Teaching Assignments

At the last PTO meeting in May I had the opportunity to present information on where individual teachers have been assigned for the 2011-12 school year.  Not everyone was able to attend that meeting and many are interested in knowing which teacher is teaching which grade.  I have provided that information here and I hope that it is helpful.  I'm always happy to talk so please feel free to contact me with any questions, concerns or comments that you have.

Half-day Kindergarten  - Christine Peterson
Full-day Kindergarten - Bobbie Kunkel

First Grade - Nancy Mosher and Andrea Beegle.  Andrea has been teaching at Harriet Bishop Elementary in 191 and she is currently re-assigned to teach at Sioux Trail in the fall.  I'm excited to add her to our team and she is excited to be here and work with Sioux Trail first graders.

Second Grade - Karen Otremba and Sacia Williams.

For the 2011-12 school year the staffing model has changed and the decisions about how many sections each grade level will have is no longer made by the building principal. It is now determined by the Superintendent.  For the 2011-12 school year Sioux Trail is assigned 2.5 sections of first grade and 2.5 sections of second grade.  A part time teacher provides valuable services and meets an important need.  In this case I determined that two part time teachers was was not the best situation. I paired the two 0.5 positions and I asked Sonia Boche to teach a multi-age classroom.  Multi-age classrooms are research proven and a great way to integrate differentiation strategies and to teach to students based on their needs.  Our multi-age classroom will be a mix of first and second grade students and will be a balanced classroom; using the same placement model that we use for all classrooms.  In early August families with students who have been placed in the multi-age classroom will receive early placement letters and invitation to attend an informational session.

Third Grade - Annie Engdahl and Mark Kleven

Fourth Grade - Debra Brandon and Katie Mulvahill

Fifth Grade - Becky Laatsch and Sarah Gant.  Sarah is an experienced teacher, who, similar to Andrea Beegle, has been teaching at Harriet Bishop Elementary in 191 and she is currently re-assigned to teach at Sioux Trail in the fall.  I'm excited to add her to our team and she is excited to be here and work with Sioux Trail fifth grade students.

Sixth Grade - Barb Istas and Duane Barton.  Because of the large number of student in this class we have been assigned an additional half-time sixth grade teacher.  This individual has not been hired yet, when hired, this teacher will reduce class sizes during math and literacy instruction by providing small group instruction. 

For the 2011-12 school year ISD 191 is adding art specialists to all ten elementary schools.  This was not true in the past and is an exciting opportunity for our students.  Sioux Trail is one of five smaller schools in the district that do not need four full time teachers and we are sharing specialists (art, music, science and physical education) between our schools. To facilitate the sharing process you will see multiple staff in each area, but the students will have the same teacher for their class throughout the school year.

Music - Rachel Lucius and a position to be hired for
Physical Education - Kevin Morrissey and Brian Moorlach
Art - To be hired
Science - Bounthavy Khamratthanome and Bjorn Anderson

Special Education - Katie Nelson, Kim Roark, Patty Tushie and Wendy Hirschey

Instructional Intervention - Sharron Stalock and Leslie Horwart

Resource and Enrichment - Jeff Gallus

ESL - Becky Fredrickson and Ann Condon

Sioux Trail does not currently have Title I for the 2011-12 school year, but we're still waiting on final numbers from the Minnesota Department of Education and this may change.

There are additional staff beyond the teachers, but intent for this blog post was to identify the teaching staff.  If  you have questions please contact me.