The Knox Community School Corporation has cut three teaching positions.
Continue readingKnox School Board Receives Grants from Starke County Community Foundation
More than $18,000 in grant funding was presented to the Knox School Board Monday. The school corporation is once again getting $15,000 for Kindergarten Countdown from the Hardesty Memorial Endowment Fund. Director of Curriculum and Instruction Peggy Shidaker told board members that the Countdown camp is designed for any incoming kindergarten student who hasn’t attended preschool.
Continue readingKnox Kindergarten Countdown Program Gets $15,000 Grant from Hardesty Fund
Knox Elementary School will once again be able to offer two Kindergarten Countdown camps, thanks to a $15,000 grant from the Hardesty Memorial Endowment Fund. That will allow the program to serve 40 incoming kindergartners, according to Director of Curriculum and Instruction Peggy Shidaker.
Knox Community School Corporation eLearning Day on September 1st
Students and teachers at Knox Community Schools will not be in the classrooms on Friday, September 1st but thanks to technology, class will still be in session. The school corporation will be testing their eLearning system that will allow teachers to post assignments and students to access them in the case of inclement weather. Continue reading
Knox Elementary School to Add Second Kindergarten Countdown Camp
Knox Elementary School will be able to expand this year’s Kindergarten Countdown, thanks to some help from the local community. Director of Curriculum and Instruction Peggy Shidaker told the school board Monday that the program typically helps students with no preschool experience adjust to kindergarten. Continue reading
IU Health Grant Helps Kindergartners Transition from Home to School over the Summer
“Countdown to Kindergarten” is a camp that Knox Community Elementary School offers to students at risk of falling behind or those with little to no pre-school experience. KCES is able to offer this program thanks to a grant from IU Health.
Books Needed for Knox Kindergarten Countdown
Students who take part in the Kindergarten Countdown program at Knox Elementary School this summer will each get a book of their own to take home every day of the three-week enrichment experience. IU Health Starke Hospital and the Knox Community School Corporation are joining forces for a community book drive. Knox Curriculum Director Peggy Shidaker says books should be appropriate for youngsters in the 4 to 5 years old age range. She says books like “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle, books from “Pete the Cat” series by Kimberly and James Dean and favorite like “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” by Laura Numeroff are extremely popular. They all teach children sequencing and predicting, which are fundamental to brain development. Continue reading
Event Designed to Help Children Get a Jump on Early Childhood Learning
Engaging your child in any type of learning activity to help develop the brain is crucial before that child reaches the age of five and enters school.
The Starke County Early Childhood Education and Development Advisory Council is sponsoring a special event to help children get a jump on skills that can help them be better learners.
Starke County Community Foundation Announces New Endowment Fund
The Starke County Community Foundation has announced a new endowment fund to help preschool students obtain the education they need before entering kindergarten.
The new Starke County Preschool Education Fund was established by Peggy Shidaker, the director of curriculum and instruction at the Knox Community School Corporation. The fund was created to honor her parents, Arthur and Carolyn Shidaker, and to support early childhood education in Starke County.
Knox School Board Discusses ISTEP+ Test Results
Superintendent A.J. Gappa said Shidaker highlighted where the students needed work and where the scores stood at the elementary and middle schools.
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.
Knox School Board Receives Action Plan Update
Knox Community School Corporation Director of Curriculum and Instruction Peggy Shidaker and the assistant principals from all three schools provided the school board with information on the action plans implemented at the beginning of the year.
Superintendent A.J. Gappa said discussion was held concerning the results of the Fall NWEA test that was given to students in grades K-8.
Shidaker Spotlighted During Knox School Board Meeting
The Director of Curriculum and Instruction at the Knox Community School Corporation, Peggy Shidaker, was spotlighted during the school board’s recent meeting for taking part in HealthLinc’s Back to School Health and Wellness Fair. Superintendent A.J. Gappa said Miss Shidaker and a teacher represented the school in highest regards.
“Miss Shidaker attended the Health Fair along with third grade teacher, Shannon Pitts,” explained Gappa. “They represented the school and passed out information to families who were in attendance that would help them improve their wellness and health of not only their student, but their whole family.”
The pair handed out bus safety information, as well as information on peer pressure. Coloring books and activity books were distributed to the younger students. Approximately 80 students came through the school’s booth.
Knox Kindergarten Teachers Meet With Incoming Kindergartners
The kindergarten teachers from the Knox Community School Corporation and Peggy Shidaker, the director of curriculum and instruction, recently visited all of the incoming kindergarten students and their families to welcome them into the school corporation.
Shidaker discusses those visits.
“During those visits, we met the child, we met the parents, we also took materials and distributed some activity books, an activity calendar, a book and a t-shirt donated by IU Health Starke Hospital. All of our kindergarteners are going to show up on that first day of school with a brand-new t-shirt,” said Shidaker.
Kindergarten Camp Prepares Kids For School
Twenty Knox children will be attending a Kindergarten Camp in June to get them ready for school. The class is taught by Jill Keiper and Allison Martinkus. Peggy Shidaker, the curriculum director for the Knox School District, explains how the camp is helping the children.
“We do many different activities to get the students ready for school. The biggest activity is getting these students ready to leave home for the classroom,” said Shidaker.
Knox Incoming Third Graders Receive Summer Packet
The Knox third grade teachers sent home a special packet with next year’s incoming third graders to help keep them reading during their summer break. Director of Curriculum and Instruction Peggy Shidaker explained that these packets contain fun activities for students.
“They sent home a little bag that says ‘I Read, Therefore I Succeed,’” explained Shidaker. “Every second grader, 153 of these students, last week carried home this bag and in this bag there was a letter to their parents explaining the entire program. Through the collaboration of our third grade teachers, they filled this bag with fun activities for our students to do in both reading and math.”
Knox Kindergarten Teachers Conduct Home Visits
The Director of Curriculum and Instruction at the Knox Community School Corporation, Peggy Shidaker, and seven teachers visited 120 incoming Kindergarten students at their homes to make sure the students and the parents are prepared for the new school year.
“When we arrived, we were greeted warmly by every parent in our school corporation of our incoming Kindergarteners and that was fantastic,” said Miss Shidaker. “We were able to take them a little Dr. Suess bag and in that Dr. Suess bag each student received a coloring activity book, an activity calendar that gets them ready for school and they received a book. The parents received a pamphlet called Making the Move to Kindergarten.”
Knox School Board Gets Report on AYP, PL 221
The Knox School Board heard the Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, and the Public Law 221 results at its meeting Monday night. Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Peggy Shidaker, and the three building principals, Glenn Barnes, Steve Cronk and Dr. Elizabeth Ratliff, explained the results to the Board.
