• NWTC Staff Appreciation Celebration Wednesday, February 3, 2010

  On Friday, January 22, to build and maintain an excellent school climate, the staff of NWTC took time to purposefully practice the positive aspects of teamwork: celebration, humor, laughter and spontaneity. The day included lunch, donations to staff from the business community of Maple Grove and Brooklyn Park and an improvisation event led by Comedy Sportz.

  Judi Marie Ringe, Supervisor, said "Staff are what makes student achievement happen - when these great teams are energized, supported and encouraged to team, laugh and improvise - they build a reserve of resiliency and then are able to accomplish amazing success for our students."

  Staff that helped to make this event happen include: Donna Boese, Evelyn Leupke, Darla Jackson, Tina Sunda, Kimber Doty, Amy Tiedens, and Judi Marie Ringe.

  Students also wrote notes to the staff expressing their appreciation.

  Click HERE to see more photos from the event.

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• Online Learning: No Barriers, No Boundaries Tuesday, January 26, 2010

  On January 26, Jon Voss, Ph.D., Supervisor of Northern Star Online, and Mike Smart, Online Learning Facilitator at District 287, spoke to the Association of Metropolitan School Districts (AMSD) Winter Conference. The AMSD Conference was titled On-line Learning: Fad or Future? More than 160 Superintendents and their cabinet members from around the state attended the session.
  
  Jon and Mike joined other experts from around the state to share their expertise on the topic. Mike was a panelist with other teachers who talked about "Engaging Online Classrooms" and Jon Voss moderated a panel discussion on "Resources for Online Development."
  
  Jane Holmberg, Ed.D., Executive Director of Teaching Learning at District 287, has been an integral part of the planning the AMSD Winter Conference along with Jon, Mike and Superintendent Sandra Lewandowski.
  
  To support the key messages of the Conference, Linda Rees, Communications Liaison at 287, produced a video. The video invites conference participants to answer these questions:
  1. What are the current barriers to online learning in your school, district or jurisdiction that you can directly affect?
  2. What are your own concerns or hopes about online learning and who are you talking with to get answers?

  To see the video, click HERE. To view the handout, click HERE.

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• District Submits Memorandum of Agreement for Race to the Top Friday, January 22, 2010

  Intermediate District 287 has joined the over 300 school districts to sign on to the state's Race to the Top (RTTT) application. RTTT, funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, provides competitive grants to states that are engaged in education innovation and reform. In December the Board authorized the Superintendent to submit a memorandum of agreement to the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) indicating district interest to participate in the federal grant program if Minnesota were to receive the award.

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  The agreement outlines district responsibilities in three major areas: (1) standards and assessment, (2) data systems, and (3) great teaching and leaders. For the first two areas, districts not only would receive dollars directly to coordinate activities but also would receive support for professional development from the MDE. The estimated funding for District 287 for these two areas would be $561,526 over four years. For the third area, participating districts would receive Q-Comp funding to implement our state's alternative compensation system no later than 2012-2013. That current dollar figure for four years is estimated to be $1,719,120. The total direct funding for the district, therefore, is being estimated by the MDE at $2,280,646 over four years. The Board agreed this opportunity for additional resources aligns well with efforts the district has already undertaken to directly impact student achievement.

  The MDE will know if Minnesota has been awarded the grant by April, 2010. At that time, all districts that have submitted a memorandum of agreement will have 90 days to submit a workplan to the MDE that clarifies how the budget will be used.

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