Summer Building and Campus Changes

·       As a result of adding an additional section of first grade, Mr. Kurt Garner, Spanish Teacher will travel to each room to teach Spanish.

·       Mrs. Sumner and Ms. Hesser, Special School District Resource Teachers, will be in room 117.

·       Mrs. Hoeflinger, Second Grade Teacher, will be in room 126.  

·       Mrs. Dennett will be in room 150, Mrs. Silvey will be in room 136, and Mrs. Poteet will be in room 136.

·       Our stage was sanded and refinished.  It looks great!!

·       We planted five trees around campus.  We are looking forward to watching them grow. 

A, B, C, D, E Days are Out, and “Switch Days” are In

Last year we used a rotating building schedule (A, B, C, D, E) to address the inequity of instructional time that Holiday’s, Early Release Days, Professional Development Days create.  Although successful in many ways, the schedule created other scheduling conflicts and caused some confusion. 

Even though we are abandoning the rotating schedule, we feel strongly that we still need to address the inequity of instructional time.  For instance, if we continued to use a traditional Monday–Friday schedule, any class that has Art scheduled on Friday afternoons would miss twelve Art classes.

This year we will follow a traditional M–F building schedule, however, we will address the inequities by using “Switch Days.”  Basically we will switch Friday’s schedule with another day’s schedule eight times during the year.  Switch Days will more effectively equalize instructional time across all classes and cause less disruptions.  

Switch Days should not impact families, except for maybe when to send back library books.  All “Switch Days” are noted on the online calendar.  You can access the Reed Online Calendar by clicking on http://www.ladueschools.net/elementary/index.php/2012-09-17-23-32-34/calendar#year=2013&month=7&day=26&view=month.  Your child’s teacher will also notify you of any library scheduling changes.    

Roughing it is Over and I am back at the Reed Resort

I hope everyone is having a restful summer.  My family took advantage of many great attractions that St. Louis has to offer like the zoo, Grant’s Farm, Six Flags, and many parks. 

One week we were enticed by the Pure Michigan campaign, and we headed on a spontaneous road trip!  We stayed at the beautiful Platte River Campgrounds at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park. The highlight of the trip was seeing the view of Lake Michigan from the sand dunes on Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive.  Although not recommended, we actually descended and climbed a dune that was 450 feet high!  We could not adequately capture this image on our camera because it appeared to be an optical illusion.  Our picture looks like we are just standing on a regular beach.  When in reality, there was a 450 foot drop behind us.  The climb was a lot like being on a mountain climb—only it was on sand.  It was exhausting but exhilarating at the same time.  My son, seeming to be part mountain goat, climbed it once and then begged to climb it again the next day.  After a couple of days of camping we retreated to a nearby resort nearby where we enjoyed an adventure course with rock climbing, ropes courses, swimming, and an alpine slide. 

I really love the outdoors and could sit by a campfire all day.  However, based upon my wife’s recommendation, I’m pretty sure that our next trip will involve a beach towel and relaxing!

Marisa and Evan at Lake Michigan.

Evan conquering the dune.

Home for a couple of days.

Lisa and Evan enjoying a ride.

Marisa and Evan getting ready for the ropes course.

Marisa determined to climb. 

I am on the left.  Evan is on the right. 

Staff Changes and New Team Members

Below is a list of all the staff taking on new responsibilities and newly hired staff members.  I have said many times, “Reed does not rebuild, we reload.”  We have several very eager and talented professionals joining the Reed Family.  Of course, none of our new staff members really seem new anymore.  They have spent numerous hours setting up their rooms and have met countless times with our returning staff members.

As with every year at this time, Dr. Jahnke and the Board Office Administration are closely monitoring the enrollment at all the schools to determine how many sections are justified.  Classes are based upon the district’s new class size policy that was adopted at the end of last year.  The goal is for all Kindergarten through second grade classes to have 20 or less students and third and fourth Grades to have 22 or less students.  In addition to students’ needs, there are many other variables that impact staffing decisions, such as classroom space and available fiscal resources.  Currently we are planning on four sections of each grade, except first.  We are planning on five sections of first grade.  We actually started the summer expecting to have five sections of fourth grade.  As a result of decreased of enrollment in fourth grade, a fifth section is no longer justified at this present moment.  It is not atypical for enrollment to change throughout a summer.  Regardless of the number of sections, we are prepared.

·       Mrs. Rebecca Hamm, former Third Grade Teacher, will be teaching Second Grade.

·       Mrs. Rebecca Marcellus, former Math Teacher Assistant, will be teaching our fifth section of First Grade.  Rebecca earned her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and her master’s degree in Literacy Education from the University of Missouri.  As a result of her husband being transferred, Rebecca moved to St. Louis late last summer.  She had taught third grade for four years in the St. James and Columbia areas where she served in many leadership roles.  Since she moved so late in the summer, there were limited to no teaching opportunities available.  Her misfortune in timing, served as a benefit to Reed.  As you can imagine, I was extremely excited to have someone with so much experience in a Teacher Assistant role.  However, with time, her misfortune has turned out to be an opportunity, as she will have her own classroom next year.

·       Mrs. Lindsey Poteet will be teaching Kindergarten.  Lindsey earned her bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education and her master’s degree in Learning, Teaching, and Education from the University of Missouri. Lindsey comes to us from Columbia, MO where she taught for two years.  She taught first grade and then had the unique experience of teaching a Kindergarten & first grade multiage classroom.  Her experience has prepared her to differentiate her instruction to meet a wide variety of learners. 

·       Ms. Katie Courtwright will be teaching third grade.  Katie earned her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Western Illinois University.  Katie comes to us from Riverview, FL where she taught for eight years and served in many leadership roles.  She has already made significant contributions to Reed this summer by sharing support materials to the staff.

·       Ms. Lauren Hesser will be an additional Special School District Resource Teacher.  Lauren earned her master’s degree in education from MO Baptist University.  She has worked with Special School District the last five years.  During her first five years, she has proven to be able to address the needs of a variety of learners and is a team player.   

             

Special School District Paraprofessionals, Teacher Assistants, and Supervisory Assistants will be introduced in August. 

                                                

Mrs. Lindsey Poteet - Kindergarten

Mrs. Rebecca Marcellus - First Grade

Ms. Katie Courtwright - Third Grade

Ms. Lauren Hesser - SSD Resource

I also want to say a formal good-bye to the staff members who are leaving us.  The following staff members will be sharing the Reed spirit at other places. 

·       Alison Haar, Kindergarten Teacher, will be staying home to be a full time mom.

·       Katie Guyre, Second Grade Teacher, will be a Reading Specialist in the Clayton School District.

·       Shannon Carrillo, Special School District Para, will attend full time program at Washington Universtity.

·      Katie Hoorman, Teacher Assistant, will teach fifth grade in the Ferguson Florissant School District.

·      Caroline McGee, Teacher Assistant, will teach science at Rossman School.

·      Kayla Klipfel, Teacher Assistant, will teach fourth grade in the Mehlville School District.

·      Whitney Ryan, Teacher Assistant, will teach fifth grade in the Hazelwood School District.