North Judson-San Pierre to Bring Back Blue Jay Fun Fair

An event that hasn’t been offered at North Judson-San Pierre for some time will be making a come back next month, according to Superintendent Dr. Annette Zupin.

“Several years ago, there was an elementary school fun fair.” Dr. Zupin explained, “In fact, a lot of our parents remembered that, and remembered good times with that, so they wanted to bring that back.” Continue reading

NJSP Superintendent Highlights A Few Important Dates at School Board Meeting

A special work session was scheduled for April 4th when North Judson San Pierre School Board members met Tuesday night.

Superintendent Dr. Annette Zupin stated that during the work session, members are expected to discuss corporation plans including technology, wellness, accountability and strategic plans.

Zupin said members will also cover details about a proposed community meeting where information about graduation pathways, school accountability and legislative issues will be shared with the public. Continue reading

North Judson-San Pierre School Board Members Provide Annual Approval for Reduction of Force Notifications, None Sent So Far

North Judson-San Pierre School Board members approved the notification of a reduction in force, should the need arise, when they met Tuesday night.

Superintendent Dr. Annette Zupin explained that this is an action that is approved yearly that permits school board members to notify staff if reductions need to be made. Their approval of the action also dictates that they will follow state-mandated procedures. Continue reading

Preliminary Work on North Judson-San Pierre Capital Projects to Start Soon

Preliminary work will soon begin on a series of capital projects at North Judson-San Pierre, according to Superintendent Dr. Annette Zupin.

At the February NJSP school board meeting, members approved contractors for approximately $4.2 million worth of projects. They also learned that since the entire Lease Project came in under budget, a few alternates can be tackled as well, including the addition of a digital sign on Highway 10. Continue reading

North Judson-San Pierre School Board to Meet Tonight

North Judson-San Pierre School Board members will consider the approval of textbook adoption as well as the notification of reductions in force when they meet tonight.

Last month, members approved contractors for the several jobs included in the Lease Project so Superintendent Dr. Annette Zupin is expected to cover any on going progress when she delivers her report. Continue reading

North Judson-San Pierre Students Present the Wizard of Oz

North Judson-San Pierre students from the elementary, middle and high schools have been practicing for months, preparing for this weekend’s production of the Wizard of Oz.

The musical premiered in the NJ-SP Auditorium at 6 p.m. on Friday. It will be shown again tonight at 6 p.m. and there will be a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday.

The entry fee for the show is $8 for adults, $5 for students and children under 5 get in for free. There is a $20 family deal that is also offered. Continue reading

North Judson-San Pierre Officials Consider Implementing eLearning

Officials at North Judson-San Pierre schools are discussing the possibility of implementing eLearning in the future.

During Tuesday night’s school board meeting, Superintendent Dr. Annette Zupin told board members that with the number of snow days and delays recently, some teachers and community members have been asking about bringing eLearning to NJ-SP Continue reading

North Judson-San Pierre School Board Approves Contractors for Lease Project

North Judson-San Pierre School Board members awarded several contracts for the corporation’s Lease Project when they met Tuesday evening.

Superintendent Dr. Annette Zupin explained that when bids were opened in January, they discovered that they came in under budget. This will allow the corporation to move forward with some of their alternate bids which included upgrades to the baseball and softball fields, stairwell renovations, roofing and lighting work.

Zupin added that they will also be able to have signage installed on route 10 to inform motorists they’re nearing the NJSP campus. She said it will be an electronic sign where they will be able to put various school information and community announcements. Continue reading

North Judson-San Pierre School Board Approves Purchase for Three Buses

North Judson-San Pierre will be adding a few new buses to their fleet, following a decision made by school board members last night.

Treasurer Guy Richie explained that the school utilized the Central Indiana Education Service Center to conduct an online bidding process. In their bid, Kerlin Bus Sales included that NJSP would be able to trade-in three buses for a trade-in allowance totaling $16,500. Richie said after factoring in the trades, the lowest bid came in at $232,169 from Kerlin. Continue reading

North Judson-San Pierre to Host 2nd Annual Blue Jay Show Case Tomorrow, Residents Invited to Share Their Stories

North Judson-San Pierre will be hosting the second annual Blue Jay Showcase during Friday night’s girls’ basketball game versus Triton at the Jr/Sr High School.

Superintendent Dr. Annette Zupin invites all community members to come out and see the various things that NJSP students have been working on this year.

“It’s an opportunity for our students and teachers to display or demonstrate student work and programs.” Zupin explained, “So in the cafeteria, during the ball game, we will have just a variety of student work and programs.” Continue reading

Basketball Team’s Fundraising Effort Helps Give Back to Cancer Patients

Thanks to the hard work of local basketball and cheerleading teams Starke County cancer patients will have some financial relief.

