Followers!

Dear Panther Pages Readers -
The challenge is on - I want to increase the number of "followers" on the Panther Pages blog! I sent out an email on Friday and we increased from three followers to five followers! That pales in comparison to a blog that I read this morning, Dangerously Irrelevant, with 19,000 followers! The scope is, of course, a little different as Scott is blogging about the national issue of technology use in schools and I'm blogging about life at a small (but great) elementary school in Minnesota. Irregardless of that, the challenge is on - I want to increase the number of people who follow this blog. Why? A large number of followers increases my desire to keep the blog up to date because I know that you are reading what I write. You are always welcome to post comments and keep me informed of what you think.

• If you have not already signed up as a follower please sign up TODAY!
• If you are already a follower please email this blog on to friends, family members and other members of the Sioux Trail community.

Thank you!

Fire Lane

In the scope of everything that takes place at an elementary school the identification and establishment of a fire lane isn't the most important thing we do. But, that is exactly the project that was completed at Sioux Trail this morning. So you ask, if this isn't a big deal, why is he taking time to blog about it?

I'm writing about this because this simple act is restructuring how student transportation will flow around Sioux Trail and my hope is that clear frequent communication will make this transition easier for all involved. In the spring the Burnsville Fire Marshal contacted me to inquire about where our fire lane was and how it was marked. After we established that there was no place labeled as fire lane, decided where it should be and established a plan to get it set up I started looking at how this minor change would impact out traffic flow.

In previous years we had used the front of school as a parking area and a student pick-up area. As many of our parents know from first hand experience this section of the school was sometimes double and triple parked. Now that over half of this paved area is a fire lane, reserved for emergency vehicles, no non-emergency vehicle may park in the designated fire lane at any time.

For those of you who are parents and who will visit Sioux Trail I will be mailing you a map that outlines the plan for Sioux Trail traffic flow and includes a visual. Here are the three basic outside areas of the school and how they will be used for student traffic flow.

The area immediately in front of Sioux Trail is for bus drop off and pick up only. Buses will use the area in front of Sioux Trail to drop students off in the morning. Buses will pick students up in the same area at the end of the day. This area is for bus pick up and drop off only. Because part of this area has been designated as a fire lane there is limited visitor parking during the school day. There is no parking in this area during student arrival and dismissal

The rear parking lot will host parent pick up and drop off. The sidewalk along the rear parking lot is used for student drop off. Vehicles may not be parked and unattended along the sidewalk, but may load and unload students along the sidewalk. Visitors who are coming in to Sioux Trail with their children should use the visitor parking spaces.

• In the morning students may be dropped off between 8:10 a.m. and 8:30 a.m.
• In the afternoon students need to be picked up between 2:55 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.

The small parking lot on the Northwest side of Sioux Trail is for buses only. This is a no parking zone.

I know this is a change, but by spreading the word I hope that this an easy transition. If you have questions please send me an email at: takin@burnsville.k12.mn.us

Leadership Day

Our new Assistant Superintendent, Chris Lindholm, invited ISD 191 principals to participate in Leadership Day. Leadership Day is organized by a professor at Iowa State University, Scott McLeod. The purpose of Leadership Day is the following: On Friday, July 30, 2010, blog about whatever you like related to effective school technology leadership: successes, challenges, reflections, needs, wants, etc.

I readily admit that I don't know everything about technology and some of the Leadership Day blogs that I read included vocabulary and terms that are new to me. I do believe that technology is an important instructional tool that, when used effectively, can have a positive impact on student achievement. We are making strides at Sioux Trail to increase access to instructional technology and the essential professional development that must go with the hardware or software purchase. Additionally, I'm observing positive changes throughout the district in regard to instructional technology.

Many of the Leadership Day blogs that I read (I admit that I didn't read them all) seemed to have a negative bend toward them so I'm going to go in the opposite direction. I'm going to take a couple minutes to share some of our recent successes in related to technology in ISD 191.

Dedicated tech funding: We continue to have a small, but dedicated source of funding for technology. I believe the amount varies slightly from school to school, but this stream of funding provides resources for a five year rotation of computers and the opportunity to introduce other
instructional technology tools. At Sioux Trail we have been able to maintain a five year rotation in two student computer labs as well as staff computers, offer teachers a choice between a laptop and a desktop, add document cameras to classrooms and begin purchasing interactive white boards.

Collaboration: At Sioux Trail we have a very active PTO who work hard on behalf of all Sioux Trail families. Our PTO Board collaborated with staff to purchase and install LCD projectors in every teaching space within two years. We have accomplished the purchasing part and now the electrician has to complete his part (we submitted the work request in December . . . ). Every teaching space will have an LCD projector and we will have accomplished the goal in just over one year! The PTO set aside every extra cent they had, dedicated fundraisers to increased access to technology and we focused building funds on the same purpose. While it was very frustrating to see the district elementary magnet schools provided with classrooms sets of LCD projectors, interactive white boards and other tools while we had to pinch pennies; it feels very good to know that we can accomplish something like this and I have a great deal of pride in the fact that we worked hard to provide these tools.

