Candidates looking to sign up to run in the November 4th General Election for seats on the Knox Community School Board, Culver Community School Board or the Oregon-Davis School Board can do so now in the Starke County Clerk’s office.
Three seats are open on all of the school boards. Each candidate must file a petition with Starke County Clerk Evelyn Skronski by noon on Aug. 22 to be considered for placement on the ballot.
Back to school season is upon us.
Teachers are prepping their lessons and classrooms for their incoming students, students are choosing new school ensembles as well as the best supplies to buy and administrators are settling in to their new positions. The Knox Community School Corporation has shuffled around their principals and added on a new member.
School registration dates for the upcoming school year are on the agenda for The Knox Community School Board of Trustees’ first bi-monthly meeting tonight. The regular session begins at 6:30 p.m. and is open to the public. Continue reading
Summer school staff and bus drivers, plus the discussion of field-trips and fundraisers are on the agenda for tonight’s Knox Community School board meeting in the administrative office at the elementary school.
Also on the itinerary is handbook updates and credit activities.
The meeting is open to the public and begins at 6:30 p.m.
Since students are finished with classes, summer is the perfect time for renovations at the schools. Particular projects on the agenda for Knox Community Schools are the track repairs and the air conditioners at the middle school. Next week, weather permitting, the Knox High School track will be resurfaced and repainted. During the Monday evening Knox Community School Board meeting the the renewal of the Trane five-year service agreement was unanimously approved. Three air conditioning companies had bids submitted but Trane was the only company that allowed payments to be made over time instead of all at once. The agreement starts June 15. The middle school air conditioners will be shut down for a week in July in order for the compressors for the chillers to be replaced. The board assures this will not interfere with summer school courses.
The Knox Community School Board will discuss breakfast and lunch prices for the 2014-15 school year when they meet this evening. The North Judson-San Pierre School Corporation has raised prices for next year. It is possible Knox will follow suit. Another agenda item is discussion of the Trane service agreement for air conditioning systems. The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. in the board room at Knox Elementary School.
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.
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.
The Knox Community School Board met Monday where the members approved several personnel items.
In addition to the appointment of Neill Minix as the high school girls basketball coach, Superintendent A.J. Gappa said the board approved two retirements.
The Knox Community School Board members heard a presentation on the high school’s hunter education and archery programs during their meeting last week.
Superintendent A.J. Gappa said Rob Krueger, Jake Skelly and DNR Representative Zachary Howerton gave the presentation about the hunter safety class that’s offered to sophomores and an archery class.
The Knox Community School Board members discussed the air conditioning units at the middle school during their meeting this week.
Superintendent A.J. Gappa said the units are getting older and showing some great wear and tear. The company has offered the corporation a special program.
The Knox Community School Board members discussed entering into a contract with The Crossing alternative school during their meeting this week.
Superintendent A.J. Gappa said The Crossing is a second-chance opportunity for students who have dropped out of high school, been expelled or transitioned to home school. Education is delivered in a way that best fits students.
Gappa confirmed that the board is moving forward to help those students.
Superintendent A.J. Gappa said this is simply an informational meeting.
The Knox Community School Board members will meet for their regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, Jan. 20 at 6:30 p.m. CT in the administrative office in the Palmer wing of the elementary school. The board members will consider the following items: a resignation and other personnel items, a resolution, an authorization to transfer funds, an authorization to carry over CPF funds to 2014 and the cancellation of outstanding checks.
In another rescheduled meeting, the Knox Community School Board will meet tonight at 6:30 p.m. CT where the board will reorganize and make a declaration of insurance providers and discuss the school safety grant, among other items. The meeting will be held in the administration room in the Palmer Wing of the Knox Community Elementary School.
The Knox Community School Board discussed the Standard for Success model used for certified teacher evaluations.
Superintendent A.J. Gappa said the three building principals delivered the report to the board.
“With this modern technology, they can go into a classroom and do a walk-through and highlight things that are going on in a quick fashion – within five minutes or less. They can show how an extended observation can be hooked in with the RISE evaluation tool and objects can be marked as highly effective, effective or needs improvement at that time and then they can go back and critique that,” explained Gappa.
