level, and prepare children so that they feel confident taking Advanced Placement courses when they get to high school.

Have a great weekend!  Stay warm!!

Linda

4/8/08

Hello!  I want to tell you about my experience this morning.   I was in a sixth grade classroom for morning meeting today and the children were asked to greet each other and share a person who inspires them.  You should be proud!!  Most of the children identified their mom or dad as the person who inspires them.  I think this would happen in many of our classrooms.  Your children admire and respect their parents at a high level!

Here are some notes from substitute teachers:

"Great learning environment at this school!"

"No suggestions, just a compliment.  I just recently started subbing in elementary (after teaching preschool for many years).  Your school is organized, clean, and full of helpful and friendly staff.  A big WOW!! to your school!  I would love to sub here again."

"I'll jump at a chance to sub here anytime!"

Have a great evening!

Linda

4/2/08

Good afternoon!  In this blog I would like to inform you of what we know regarding the impact of the failed levy question number two and the need to reduce $16.3 million from our district's budget.  As you may know, nothing is final regarding staffing assignments until the first day of school - and sometimes after that!  Thus, it is premature for me to tell you about staff assignment changes. We are currently in the staffing process, and it is an evolving process that will continue to change throughout the next several weeks.  I promise a more thorough memo, sent to all homes via Wednesday mail, in mid-May.

Here is what we know thus far:

All probationary positions have been vacated.

Class size at Woodland will go up from the current 25 students per teacher average to an average of 30. 

All students living in Woodland's attendance area will have bus service to and from school.

The failure of levy question two will have a major impact on our staff and the services we currently provide for our students.  As we move through the difficult weeks ahead and make the necessary changes, I ask that you be patient with us, avoid spreading rumors and questioning staff, and wait for my memo in mid-May to learn how the budget reduction fully impacts our students and staff.

Thank you for your patience and understanding of this process.  Please call or email me if you have questions or concerns.

Thank you!

Linda

4/1/08

Happy April Fool's Day!  The Box Top for Education program, sponsored by General Mills, is currently running a sweepstakes that is giving a school the opportunity to win 100,000 Bonus Box Tops worth $10,000.  All each person needs to do is create a profile on the website and sign in to enter.  The profile will prompt you to enter Woodland Elementary - Brooklyn Park as the school you would like to receive the Bonus Box Tops, if chosen as a winner.  The sweepstakes ends on April 9th, but there is an opportunity to enter one time per day; you can even sign up to receive a daily email reminder!  No purchase is necessary; however, registering does require a home address.  There will be a prompt for a UPC number, if you don't have one, use this number 18000-17561.  Here is the link: 

http://www.boxtops4education.com/Promotions/

Please share this information with friends and family!  Let's hope Woodland can win the $10,000!!  We will use it to purchase technology for our classrooms.

Have a great day!  Let's hope spring is on its way!!

Linda

3/18/08

Congratulations to Mrs. Rojanne Brown, our Technology Integration Collaboration Teacher!  She has won the William Gardner PreK-12 Outstanding Educator Award! The award recognizes graduates of the University of Minnesota who have demonstrated:

• "knowledge and use of research-based education
• willingness to share skills, knowledge, expertise, and evidence of professional contributions designed to enhance educational practices
• collaborative leadership in education in or beyond the district of employment
• experience and success working with diverse cultures".

Mrs. Brown will receive her reward at a reception on April 18th.  Way to go, Mrs. Brown!

Have a great day!

3/4/08

Good morning!  It is hard to believe that it is really March!  Our year is almost two-thirds complete; this year has really flown by.

Here are some upcoming dates to watch for:

Friday, March 7th - NO SCHOOL for students, teachers have a mark reporting day.

Wednesday, March 12th - REPORT CARDS come home with the children
                                      SCHOOL BOARD vote re: the 2008-09 budget adjustment and boundaries

Friday, March 14th - PTA's CARNIVAL 5:30 PM

March 20th - Last day of school before spring break

March 21st - NO SCHOOL - Conference Release Day

March 24-28 - SPRING BREAK

March 31st - First day of school after spring break

Once our School Board has voted and established the budget adjustments and school boundary changes for next year, the district administration will determine projected school enrollments.  Based on these numbers, the Department of Leadership, Teaching, and Learning will then distribute licensed staffing allocations to building principals (sometime after spring break). 

At the elementary level, staffing allocations are given to principals in a predetermined manner; in other words, I receive a set number of teachers at each grade level and support area.  Once I receive the allocation, the teacher transfer process (an agreement with the teachers' union and human resources) is put into place and teachers are assigned a position at Woodland, or involuntarily transferred to another school in our district - if they have continuing contract rights.  This year, due to the budget adjustments and need to raise class sizes, the positions of probationary teachers will be vacated and available only if they are not assigned to a continuing contract person during the transfer process.

