A NEW YEAR IS ABOUT TO BEGIN As we await a new year in just a couple days we have a lot to be thankful for from 2015. It has been quite a busy year at South Bend School District as we strive to provide South Bend students our very best. 2015 has seen some significant gains across the district and our staff and students continue to work hard. Below is a brief recap of some of the things we have been doing in 2015.
Looking Back on 2015
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| Flooding in January, 2015 |
We started 2015 with some significant challenges related to the January flooding. Those of you familiar with the flooding event will recall the massive amounts of water covering most of the South Bend area, including the entire South Bend school campus. The aftermath of the flood left us without Koplitz Field House as a functioning gymnasium, which impacted athletics, PE classes, and other school events.
Though it was challenging to work through the eventual remodel of KFH, the end product was amazing. South Bend was fortunate to update almost all aspects of KFH at little to no cost to our local citizens. The new floor gives a fresh look to a building rich of school history and athletic tradition.Thanks to the generosity of the Ben B. Cheney Foundation, we were also able to update the sound system in KFH and a media screen in the building lobby.
Food Service
Due to careful planning and hard work from our kitchen staff and school office personnel, South Bend implemented a program allowing all students, regardless of income, to eat breakfast and lunch both free of charge. This has increased breakfast and lunch participation dramatically, and has brought in additional resources to our food service program. Funded by the Community Eligibility Provision through the National School Lunch Program, all South Bend students have access to quality food, which has a direct impact on student learning and school readiness.
After hiring eight new certificated teachers in 2015, we made several adjustments to the academic program affecting students K-12. Probably the most significant change was implementing a seven period day, which allowed us to offer more class opportunities and electives for all students including: art, horticulture, robotics, music, physical education, foreign language, and library. In addition, this switch provided a 50 minute prep period for all teachers K-12, allowing them to better prepare, plan, and collaborate with other teachers.
Another significant addition we made in 2015 was in our library. Hiring Lori Dearmore as teacher-librarian has allowed us to move our library to the next level, and continues to grow. Along with the assistance of Karen Clements, Mrs. Dearmore has managed the addition of an Internet-based library catalog and checkout system, a mobile computer lab, and approximately $15,000 in new books. Mrs. Dearmore and Ms. Clements also provide library services to individual classrooms and work with teachers with information literacy and technology.
Curriculum Updates
Led by principals Jason Nelson and Kresta Byington in collaboration with Educational Service District 113, we started the process of formulating a K-12 curriculum committee this last October. The committee will be researching, piloting, and selecting an elementary math curriculum this coming Spring. Consisting of teachers K-12, and also from our pre-school, we hope to build vertical alignment of our curriculum and instructional resources. This will improve our pre-K-12 continuity and will help students as they progress through the grades.
Early Learning & PreschoolSouth Bend manages the ECEAP program for the tri-district and we serve almost 100 students here in South Bend birth to 4. This past year we hired a new director, Amy Nelson, who replaced retired director Laurie May. Mrs. Nelson has done a fabulous job in her new role and is pointing the program to even new levels of achievement. We are proud to offer such an exceptional pre-K program to our community as we strive to make a difference in the school readiness of all students.
CVA-South Bend
2015 was also a year we saw significant growth in our new online virtual school. We are the only CVA program in the state serving students K-12, and we currently have over 50 students. Teachers Dan Raymond, Jeremiah Alvarez, Neomie Kuiken, Kyle Briscoe, and Jackie Sanchez provide educational services to students from across the state. We provide classes in all subjects K-12. The program is supported by Laurie Green in the school district office, where she does a great job working with student/family logistics, enrollment, teacher support, and reporting. We hope to see program growth in the coming year.
The South Bend community is extremely supportive of our school and students. I am continually impressed with our community and the generosity provided for the education and support of kids. South Bend is certainly a community I am proud to call home.
As we end 2015, I look forward to continuing our work into 2016 and beyond. We are accomplishing a lot of good things for kids, and working together we will accomplish much more.
Happy New Year!
