Superintendent’s Message by Paula Wright

Think Spring!

At the time of this

printing we have

missed 3 school days

due to inclement weath-

er (snow days). We

were fortunate to have

built in 3 snow days, so

as of right now, there

will be no change in the

school calendar as it is

published. Unfortu-

nately, all this could

change if more snow

days are needed. Ac-

cording to the calendar,

any days missed due to

weather beyond the 3

built in days will be

added to the end of the

school year. We will

keep you posted. Any

additional days will not

affect graduation for

seniors scheduled for

Sunday, May 19, 2013.

Congratulations to the

wrestling coaches,

wrestlers, cheerleaders,

and fans for a great

2012-2013 wrestling

season. A special con-

gratulation goes out to

Tyler Nance, Tanner

Poush and Carter Isley

for representing Chari-

ton at the state wres-

tling tournament. I’m

sure you will join me in

recognizing the hard

work and dedication it

takes to reach this awe-

some accomplishment!

Springtime brings

many new beginnings

and changes are occur-

ring all around us. The

education community is

no different. This time

of year is extremely

busy as we move to-

wards the end of anoth-

er school year. March

is the time of year when

the district creates a

budget for the follow-

ing year. One im-

portant element that is

missing from the pro-

cess this year is the al-

lowable growth. This is

the amount set by the

legislature for the in-

crease in operating ex-

penses for school dis-

tricts. This year the

proposed allowable

growth rate is at 4%.

With our district’s de-

clining enrollment, we

will once again qualify

for the budget guarantee

if allowable growth is

set at 3% or below. The

chart below outlines the

impact of allowable

growth on our district’s

property taxes.

Bottom line – a 3% or

4% allowable growth

rate has the least nega-

tive impact on our prop-

erty tax rate. We will

keep you informed as

Volume 15, issue 8

March, 2013

Kindergarten Roundup

3

Preschool Roundup

4

Menu 5

Curriculum 6

High School Attendance Let-ter

7

Inside this issue:

Charger Pride Char i ton Community School Dis t r ic t

Allowable Growth Rate

Budget Guarantee Tax Rate impact New Money

0% $198,657 $0.74 ($92,171)

1% $116,991 $0.44 ($92,171)

2% $35,325 $0.13 ($92,171)

3% 0 0 ($45,830)

4% 0 0 $35,836

the legislature moves

through the process.

We are required to set

our tax rate by April

15th. Without action,

we will set our rate

assuming a 0% al-

lowable growth.

Volume 15, Issue 8 Charger Pride

March 5th- Young Writers at William Penn-

Oskaloosa

March 6th- Young Writers at William Penn-

Oskaloosa, Picture Day

March 11th- Ineligibility

March 13th- Professional Development -2 hr

early out

March 14-22nd- Smarter Balance Assessments

for 6th grade Math

March 15th- End of 3rd Quarter

March 22nd- 3rd Quarter report cards home

with students

March 25th- Ineligibility

March 28-29- No School – Spring Break

April 1st- No School- Spring Break

Columbus News

Top of the day to you on this fine March day! As

we look at the middle of March concluding our 3rd

quarter of school it seems unbelievable that time is

flying by so fast this year. Our students are defi-

nitely finding their “pots of gold” as they continue

to learn how to read in their classes. Something

good readers do is to form mental pictures as they

read. To improve your child’s comprehension, read

a book without letting him/her see it. Then ask him/

her to guess what the illustrations look like. Exam-

ples: How are the characters dressed? Is the setting

bright or gloomy?

Have your child show how to complete a math

problem in two or more ways. If one of the ways

selected is by doing an algorithm such as 14+78=

_____, some students get math problems wrong

simply because they haven’t lined up numbers cor-

rectly. Try this. Have your child work problems on

graph paper, using one box per number. Once he/

she gets used to this system, he/she will be able to

transfer her lining up skills to a regular paper.

I am proud of all the sales our students made for the

fundraiser. Mrs. Peterson’s 1st grade class made

the most sales. We also have 29 youngsters who

will be going on a limo ride and eating a special

meal with me to celebrate as they sold 25 or more

items each. It does not matter if you sold one or 25

items, all of your hard work is definitely appreciat-

ed . Way to go!

Regular attendance is important as it sets up a good

pattern for your youngster’s entire school career.

Show your child that school comes first by trying to

keep days off only for illnesses and family emer-

gencies. Also, if at all possible, schedule routine

doctor and dentist appointments for after school or

over school breaks.

If you have any questions, concerns or good news

you would like to share, please call me at 774-4712

or email me at jodee.jorgenson@chariton.k12.ia.us.

