August+29,+2014

Rock Talk

August 29,2014

Have you ever noticed no matter what the weather is like during the summer, it is always hot the first week of school? Despite the cooler summer, it has been hot with activity at the school this summer. The building project is well under way. Despite the flood, the project remained on time. Nearly all of the block work is complete. It was exciting to watch the building take shape, especially the large pre-cast walls of the shop (see the picture in the paper)! The floors are poured in the new office as well as the new biology room. Rooftop decking is installed in the office, the shop, and some of the hallways. The air-conditioning is up and running in the kitchen. Needless to say, the cooks are very excited. The new lights in the auditorium were supposed to be installed already, but shipment was delayed. They have finally arrived and the installation will have begun by the time you read this. It should be ready in about two weeks.

We are very excited about the new Teacher Leadership and Compensation program. Mr. Vonk and Mrs. Langenhorst were busy this summer preparing to be full-time instructional coaches and getting the program ready for implementation. Their roles will be to assist teachers in being the very best teachers they can be. Mr. Vonk will work specifically with the use of data in the classrooms. We have a variety of data sources. He will be putting it all together to help make instructional decisions based on that data. Mrs. Langenhorst will continue in her role as technology integrationist but will assist with other classrooms strategies as well. Being one of only 39 school districts (and 1 of 3 less with less than 1,000 students) across the state to be awarded the money the first year of implementation is very exciting and makes us very proud!

We have many new teachers this year. We have added a third section of 5th grade. Ms. Kiersten Van Wyhe is the new 5th grade teacher. This marks the first time that Rock Valley Community has had three sections of every grade in the elementary (at least since Mr. Ortman has been here). Enrollment has increased again. We had 792 students on the first day of school last year. We began the 2014-2015 year with 817, an increase of 25 students!

The beginning of the school year is always an exciting time. Staff are refreshed and students are eager (we hope J ) to start the year. I hope you had a relaxing, fun summer. Fall sports have started and practice for the musical will begin shortly. We will be busy planning our future for our new spaces. I look forward to another great year at RVCSD!

Chad Janzen Superintendent