The North Judson-San Pierre basketball team, both boys and girls, and the cheerleading team sold pink t-shirts and chances to win pink, autographed basketballs in order to raise money for the effort.

The dugnad idrettslag is a great option to make money on volunteer work, is simple, profitable and risk-free sales service.

Continue reading

North Judson-San Pierre School Board Establishes 2018-19 Calendar, Approves Policies

The North Judson-San Pierre School Board approved the 2018-2019 NJSP School Calendar when they met earlier this week.

The calendar establishes that the first student day will be August 8, 2018. Fall Break will start on October 15th and end on October 19th, while Thanksgiving break will run from November 21st through November 23rd and spring break will fall on the week running from March 25th through March 29th. The final student day will be May 23rd.

Additionally, revised board policies received unanimous approval on final reading at Tuesday night’s meeting. Continue reading

North Judson-San Pierre School Board Elects Board of Finance Officers

The North Judson San-Pierre School Board elected officers to their Board of Finance when they met Tuesday evening.

Members elected Sheila Akers to the President position and Jim Menis was elected to serve as secretary. Superintendent Dr. Annette Zupin stated that Indiana state law requires the finance board to meet annually after the first of the year and on or before the final day of January. Continue reading

North Judson-San Pierre School Board Approves Memorandum of Understanding with WorkOne

The North Judson-San Pierre school board approved a memorandum of understanding between the NJ-SP School Corporation and the Northwest Indiana Workforce Board when they met Tuesday night.

According to information provided by Superintendent Dr. Annette Zupin, the Northwest Indiana Workforce Board, or WorkOne, oversees the Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG) program in Indiana High Schools. The agreement between the school and the organization is in line with complying with recent changes to graduation requirements. Continue reading

North Judson San Pierre School Board Meets Tonight

The North Judson San Pierre School board will hold the final reading over proposed board polices when they meet at 7 p.m. tonight.

Additionally, members will act on the approval of a lease agreement, the 2018-2019 school calendar and a resolution regarding fund balance transfers. They will also discuss the approval of a memorandum of understanding with organization Jobs for American Graduates.

A board of finance meeting will be held immediately following the adjournment of the regular session. Continue reading

North Judson-San Pierre School Board Held First Reading Over Policy Revisions

North Judson-San Pierre school board members held the first reading over a few different policies when they met last Tuesday. Superintendent Dr. Annette Zupin explained that the proposed policy revisions were a result of the spring 2017 legislative session. She said a majority of the changes had to do with correcting typos and adapting language in some places.

However, she highlighted a few that included more details including polices over child neglect/abuse education, suicide prevention and background checks. One proposed change deals with background checks. Other than asserting that checks must be conducted on an annual basis, the policy also indicates that the specific school corporation is responsible for the cost of the background checks, once the person is an established employee. Continue reading

NJSP Elementary School Principal Speaks Highly of Successful Attendance Initiatives

At Tuesday night’s North Judson-San Pierre School Board meeting, Elementary School Principal Julie Berndt informed school board members about a few initiatives that are positively impacting the attendance records of her students.

Principal Berndt talked about the “Attendance Champions” program where each teacher’s attendance percentage is posted every month. The class with the highest number gets announced and receives a bag of candy, a temporary trophy for their class room and bragging rights. She said so far it has been a pretty competitive and successful initiative. In November, there weren’t any classes that reported less than 91 percent attendance. Continue reading

North Judson-San Pierre Pool Repairs Complete, Facility Renovations Expected to Start in the Spring

North Judson-San Pierre Superintendent Dr. Annete Zupin told school board members that repairs to the pool are finished. The final step in the project was being completed during the school board meeting Tuesday night.

During her report Dr. Zupin said, “The pool is filling with water as we speak, so it will be ready to go in January and we’re excited about that.”

The school corporation recently had to deal with an unexpected issue where corroded main drain boxes needed replaced and the area had to be re-tiled. Continue reading

North Judson-San Pierre School Board Discusses Year-End Financial Business

North Judson-San Pierre Corporation Treasurer Guy Richie presented board members with tax anticipation warrant bids during Tuesday night’s meeting. Richie explained that the corporation advertised for the $230,000 that needs to be borrowed for the capital projects plan and two bids were received.

Richie told board members, “One was from Centier Bank at 2.24 percent and the other from our local First National Bank of Monterey at 1.5 percent so it is my recommendation that the board approve the First National Bank of Monterey at 1.5 percent.” Continue reading