I will be happy to hear from you!

Mrs. Jorgenson

On Tuesday, March 5, Margarette Morr and

Laura Engelhardt are taking fourteen seventh

and eighth grade students to the Young Writers'

Conference in Oskaloosa at William Penn Col-

lege. The students attending this year are Gabri-

el Plank, Dayton Seuferer, Alyssa Herndon,

Morgan Cochran, Katelyn Thorne, Raegan

Beck, Ali Weiderholt, Aerial Giesken, Will

Exline, Gena Post, Pahri Boyce, Trinity Kem-

per, Shelby Jensen, and Jayce Laird.

6th Grade News on page 7

7th & 8th Grade News!

Volume 15, issue 8 Page 3

Kindergarten Round Up will be held at Columbus Elementary on April 12, 2013.

If you have a child or know of a child that will be five years of age on or before September 15,

2013, please call the Columbus Elementary School at 774-4712 and register your child. By regis-

tering, your child will receive an invitation to the kindergarten roundup.

The kindergarten roundup screening will be held April 12, 2013 at Columbus Elementary. One

half of the future kindergarten students will attend a two hour morning session from 9:00-11:00

and the other half will attend the afternoon session from 12:30-2:30. Parents will bring their child

to the school, help them locate their room and leave. Parents will return for the last half hour of

the session to attend a parent information meeting in the Media Center.

The children will be divided into groups and will rotate through a variety of activities in each kin-

dergarten room, meeting and working with each kindergarten teacher. We look forward to hearing

from you!

Kindergarten Announcement PROSPECTIVE KINDERGARTEN STUDENTS

FOR THE 2013 - 2014 SCHOOL YEAR

If you have a child or know of a child that will be five years of age on

or before September 15, 2013, please call the Columbus Elementary

School at 774-4712 or return the form below. By registering, your child

will receive an invitation to the kindergarten round up. The kindergar-

ten round up screening will be held April 12, 2013 at Columbus Elemen-

tary.

Prospective Kindergarten Student

Child’s Full Legal Name: Boy/Girl _______ Birthdate:__________

Name child will go by at school: _______________________________________

Parent’s Name(s):

Address:

City: Zip Code:

Telephone Number:

Kindergarten Round Up

At Columbus Elementary

Volume 15, Issue 8 Charger Pride

4 Year Old Preschool Round Up

Preschool Round Up will be held Friday, April 5th , 2013 at the Chariton Preschool locat-

ed at 140 E. Albia Rd.

The future Four year old Preschool students will attend 1of the 3 sessions. The 3 sessions

will last one hour long. After the parents have brought their child to the assigned room,

they should remain in the building and go to the designated area for information and to

fill out a registration form.

The children will be divided into two groups and will rotate to each classroom to meet

both preschool teachers and experience various activities. Each student will end the ses-

sion, and may be picked up in Mrs. Aulwes’ classroom.

Personal invitations will be sent to those who have registered. If your child has not re-

ceived an invitation by March 29th , please contact the Chariton Preschool at 774-4780 or

774-4781.

Prospective 4 year old Preschool Students for the

2013-2014 school year

If you have a child or know of a child that will be four years of age on or before Septem-

ber 15, 2013, please call the Chariton Preschool at 774-4780 or 774-4781 or return the

form below to Chariton Preschool or Columbus Elementary. By registering, your child

will receive an invitation to the Preschool Round Up.

Prospective 4 year old Preschool Student

Child’s Full Name:______________________________Nickname:___________

Boy/Girl _________________________Birthdate_________________________

Parent’s Name______________________________________________________

Address:___________________________________________________________

City:___________________________________ Zip Code:_________________

Telephone number:_________________________________________________

Volume 15, Issue 8 Charger Pride

Volume 15, issue 8 Page 6

If my memory serves me correctly, it was about

this time last year I was writing an article outlining

the legislative action regarding the Governor’s ed-

ucation reform plan; well here we go again. This

year, similar to last, the education plan is all over

the news. There is talk of stickers on diplomas,

increasing teacher pay and passing the plan with-

out a budget. I wanted to use this article to see if I

could simplify the plan and clear-up any miscon-

ceptions.

The plan basically consists of five components and

I will give a brief explanation of each component

here, but you can find the complete plan at: http://

educateiowa.gov

Component #1 – Teacher Compensation and Ad-

vancement

This first component is comprised of two separate

topics, teacher pay and career pathways. The

teacher salary piece is pretty straight forward. The

plan asks to increase the minimum annual teach-

er’s salary to $35,000 from the current $28,000.

