Knox Community Elementary School Officially Opens New Outdoor Learning Lab

Yesterday afternoon, Knox Elementary School celebrated the completion of a grant-funded project with a ribbon cutting ceremony. Outdoor Odyssey is a one-of-a-kind classroom that was constructed thanks to community collaboration and the dedicated efforts of motivated faculty members.

Second Grade teacher Jamie Shireman worked with Knox High School science teacher Marge Woods to obtain grants to fund the project. They were able to receive $11,000 worth of funding through the Starke County Soil and Water Conservation District and the Arrow Head Country RC & D Grant. Continue reading

Knox Schools Awarded Field Trip Grant

 
 

Knox third grade students will get to go to Potato Creek State Park thanks to the Discovering the Outdoors Field Trip grant.

The grant program is administered through the Indiana Natural Resources Foundation and allows students to participate in field trips to parks and reservoirs to engage them in learning about Indiana’s fish, forest, wildlife, natural habitats and conservation. The grant money helps with transportation costs, program fees and classroom supplies for the field trips to local state parks. Indiana has 24 state parks and eight reservoirs eligible for field trip funding.

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Reading Challenge Captivates Knox Third Graders

KCES Super Readers
KCES Super Readers

Knox Community Elementary School third graders are Wild about Reading! This year a competitive reading initiative called Battle of the Books premiered that challenged students to read in order to win.

The program ran year-long and required kids to read anywhere from 6 to 12 different books from an official reading list. Children involved acquired the desire to read as well as developed essential team-work skills.

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Knox Community School Board to Meet in Work Session Tonight

  
 

The Knox Community School Board will not have a regular school board meeting tonight. Instead, the board members will have a work session to talk about the elementary facility study.

According to Superintendent A.J. Gappa, the board is expected to discuss different options that the board can move forward with after receiving information in the facility study that was done on the elementary school prior to the referendum.

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Preschool Screenings Set for May

 Title 1 preschool screenings at Knox Community Elementary School will be held on two Fridays in May.

Any child who will be four or five years old by Aug. 1 is eligible for the screening. Those children who demonstrate the greatest need for assistance in meeting kindergarten readiness skills will have an opportunity to take part in a morning or afternoon session for the 2014-2015 school year. Transportation for both morning and afternoon sessions will be provided by the school corporation.

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Knox Students Raise Pennies for Vance

 
 
Students at two local schools raised nearly $3,000 for one of their own recently during a goodhearted competition. Proceeds from the two-week Pennies for Vance drive at Knox elementary and middle schools were given to the family of kindergarten student Vance Flagg, who is undergoing treatment for Acute Myeloid Leukemia. He’s scheduled for a stem cell transplant in a couple of weeks and and additional rounds of intense chemotherapy.

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Veterans Day is Monday; Many Banks, Other Offices Closed

 
 

Veterans Day is Monday, Nov. 11, and while many offices will be closed including government buildings, banks and others, some offices will remain open to conduct business. In Starke County, all government offices will be closed on Veterans Day. In Pulaski County, however, the building department will remain open from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. while other county offices are closed for the day.

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30 Students Approved for KCES Preschool Program

 
 

The Knox Community School Board members received an update on the Title 1 preschool screening process at their meeting this week.

Instructor Jana Hazelton explains the process.

“We did a two-day screening for preschool where families brought in their little one in. The screening consisted of language, math concepts and gross and fine motor concepts. We had a testing team consisting of three teachers and we did the evaluation of the results based on readiness for our program,” explained Hazelton.

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Test Scores Show Growth in Knox Elementary, Middle Schools

 
 

The NWEA scores showed gains at the Knox Community Elementary School and at the Knox Middle School.

Elementary Principal Glenn Barnes showed the board the statistics from the reading and math tests from the beginning of the year through the May test. Students in 4th grade showed the slowest scores in growth and Barnes assured the Knox Community School Board that the staff will target areas to help students improve the scores.

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Kindergarten Camp in Progress at KCES

 
 

Early education is important to a child’s development and the Knox Community School Corporation is currently conducting a kindergarten camp for children who have not had any prior education experience. Eighteen students are enrolled in the camp that runs through the end of June.

The school corporation has partnered with IU Health Starke Hospital and United Way to present this unique opportunity to low-income and under-served children so they can get caught up with the skills recommended before they enter kindergarten.

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Starke Election Board Receives DLGF Approval for Ballot Question

Starke County Clerk Evelyn Skronski

The Starke County Election Board met Thursday morning to discuss a number of topics, including the Knox Community School Corporation’s request to hold a special election on May 7 in order to present a public question to its voters.

Starke County Clerk Evelyn Skronski said that the Department of Local Government Finance did not approve the referendum wording before the meeting, but the approval was received after the meeting was held. She said the DLGF approved everything with no changes, and the board also received certification from Auditor Kay Chaffins. Now, she said, the Election Board must vote on whether or not to put the question on the ballot.

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Kindergarten Countdown Kicks Off Today In Knox

The Kindergarten Countdown camp begins today at Knox Community Elementary School.

Sponsored by IU Health Starke Hospital and Starke United, this session offers incoming kindergarten children with little or no prior prekindergarten experience a chance to get into a classroom setting and participate in activities to get them ready for school this fall. Breakfast and lunch will be provided and each student will receive a free book to take home each day.

Kindergarten Countdown begins today and runs until Wednesday, June 20.