Secondary Newsletter

Seco

ndary  Sp

ectrum

 December  2011  

Mission Statement  The  Grundy  Center  Community  School’s  “community”  will  empower  its  individuals  with  the  attitudes,  skills,  and  knowledge  to  become  responsible,  productive,  and  fulfilled  citizens.  

Calendar  Highlights  for  December:  

Dec  1  &  2  –  State  Dance  Competition  Dec  12  –  2  Hour  Late  Start  Dec  12  –  HS  Vocal  Concert    

Dec  16  –  NICL  Speech  Contest  Dec  22  –  2:00  Dismissal  

Dec  23-­‐Jan  2  –  No  School  –  Winter  Break  Jan  3  –  Classes  Resume  (regular  time)  

 Go  to  the  School  Calendar  at  www.spartanpride.net  

for  a  complete  schedule  of  events/activities.      

Controlling  Head  Lice  

 As  the  school  nurse,  I  follow  the  Iowa  Department  of  Public  Health  guidelines  regarding  health  issues,  including  head  lice.      

If  a  child  at  school  has  head  lice,  I  check  the  identified  close  contacts  but  generally  it  is  not  necessary  to  check  the  entire  class.    I  work  one  on  one  with  the  families  involved  regarding  treatment  and  follow-­‐up.    Letters  are  not  routinely  sent  home  for  every  case  of  head  lice  that  occurs.    Since  lice  are  spread  by  human  hair  to  hair  contact,  children  who  do  not  have  close  physical  contact  with  a  student  with  lice  are  not  at  risk  of  getting  lice  from  that  student.    Only  dead  or  dying  lice  are  found  on  clothing  or  furniture.    Generally,  lice  does  not  spread  beyond  other  family  members  or  someone  with  very  close  physical  contact.          

Preventative  measures  are  routinely  utilized  in  the  classrooms,  especially  at  the  lower  grade  levels  where  there  is  more  risk  of  close  physical  contact  between  students.  

For  control  of  head  lice  the  IDPH  recommends  the  following  measures:  

1. Children  should  not  share  hats,  scarves,  brushes,  combs,  or  hair  fasteners.    

2. Parents  should  check  their  children  for  head  lice  at  least  weekly  during  the  school  year.    Look  for  tiny  white  or  grey  eggs  (nits)  on  the  hair  shaft  near  the  scalp.    Live  nits  will  be  less  than  ½  inch  from  the  scalp.    Adult  lice  are  about  the  size  of  a  sesame  seed  and  can  only  survive  on  the  human  head.      They  do  not  have  wings  and  do  not  jump  or  fly.    Itching  often  accompanies  the  presence  of  lice.    

3. If  you  find  that  your  child  has  head  lice,  check  all  members  of  the  family  and  treat  everyone  who  is  infected  at  the  same  time  with  the  recommended  14  day  treatment  plan.    • A  medicated  lice  shampoo  should  be  used  initially  according  to  the  package  directions  and  

repeated  in  one  week  (day  1  and  day  7).      • Combing  with  a  fine  tooth  comb  should  be  done  every  day  for  2  weeks  (days  1-­‐14).    This  is  VERY  

important  to  remove  lice  and  nits.      • Rinse  combs  and  brushes  in  very  hot  water  after  each  use.  • Only  ordinary  house  cleaning,  vacuuming,  and  washing  bedding  and  clothing  in  hot  water  are  

needed.    No  special  sprays  are  needed  to  clean  your  home.  • There  is  no  need  for  children  to  be  sent  home  or  to  miss  school,  though  treatment  should  be  

started  before  returning  to  school  the  next  day.  • Do  not  use  oils,  mayonnaise,  lotions,  creams,  and  vinegar  as  they  are  not  proven  effective.    

Kerosene,  gasoline  and  similar  products  do  not  work  and  are  dangerous.  • If  crawling  lice  persist  after  the  14  day  treatment,  contact  you  physician  who  may  recommend  a  

prescription  treatment  for  lice.    

If  you  have  any  questions  or  would  like  additional  information  contact  Gloria  Dielschneider,  RN  at  the  school  or  your  local  public  health  office.  

Notes  from  the  School  Nurse,  Gloria  Dielschneider  

12TH STREET NEWS! by Mrs. Murra, Superintendent

Happy Holidays! The weather is turning colder, but we are very thankful that the snow has stayed away so far. A “White Christmas” is nice, but we are hoping to get through the month of December without any “snow days” that must be made up later in the year. If you want to be the first to know of any school delays or cancellations, check out KWWL or KCCI websites. We will also tweet the information, so if you follow “Grundy Center Schools” on twitter, you’ll see it there too.

By now you may have heard some discussion about changing the school calendar in the future. The school board realizes that this will have an impact on other areas in our community and wants to assure everyone that we will work together to create the best solutions for Grundy Center.