New leadership with a focus in instructional technology: Our new Assistant Superintendent is a techie! I have had more conversations about technology with a cabinet member in the last month than I have had in the previous three years I've been a principal in ISD 191. Chris has taught me some new things, I now have all my blogs set up in a reader account and I'm sure there will be a lot more new and exciting things to come. In previous years, several elementary principals had advocated for the inclusion of professional development around technology in the district professional development plans, but despite the presentation of data, repeated conversations and the obvious need for technology professional development (I thought it was obvious!) our pleas feel on deaf ears. I do not expect miracles, but I am excited to hear what this conversation sounds like with a techie leading district professional development.

Access to professional development: Despite the fact that technology is missing from the district professional development plan there are some areas of success. When the district put out a bid for new interactive white boards the director of professional development and the director of technology asked vendors to include professional development as a part of the bid. The result at Sioux Trail is that the six classroom teachers who have access to an interactive white board will get a formal introduction to the tool. This is a small, but great step, in the right direction.

Opportunities to experiment with different types of tools: Our district is trying to establish guidelines for a what a standard ISD 191 classroom looks like. They haven't quite put the money behind the ideas, but while the work is underway there are opportunities to experiment with different types of sound field technologies, various brands of interactive white boards or other tools. This freedom promotes the opportunity to constantly explore and learn about new technologies and new opportunities.

My personal and professional goal is to keeping making forward progress and to keep learning. I hope that by doping that I become better instructional leader and set the example for others.

Thanks to Scott and Chris for getting for getting my synapses firing!

"The Countdown"

Yes, it is back up and counting - counting down! 8 of you guessed correctly, the mystery number on the marquis in front of Sioux Trail is the number of days left until school starts. As of today's blog post that number has dropped to 43! Enjoy those summer days and make every day a wonderful day!

I'm always excited about school and if I could, I'd have a much shorter break and keep school in session longer than 173 days. Why am I excited about school? I'm excited because when we are working together around a common goal we can do incredible things. I'll use the 2009-10 Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA) results as an example.

Here our overall MCA results
Reading:

2008-09: 78.65% of Sioux Trail students were proficient
2009-10: 82.6 % of our students were proficient, an increase of 4 percentage points!

But we didn't stop with reading, there was also noticeable growth in mathematics:

2008-09: 76.16% of Sioux Trail students were proficient
2009-10: 85.4% of Sioux Trail students were proficient, an increase of 9 percentage points!

Under the "No Child Left Behind" Act all public schools are required to make annual progress towards having all students proficient on the MCAs by 2013. Here is additional good news -
at the end of the 2008-09 school year we were identified as not making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in 6 areas.

In Reading we did not make AYP for the following subgroups: Black Student and Special Education students
In Math we did not make AYP for the following subgroups: Black, English as a Second Language students, student eligible for Free or Reduced Price Lunch and Special Education students

Are you asking how this is good news? The answer is in the the 2009-10 results.
We are making Adequate Yearly Progress in 17 out of 18 areas, great improvement from 2008-09. The one area that we are not making AYP in is Special Education Reading.

I'm excited to get back to work and to keep guiding students on the TRAIL to student success and we do have some work to do. Because are not making AYP in one area we will be writing a federally required school improvement plan, families may choose the sent their child to another ISD 191 school and we must keep moving forward. I welcome these challenges and I'm excited to continue working together as a large team with one goal - student success.

I'm counting down to another successful school year and I look forward to working with all staff, students, families and our community to make it happen again.

The Marquis Mystery

As you drive by Sioux Trail during the summer months you will hopefully notice two things about our marquis.
1. We continue to keep it up to date with ongoing school activities
2. One of the numbers doesn't belong

If you look at the sign you'll notice a number is out of place - it isn't a date so what is it?

Use the tool on the right to enter your guess! The answer will be presented in a future blog post.

Here is a hint - the number changes every day and it gets smaller!

Sioux Trail Mission Statement

Several groups of people helped design the Sioux Trail Mission Statement and I'm proud to post it here. We will use this statement to guide our work and it will also be a very visible statement so that we can be held accountable to.

The Sioux Trail Elementary School mission statement is:
Sioux Trail Elementary is a diverse learning environment focused on ensuring academic and personal success of all students through collaboration with students, staff, families and our community.

Employee of the Year

Yesterday (May 27), Barb was surprised as she returned to the office from lunch. The delivery team was Superintendent Randy Clegg, Executive Director of Human Resources Sue Grissom, and Communications Director Ruth Dunn. Barb was truly surprised and it was wonderful to reward her for all of her hard work.

Their selection is based upon outstanding job performance and attitude as well as the ways their actions have benefited students, colleagues and the school district. Barb was nominated by her peers and chosen by the district selection committee.

Congratulations Barb!