[News] September Waukee School Update

Sat Sep 1 23:04:04 EDT 2007

For those receiving this for the first time, welcome to my monthly update of
happenings in the Waukee School District.  Please feel free to share with
others who may be interested or let me know if you would like to be taken
off the mailing list.  Others can get on the list by sending me an e-mail.  

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September 1, 2007

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Welcome to our 74 new teachers and over 25 other new staff who are serving
the district students this year.  Please take the time to welcome any of the
new staff when you visit buildings during the year.  We were again blessed
with an extremely talented group of new teachers and staff!  Also welcome to
all 549 new kindergarten students!  It appears that our growth will be
around 370 students this year, down from the last few years but still the
5th largest growth year in our history.  We will start the year with 5452
students.

Congratulations to fellow board member Jerry Ripperger.  Jerry was recently
elected to be President of the Business Education Alliance.   

Did you know that we graduated 207 seniors last year and our kindergarten
class will start the year with 549 students this year?

Thanks to Edward Fung for sharing that a group of girls who all attend
Waukee schools went undefeated and won the U10 girls recreational soccer at
the Iowa Games.  (The name "Lady Killers" refers to a running drill that
they do for conditioning.)  Way to go girls!

The Waukee youth tackle football league will be having games on Sundays at
the stadium. We would love to have people come and watch our future grid
iron players play. There is no fee to watch.  Game schedules will be on our
website at www.waukeeyouthfootball.com.  Thanks to Kevin Slaybaugh for
sharing this info.

Did you know that all of our Principals are taking "evaluator" training for
10 Monday evenings in order to help them better evaluate how effective our
academic programs are?  And we thought they only worked 12 hour days!

I wanted to let you know that within the one week of RAGBRAI, my "virtual"
team for the 3.7.1 effort surpassed the $5,000 mark and earned the matching
gift of $10,000.what a miracle! When people donated, they had the option of
being listed on my team page or not.so I may not know everyone who
contributed. However, of those who did list their names when they donated,
many were a result of your plug to your email distribution list in the
Waukee district. 

I appreciate everyone's generosity so greatly, so I was wondering if you
could announce in your next newsletter that the matching gift was met thanks
to so many Waukee families. Also, on behalf of Jackline, Charles and Patrick
(the three Ugandan young people who rode RAGBRAI) and all the other
oppressed children of northern Uganda, I thank all contributors from the
bottom of my heart! The kick-off of the campaign was a huge success, and
everyone can continue to spread the work that contributions are welcome at
<http://www.3-7-1.com/> www.3-7-1.com. The website also features a daily
diary from the RAGBRAI ride (including lots of pictures) and on the home
page is an awesome photo of Jackline, Charles and Patrick at the edge of the
Mississippi when they finished the ride. 

Jane Patton

Is this fall the time to meet new friends and get back into shape?  If so,
check out the Waukee Family YMCA.  They have a wide range of activities for
every age.  They also have limited openings for before and after school
care.  They are located next to the high school, so stop in and get
acquainted if you haven't done so in the past.

Parents used "payschool" to pay over $120,000 in school fees, lunch money
and before and after school care during the month of August.  Check out the
district web site or check with your building office to learn more.
www.waukee.k12.ia.us <http://www.waukee.k12.ia.us/> .  Did you know that
daily announcements, calendars and staff email contacts and your child's
grades can all be found on the web site?  It's a good way to stay on top of
all the news that your student may "forget" to share.

We received our ACT test results from last year this week.  We had 180
students tested, which is an increase of 43 from the previous year, and our
most ever.  Here are the results:

Waukee         State

English          23.0                21.6

Math               22.4                21.9

Reading        23.8                22.6

Science         22.9                22.3

Composite   23.2                22.3

The report includes a five-year trend for the district.  Scores in each
category for Waukee were higher than last year.  The composite of 23.2 is
higher than any of the previous five years.  

I'm sure you are aware that a parent committee is organizing to provide
information and organization for a planned bond referendum in March of 2008.
The referendum will be to construct additions to Prairieview 8-9 building, a
sixth elementary school, a second middle school, the final addition to the
High School, and  a replacement for Waukee Elementary.  If you would like to
help with this important committee, please contact your building principal
or the central administration. 

There is never a bad time to attend your building PTO meeting.  Each
building has a wide range of activities that rely on parent support and
leadership.  Call your building PTO leadership or ask your principal how you
can help make this year a success.  PTO Student Directory forms for 2007-08
are available in the office. Please stop by and pick up a form and return by
September 7th if you wish to purchase and be included in this year's
directory.

Congratulations to Junior Carter Minear for taking the gold medal in 18 and
younger table tennis at the Iowa Games.  

At our Aug 28 board meeting members to the "Teacher Quality Committee" were
appointed.  Legislation requires every district to appoint a committee that
among other things ensures our professional development program results in
improved student achievement.  They will also work on administrator
licensure standards that will mimic what is in place for teachers, work on
plans to meet the required 1-350 ratio for licensed counselors, and 1-750
ratio for licensed school nurses.  Finally they will decide how the district
will use funds allocated specifically for teacher quality initiatives.
After attending a preliminary training session this summer, it appears
Waukee already has many of the new requirements in place, so our transition
should be a smooth one.  All meetings are subject to the open meetings law
so anyone can attend.