There are many factors driving this conversation. Over the past century, there have been many curriculum topics added to our requirements but no additional time to teach this content. Our own data from the MAP tests that we give every August and May show that almost all of our students regress over the long summer break causing teachers to spend time reviewing for the first four to six weeks of school. If we can minimize the summer learning loss, we could potentially free up some of the review time that is currently necessary. This would allow students to get to the new learning more quickly and have more time to spend on it. Research from around the world shows that shorter breaks more often have a positive effect on learning if the classroom instruction is of high quality. The ultimate goal of changing the school calendar is to improve student achievement and academic learning.

We are also currently working to get all of our Western Outreach Center districts on an identical calendar. Recently we have expanded our collaborative efforts and are finding it imperative that we all have the same student days, professional development days, and vacation days. In order for this to happen, all four school boards will have to approve the calendar individually. Convincing one community to make changes can be challenging, and now we are appealing to 7+ communities! Due to this fact, we anticipate the 2012-2013 school calendar to look very traditional as we just get everyone on the same page. At the same time, the boards are considering a modified calendar for the 2013-2014 school year that would move two weeks of summer break to an additional week at Christmas and a second week during spring break. This would give us over two years to make the necessary adjustments with our community partners.

These decisions have not been made yet, and I encourage you to share your thoughts on this topic with school board members or myself. Feel free to stop in the office, email, or call! I always appreciate having the opportunity to visit with community members about our school system and the success it has realized in the past and our visions for continuing to reach the high expectations that are set for us.

With Spartan Pride~

Mrs. Cass Murra

The Grundy Center High School Vocal Music

Department would like to invite you to an evening of

holiday music. On Monday, December 12th, we will

present a concert, “Sounds of the Season” at 7:00 p.m.

in the high school auditorium.

The Madrigal Singers, the Mixed Chorus and GC Jazz will perform in this concert. This festive show will also include the annual senior solo, “O Holy Night”. This

promises to be an evening filled with the wonderful

music of the season. Mark your calendars!

Veterans Day, November 11, 2011, the National Honor Society students paid tribute to our local veterans, "Honoring Those Who Served." Each member of the AmVet/Legion Color Guard was introduced and personally thanked for their service to our nation and our community. The high school band and select members of the high school chorus provided the patriotic music. The final tribute to all veterans was the "21 gun salute" and the playing of Taps, again, "Honoring Those Who Served."

Compliment received from some visitors in November -- “You guys have the cleanest school we’ve ever been in!!” Kudos to our

wonderful custodians -- Sharlene, Kim, Vern, Jerry, and Garry !!!

Students in the 7th grade Family & Consumer Sciences class learn 'Fresh is Best' in a lesson where they created a skillet breakfast that included sweet potatoes, russet potatoes, onions, and green and red peppers. They also learned to tell the difference between healthy and less healthy fats and oils and practiced some knife skills as they diced their fresh vegetables. "It's encouraging to hear positive comments about eating vegetables," stated Joan Schuller, FCS instructor. "Several were stating they were going to go home and make this for supper. That's when you know you've had a successful lesson."

Bryce Flater and Drew Sharp

Chloe Wiltfang and Ashli VanDeest

NOTES FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Tri  two  is  underway  with  students  changing  schedules  and  getting  comfortable  with  the  new  classes  they  are  attending.    Please  continue  to  encourage  and  support  good  attendance  as  this  tri  gets  underway.    The  frustration  from  students  can  sometimes  be  avoided  with  regular  attendance  and  completion  of  assignments.    It  does  sound  very  simple  but  once  a  student  starts  missing  school  the  make  up  and  completion  of  assignments  becomes  much  harder  and  more  difficult.  

The  new  laptops  have  provided  more  learning  opportunities  but  also  a  consistent  device  that  is  the  same  for  all  students.    With  all  students  having  access  to  the  same  type  of  electronic  device,  students  can  start  on  the  same  page  and  not  have  to  worry  about  various  programs  and  things  that  work  or  do  not  work.    Remember  to  continue  monitoring  the  laptop  history  and  keeping  the  laptop  in  the  center  of  the  house.    Younger  students  going  to  other  rooms  in  the  house  where  supervision  is  not  present  is  discouraged.    We  were  all  young  once  and  we  all  need  supervision.  

As  the  winter  driving  begins  in  Iowa  we  are  reminded  that  driving  to  school  will  take  and  should  take  longer  amounts  of  time.    Students  will  need  to  plan  and  drive  according  to  winter  driving  conditions.    Sleeping  in  the  extra  5  minutes  will  need  to  be  replaced  with  getting  up  5  or  10  minutes  earlier  for  the  safety  of  everyone.  

Students  and  parents  picking  up  and  driving  by  the  school  at  the  end  of  the  day  should  be  very  careful  of  the  students  crossing  the  street  at  the  intersection  of  G  and  10th.    Students  parking  in  the  east  lot  are  asked  to  go  out  the  east  driveway.    Students  parking  in  the  west  lot  are  asked  to  go  north  on  12th  Street  and  to  avoid  G  Ave.  

In  this  busy  holiday  season  I  want  to  thank  everyone  for  their  support  and  commitment  to  this  school,  community,  and  their  families.    Please  enjoy  the  time  with  family  and  we  will  look  forward  to  great  things  continuing  in  2012.    

Mr.  VanderPol