Okoboji Elementary School Addition Update #1

First of all, I am wondering if you can have an “update” without first having said something of significance. Hmm.

As it has been advertised, the Okoboji Elementary School will be adding on ten classrooms over the course of this upcoming school year. I believe it has been well documented that over the past two years, our enrollment has increased, primarily at the elementary building. We believe there are several reasons as to why our enrollment has increased. First of all, we have a tremendous teaching staff in our schools. All are highly qualified and of even greater importance, they love kids and teaching. Secondly, our academic programming is just awesome. Thirdly, our Pre-K program is simply outstanding. We have such dedicated staff members who work with the students and nurture them into becoming great students.

This past school year (09-10) we had to increase the number of sections of Kindergarten from three to four. This upcoming fall (10-11) we will have another year of four sections of Kindergarten as well as four sections of first grade. Because of the increased number of sections, we have had to move some classes and specials into areas that should not house students. Thus, the need for more classrooms.

The overall plan is to add on ten classrooms. By adding on this many classrooms, it has given us many options for increased enrollment, grade realignment, movement of special classes, etc. If the enrollment continues to increase where we would need four sections all the way through, we’ll have plenty of room. If the number of kids returns to three sections, we can look at grade realignment when our large classes reach upper elementary. We’ll also be able to take some of our small group reading instruction out of storage areas and stage areas and put them in regular classrooms. These classrooms will be added onto the south side of the existing building.

We have already worked with the city in getting 7^th Street closed to traffic at all times, and we thank the Milford City Council for their work in making this happen. This will greatly increase the safety of the area as our hard surfaced playground area will be greatly diminished. In order to accommodate bus traffic, a new bus lane will be built in between the district office and the existing playground. This will also necessitate the moving of the Pre-K playground area to an area near the corner of our property on N Ave and 7^th St. A new staff parking lot will also be built to allow for easier parent delivery and pick-up of students before and after school.

Our hope is through this blog, we can keep all interested patrons of the district informed of the progress being made, including pictures and other updates. The plan is to open bids on July 29^th for the elementary addition. We hope to have students in the new part of the building by the start of the 2011-12 school year. We certainly believe that this goal is achievable. Please come back and visit this blog regularly for more updates as they become available. Thanks for your support of the Okoboji Community Schools.

Interviews

I love the HR part of my job. I enjoy sitting down with prospective employees and trying to gain an understanding of their philosophy and thoughts on education. I enjoy asking questions that I remember having been asked of me throughout my career as an educator.

One of my favorite questions is, “Are you a risk taker?” I want to try and delve into what makes these people tick and whether they are going to want to try new things or are they going to wait until they are told to do so. I want to hire people who are not afraid to take some chances in the classroom, walking a little closer to the edge. The old saying goes, “if you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got.” Take a chance, remember, the curriculum is a living, breathing object where you should take notes and remember what works and what doesn't work from year to year.

My other favorite question is, “How competitive are you?” I want competitive people. People that are not going to allow a student to fail, will bow their necks and get after it concerning the student and their achievement. We've all heard the term, “failure is not an option.” I want our teachers to take that stand with every kid in their classroom. If it takes a little extra on your part, get it done because after all, isn't that why we do what we do? I don't know of a teacher who wakes up in the morning and says that they hope to fail five kids that day. We all should wake up in the morning and say we want to save five kids that day.

Even though it's been a while for me, I enjoy interviewing as well. I enjoy listening to the questions, how different people put different spins on subjects. But the part I enjoy the most is being able to verbalize my beliefs and values about school and education in general. It is reaffirming to be able to vocalize what is important to you. I have thought about the idea of putting our administrative team through interviews again for that very reason. What is it you truly believe in, how do you treat people, what's a good reading program look like, are you a risk taker and give examples, how competitive are you? I think it would be good for everyone, veteran teachers, administrators, board members and everyone affilitated with the school to go through this process again. Thinking something and saying it out loud are two completely different scenarios. You can think a good game, but if you say it out loud to another person, you become accountable to that person to follow through. Something to think about on this beautiful Saturday morning. Have a great day. Thanks.