Waitsburg School Board Report

WAITSBURG—Preschool teacher Marci Jo Lanning shared photographs of her students during a recent field trip to Klickers for pumpkins.

Secondary Principal Report – Stephanie Wooderchak

Parent-teacher conferences for middle and high school are Oct. 24 and 25.

Character Strong

Preston Hall Middle School and Waitsburg High School students and staff have been working with a new program called Character Strong. Middle school students and staff, and high school students and staff, are working together to learn the value of kindness, community and support for each other. Each

Monday, students and staff break into small groups of various grade levels with two staff members that lead the groups through the activities. Character Strong activities led are designed to help students develop a stronger self-identity, guide them safely through personal challenges and help them to feel a sense of community in their school.

Middle and high school ASB officers and call representatives attended a Leadership Conference in Pomeroy in September. As ASB advisors, Mrs. Groom and Mr. Leahy supervised the students. Students reported that the conference was enjoyable and they were able to meet students from other schools and share ideas.

Both the middle and high school will be conducting the Healthy Youth Survey again this year.

DW Sports

Winter sports practices begin Nov. 13. This year there may be no wrestling program as there are currently no students signed up in Waitsburg. As of now there is only one student in Dayton interested.

Elementary School Report – Jon Mishra

Waitsburg Elementary School has been named a School of Distinction for the third straight year. It is one of the five percent highest improving schools in the state of Washington for increased ELA/Math achievement and graduation rate over the past five years.

Superintendent Report – Jon Mishra

Oct. 24 will be our first official fifth-Wednesday Celebration Committee event

Oct. 26 is an in-service day, with continued work on Social-Emotional Learning

Superintendent Mishra attended the retiree luncheon on Oct. 8 to talk about the schools’ four-committees initiatives

At the state level, conversations continue regarding equitable funding for districts across the state, especially those negatively affected by the levy cliff.

Staffing

Lynn Maddie Martin, Preston Hall Science teacher, will retire at the end of this school year.

Next meeting: Nov. 19 at new time, 6 p.m.