The second part of this component is slightly more

confusing, but basically it outlines several career

pathways teachers could utilize. These pathways

are: Career, Model, Mentor, Lead and Administra-

tive. It goes without saying each pathway will

have a different expectation and salary attached to

it.

Component #2 – Teach Iowa Initiative

This is all about attracting the best and brightest

into education. This initiative consists of tuition

reimbursement for those who qualify as well as

increasing the time of student teaching to one year.

The final piece to the Teach Iowa initiative is cre-

ating a centralized job search web-site where all

education jobs in Iowa would be posted.

Curriculum & Instruction by Ken Harrison

Component #3 – Iowa Promise Diploma Seals

The seal would be placed on the student’s diploma

indicating they are college and career ready. To

achieve this seal, students would have to demonstrate

competencies in such things as: college readiness

exams, special courses of study or career tracks, and/

or senior portfolios.

Component #4 – Educator Development System

This component tackles the issue of teacher and ad-

ministrator standards. There are currently 8 teaching

standards and 6 administrative standards, by replac-

ing these standards with a new accountability frame-

work, the State could obtain a waiver from the puni-

tive components of the No Child Left Behind law.

Iowa was the first state denied a waiver from the Fed-

eral Government, primarily due to the current ac-

countability system that is in place.

Component #5 – Iowa Learning on Line

Iowa Learning on line has been around since 2004,

but it is limited in the curriculum it can offer and the

number of students that can utilize the service. The

idea is to provide Iowa Learning on Line with the

funds to restructure to a self-financing model. Future

funds would come from user fees.

Volume 15, issue 8 Page 7

Van Allen Spring pictures are scheduled for March

5th. Please remember to fill out the envelopes for

your selection and send money.

A big thank you to everyone who purchased food

from our recent fundraiser. It was a huge success. I

am taking 28 students to lunch in a limo. Please re-

member that this money is used for field trips, play-

ground, and technology needs. The fundraiser food

will be available for pick-up on March 5th from

3:30-5:30.

On March 21st, Van Allen will be treated to a

"Russian Kaleidoscope" presented by Sergei

Shapoval from a group called The Cultural Kaleido-

scope. Sergei will be dressed in traditional Russian

folk costume and will be sharing art, music and sto-

ries from the Russian culture. This will be a fascinat-

ing multicultural exploration.

Van Allen Update... On March 6th, ten Chariton Middle School

sixth graders and their teacher, Mrs. Lazear,

will attend the Young Writers Conference at

William Penn College in Oskaloosa. The

Great Prairie Area Education Agency annual-

ly provides students from grades 3-6 with an

opportunity to attend various writing work-

shops, meet an author, and share a piece of

their own writing with peers. Author and il-

lustrator Nancy Carlson will share her experi-

ence and expertise as a children’s book writer

with all the students throughout the day. The

ten students attending will be: Mikenzy

Beaty, Grant Goering, Sierra Halligan, Gizzy

Keeler, Ben Lahart, Autumn Shelton, Mat-

thew Stout, Aaron Sullenger, Ty White, and

Kyle Wright.

The Chariton School District takes great pride in our students having outstanding attendance. We

believe that each student’s attendance in school has a direct effect on their academic success. Being

in school and being on time will help prepare our students to accomplish their goals outside of school.

Chariton School personnel want to work with parents and guardians to improve attendance at school.

If your child must miss school, please notify the school as soon as possible on the day of the absence.

Students, who have excessive absences, more than nine each semester, must have proper documenta-

tion from a health care professional. Students at the middle school and high school level may also be

dropped from a class and receive no credit if they have more than six unexcused absences per semes-

ter. Parents or guardians are required to contact the school to verify their child is leaving, before they

need to leave. Also, students must sign in and out of the building during the school day.

We have had a great first semester and are looking forward to improving our schools’ attendance sec-

ond semester. Please help us by working together in regards to our school attendance.

Thank you,

Marcus Kious, Chariton School Liaison

High School Attendance

Sixth Grade News

It is the policy of the Chariton Community School District not to illegally discriminate on the basis of race,

color, national origin, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion, creed, age or marital status in its

educational programs or employment practices. If you have questions or grievances related to this policy

please contact the Equity Coordinator, 140 East Albia Road, PO Box 738, Chariton, Iowa 50049.

140 East Albia Road

PO Box 738

Chariton, IA 50049

Chariton Community School District

District Mission Statement

Successful Learning for ALL Students

PRESORTED

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Board of Education Meetings

Regular meetings of the Board of Education are held on the second Monday of each month at

6:30 p.m. If that day is a holiday, the meeting will be held on the following business day. The

meetings are held in the Board of Education Meeting Room, 140 East Albia Road, Chariton, IA.