Members of the committee will be:  Ann Hanigan (HS Lang Arts), Lora
Appenzeller-Miller (HS Foreign Lang), Aimee Thode (WE Reading), Joni
Gilchrist (WH 4th Grade), Mark Anderson (MS Computers) and Linda Warman (BV
Kindergarten).  Dr. Wilkerson, Dr. Kimpston, Dr. Ross, Dr. Buck, Terry
Hurlburt and Juley Murphy-Tiernan were appointed as administration members.

The Aspen Institute discovered that concerns regarding education were
present across the world.  "What is the most important school-related factor
in student learning? The answer is teachers. The trouble is the
effectiveness of individual teachers and schools varies widely. A critical
issue for any country that hopes to keep its education system
internationally competitive is how to recruit, retain, develop and nurture a
high quality teaching force."   Waukee has long been a leader in Iowa for
identifying and implementing professional development for our teachers that
really makes a difference in student achievement.  We need to continue to
invest in our teachers if we want our students to excel.

Just thought you might like to know of the professional activities of a
number of our Waukee World Languages Department teachers.  The Iowa World
Languages Association holds its annual conference each year with around 500
attendees from elementary through university levels.   This year, the event
will be held in Des Moines on October 5th and 6th, with Waukee's language
teachers forming a significant part of the organizing team for the event.
Among those taking leadership roles are Kerisa Baedke, Program Chairperson;
Susan Sandholm- Petersen, Local Conference Chairperson: Lora
Appenzeller-Miller, IWLA Treasurer; Tammy Getting and Kate Falvey, Service
Learning Coordinators; and Kate Falvey, Catering Coordinator. These teachers
have already spent countless volunteer hours to organize this  professional
event for Iowa language educators.  

Another member of  the Waukee team who will be helping us to showcase our
language programs here is Dr. Brad Buck, who will be the featured speaker at
the Friday lunch for conference participants.  Waukee language teachers have
made the extra effort to facilitate this conference because of our
commitment to continued learning about language teaching, to improving our
skill in the languages we teach, and  to forming  professional relationships
with our colleagues at all levels, so that we can continue to ensure that
our Waukee students have a strong preparation for a global future.

Thanks to the Board for the commitment and support it has shown for all the
language and travel offerings our district gives to our students!

Sincerely,

Susan Sandholm-Petersen

The Waukee High School Student Council is putting on a food drive September
7th at the first home football game. You can help by bringing any of these
items to the game or other food you wish to bring:

*         Cereal 

*         We Need Your Help!Canned Fruit 

*         Jell-o/pudding

*         Juice 

*         Crackers 

*         Canned meals

*         Spaghetti & Spaghetti Sauce

*         Pizza Mix & sauce 

*         Snack items 

*         Canned Meat 

*         Laundry soap 

*         Toothpaste

*         Shampoo 

*         Toilet paper.

As you enter the stadium students will be collecting these items from you
and sorting them for the Waukee Area Christian Food Pantry.  The students of
Waukee are excited to help fill the Waukee food pantry.  It is recommended
that you bring something you like to eat. If you could support this cause
with a pound or two or a package or two, we could fill up the Waukee food
pantry together. 

See you then!

Gabe Knutson, Student Council

Have you taken a ride around the district lately?  If so, you found that
families living South of Walnut Hills Elementary have a detour from 156th to
Alices Road and then North and back East to the school.  Construction on
156th is scheduled for another year.

Student of the Middle School will have stories to tell for the rest of their
lives, as they wait for the new kitchen to built and main entrances to be
finished.  How much you want to bet that pictures of sack lunches will make
the year book this year?

Cassie Wang, 12, is a Waukee 7th grader who has spent her summer competing
in golf tournaments all across Iowa. She has worked very hard to improve her
golf game, and although she competes against girls a year older than her,
she still has had great success this summer. Cassie played in six major
junior state tournaments that the Iowa Professional Golf Association hosts
and completed the season with two 1st place finishes, three 2nd place
finishes, and one 3rd places. With this record she became the runner up Iowa
Junior Player of the Year in the 13 and under division. While Cassie has had
a great season, she still looks at next year to be an even better one.
Thanks to Grace Wang for sharing this report.

Fall sports are off to a fast start.  Congratulations to the boys cross
country team for taking first place at the SE Polk invitational,  to Colette
Gnade and to Sammy Fegen for medaling at the SE Polk cross country meet, and
to the girls swim team for a victory over DM Hoover. In addition the
football team came from behind for a huge overtime win at East.  What a
week!

A few events coming in September:

Sept. 7           First Home Football game vs Sioux City East  -  Remember
to bring food!

Sept. 11         School Board elections

Sept. 16         Fall Festival Parade

Sept. 20         Homecoming Parade

Sept. 21         Football vs Urbandale

Have some news I can share?  Just send me a note and I'll be glad to share
it next month.

Wayne Cooper

Waukee School Board

 <mailto:WayneC941 at mchsi.com> WayneC941 at mchsi.com 

Check out the District Web site at www.waukee.k12.ia.us
<http://www.waukee.k12.ia.us/>  for calendars, school lists, power school
(your children's grades), contact info, newsletters and much more.

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