What does all this mean for Woodland?  First, it means that our fabulous and highly talented probationary teachers are in a very difficult and stressful position; second, it means that, if class sizes are raised, we could not only lose some of our probationary staff, but there may be a need for continuing contract teachers to transfer to other buildings; and lastly, it means that these are very stressful times in our school and district.  Add to this the possibility of losing non-licensed staff members (ESPs and custodians) and school boundary changes that may affect children and their families, and our school as we currently know it will be changing. 

My commitment to each of you is that we will continue to provide a high level of service and communication to our school community.  We will do our very best, despite the difficult times, to maintain a positive school climate focused on student achievement and social development.  We will, together as a school community, face the challenges ahead but not stray from our commitment to children and their learning.

We can get through this together!

Linda

2/25/08

Good afternoon!

• Congratulations to Mrs. Amy Goodrich, Mrs. Jenny Tollefson, and Mrs. Tammy Provart!  They wrote a 2007-2008 Inspired Teacher Scholarship Best Projects grant and were one of 25 winners!  They have won $1,000 which will be used to purchase a document camera and projector for Woodland!  The project they described was implemented by both Mrs. Goodrich and Mrs. Tollefson and was called the "All About Me" project.  The students used Kidspiration to show off their writing skills as they developed their projects, complete with personal photos and a recorded greeting in their own voice, that they shared with parents at conferences.
• Many thanks to Mrs. Laurie Murphy and her committee for the first annual Cultural Festival at Woodland!  It was a huge success!  Thank you to PTA for supporting and funding the event!  The event was paid for with a combination of funds from PTA, funds from the Department of Equity and Integration that are to be used specifically for community events, and from grants written by Mrs. Murphy.   The evening was filled with great food, student dances, and entertainment from many cultures.  Classrooms completed projects highlighting many cultures, students and their families decorated paper dolls to highlight countries of origin, and many participants dressed in beautiful costumes from their culture.  It was a spectacular night!  Thank you to all who made it a great night for our school community!

Have a great last week of February!  Spring is just around the corner!

2/21/08

Congratulations and thanks to Mrs. Rojanne Brown!  Woodland has been selected to receive a $2,000 Best Buy Teach Award based on the application submitted by Mrs. Brown!! 

On February 15th, the Best Buy Teach Award kit was shipped to Mrs. Brown.  The package contains a $2,000 Best Buy Gift Card, as well as a 1 GB Geek Squad USB drive loaded with important tools and templates to help our school share this recognition with our community. 

Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Goettl will be shopping for projectors to be used in the classrooms which will support technology integration throughout Woodland. 

Exciting news!!

And a request:

Our sixth grade teachers would like to implement a reading and math intervention for learners called SuccessMaker.  This software program allows ten students at a time to receive tutorial instruction using the computer.  Research tells us that this program has the potential to help children improve their skills in a short time.  We would like to implement the SuccessMaker program during sixth grade recess on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 12:55 to 1:35, but we need one or two volunteers to supervise the students while they are working on the computers.  If you are able to help us out, please contact Gale Cannon, our volunteer coordinator, or me!

Have a great day!!

2/7/08

Good afternoon!  Last night our School Board heard the revised proposals for school closings and reconfigurations and boundary adjustments.  I encourage you to visit the district website to study these proposals and learn more about the details.  I also encourage you to contact our State legislators and senators to advocate for adequate school funding.

As you know, our district needs to reduce the budget by $16.3 million dollars.  The impact of this reduction will be felt throughout the system; the biggest impact being at the elementary level where two schools are projected to be closed.  If we do not close schools, class size will significantly increase and many more teachers will lose their positions.

Many of you have asked how these proposals, if approved, will impact Woodland.  Here is what I know.

• Class size will increase by approximately four students per classroom given approval of the current proposals.  If schools aren't closed, class size could increase by up to seven students per room.
• All elementary probationary teachers will have their positions vacated.  Then, if the position isn't taken by a continuing contract teacher needing a position, the probationary person will resume his/her position, if a position in the district isn't available, the probationary teacher's contract will be non-renewed.  Woodland currently has ten probationary teachers (not all are in a k-6 classroom).
• Six hours per day of ESP support has been eliminated from every elementary school.
• Nursing support will be reduced by one hour.
• Woodland's boundaries will be changed.  Our boundaries to the north and east will be the Anoka District, to the south the boundary will be 85th Avenue, and to the west the boundary will be Regent Avenue.  This will impact approximately 71 children who live west of Regent and north of 101st Avenue.  Beginning next year, they will attend Edinbrook Elementary.  The new boundaries will bring about 44 children currently attending Osseo and Birch Grove Elementary schools, living in the Edinburgh Golf Course neighborhoods east of Noble Avenue, to Woodland.

The proposals before the School Board have been thoughtfully developed by consultants and district employees and represent the best work possible given the situation our district is in with the failure of the second levy question.  The proposals have distinct ramifications for our school community. 

Please know that we are staying upbeat and positive, serving students to the best of our ability; but we are also hurting right now as we know painful changes are on the horizon.  I am confident that, as a school community, we will weather this storm and support each other through it.

Linda