Emmett School District Newsletter

You should have received a Merry Christmas mailer in your mailbox from Emmett School District!

The purpose of this festive mailer is to share information and transparency with our community. We call it “A Merry Heads Up for Emmett School District.” Inside, you'll discover updates and details about upcoming happenings in our district. Additionally, there's a handy QR code that will take you to a webpage on our site, offering even more information about everything highlighted on the flyer.

You can check out "A Merry Heads Up" webpage here: Heads Up for Emmett School District - Emmett Independent School District (emmettschools.org)

We understand that not all Gem County residents use social media or receive our newsletters and emails. We're making a concerted effort to enhance public awareness and communication, reaching those who may not have easy access to district news.

The costs associated with this mailer were covered through Covid funds. Covid funds can be allocated for communication, and you will notice a small section that provides information about our Covid status, funding, and testing supplies. The allowable use of the Covid funds has also given us the opportunity to update our community and wish all of you a Merry Christmas!

Consider this mailer our way of sending a Christmas card to our wonderful community. We hope it not only supplies valuable information about our district but also extends warm wishes for a Merry Christmas to each and every one!

On Wednesday, December 13, 2023, ESD experienced an unprecedented full evacuation of all schools. A letter fully explaining the details of this evacuation was sent to families via email on December 16, 2023. This letter provides information and a timeline about what happened, as well as how you can help moving forward.

If you are an ESD parent and did not receive this email, this means that your contact information or contact preferences need to be adjusted in Infinite Campus. We cannot send you communication if we don't have correct information and permission to contact you! Our ESD communication system is functioning properly, but we need your cooperation to ensure that communication is received by you!

That email can also be viewed on our website HERE.

Please let us know if you have any questions. Families, please check your Infinite Campus settings to ensure we can communicate with you!

A press release by ESD in partnership with the Emmett Police Department and Emmett Fire Department can be viewed on our YouTube channel.

ESD 12/13/23 Press Release Video

Thanks to Idaho House Bill 292, a state fund has been allocated to assist school districts in supporting existing bonds and levies, providing property tax relief to our constituents.

In August, we received the news that the expected amount to be applied to our single $1,000,000 levy is $887,110.36! This means that only $112,889.64 needs to be funded for this year through Gem County property taxes. Recently, we learned what this means for Gem County property owners.

When the levy was passed in May 2023, the estimated levy amount to be paid was $36.40 per $100,000 of assessed property value. However, with the additional state funding, the new estimated amount to be paid this year has dramatically reduced to approximately $3.64 per $100,000 of assessed property value.

To put it into perspective, if your property is valued at $1,000,000, your total tax contribution for the entire YEAR would be $36.40!

In essence, the actual amount that local individual property owners will pay toward funding our local schools through this levy is approximately one-tenth of the initially expected amount. This is terrific news for our community members!

It's important to note that the funding provided by the state applies to this year, and we don't have information about whether property tax relief will be applicable to school bonds and levies in years to come.

The impact of the levy is already visible in our schools. It allowed us to replace Carberry’s roof last summer, and Shadow Butte's roof replacement is scheduled for next summer. The levy has also supported crucial maintenance and personnel needs.

You can find a detailed breakdown of how the levy funds have been utilized in the monthly budget reports available on the ESD website.

We are so thankful to our community for voting to provide funds for necessities in our school district, and we are excited to share that the direct property tax burden on our community members will be significantly less than initially anticipated. Your support is so appreciated!

Thanks to Covid funds, new sheds were purchased for use by Emmett School District. This decision ensures that the funding meets the necessary requirements and allows flexibility for potential COVID-related needs in the future.

The sheds were recently delivered to their new homes. One shed will live at the school district offices. The other shed replaced the decades-old concession stand/shed at Emmett Middle School.

Check out the before and after! We bid a fond farewell to the old concession stand and the many memories created since 1957. Now we welcome these new sheds into service for Emmett School District!

Two sets of EHS restrooms are scheduled to be remodeled during Christmas break! The restrooms in the atrium and the restrooms open to visitors in the gymnasium will undergo a much-needed face-lift! Here are the before pictures.

This project is funded with planned allocations from the general fund. Thankfully, Covid money has allowed for the redistribution of some funds normally allocated for other purposes. This has enabled the school district to fund some much-needed maintenance projects, such as this update to the EHS restrooms! Work is to be completed by a local company–NHI (Nick’s Home Improvement).

Make sure you follow us on Facebook for updates on this and other projects! We can’t wait to see the after pics!

In November, a survey regarding next year’s school calendar was sent to staff and parents. Using data from the survey and extensive research, the calendar committee has been diligently working through the process of considering different options. Some of the options being explored are 4 and 5-day school week calendars. Here is the timeline moving forward:

January 11, 2024–Community Calendar Meeting–6:00 Emmett Middle School Cafeteria

In this meeting, much of the information the calendar committee has gathered will be presented and the process and options will be explained. The public will have the opportunity to learn and get information about the different options being considered.

January 12, 2024–Survey #2 for Parents and Staff opens, Community and Student Survey to follow

The survey will be sent through email to ESD parents and staff. It will collect valuable information about calendar preferences and will be open for approximately one week. After the parents and staff surveys close, a community survey will open for general public input. EHS students will also be allowed input through a student survey.

End of January–Possible ESD Special School Board Meeting

The Calendar Committee will present their work from the past few months, including the results of the surveys, research, and additional information. They will then present a recommendation for a 2024-2025 calendar. The structure of the calendar is expected to extend for the next two school years. If there is no special board meeting, the presentation will take place in the February regular board meeting.

February 12, 2024 Regular School Board Meeting

The school board will vote on the calendar recommendation made by the Calendar Committee with the goal of adopting a 2024-2025 school calendar.

Emmett High School and Emmett Middle School are competing in their Winter Sports Seasons! Make sure you check out the schedules for EHS boys and girls basketball, boys and girls wrestling, and spirit squad. Also, check out our EMS boys and girls wrestling and girls basketball. EMS boys basketball will begin after the Christmas break.

To check out the Winter Sports schedules, please visit the athletic page on our website.

The Emmett School District proudly celebrated Veterans Day with assemblies at many of our schools! These events were open to the public, and we want to thank everyone who joined us in honoring our veterans.

Thank you to all who served, and a special shoutout to our amazing students for their performances and touching tributes. The teachers and staff who supported and organized these efforts also deserve a big shoutout.

To help celebrate, we made a montage video of the memories made this year for Veterans Day 2023. Make sure you watch it with the sound on! You can view the video on Facebook or on the News page of our website.

We hope you enjoy this snapshot of our memorable day!

View Homecoming Video on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/EmmettSchools/videos/172379965951947/

View Homecoming Video on Our Website

https://www.emmettschools.org/our-district/district-newsletters

This fall, the Emmett Public School Foundation has awarded grants to the following individuals/programs:

1. Rich Winegar – books in Spanish for his EHS Spanish students - $1,028.10

2. Jason Dreiver – Drones for the NASA Specialists at Carberry - $899.7

3. Kindergarten Teachers at Shadow Butte (Gina Dunkin, Kristina Oliver, Elizabeth Demery) – Assessment program - $738

4. Alex Barrett – Support for the EHS drama program - $2,500 - Grant is funding the royalties for two EHS spring drama productions

5. Gregg Winchester – To begin a Chess Club at the Patriot Center - $600

Total grant for the Fall Cycle: $5,765.80.

We are so thankful for the Emmett Public School Foundation and their support of our schools. These funds have provided such wonderful opportunities for students. Please watch our Facebook page for more pictures and updates on how the grants are being used.

A big congratulations to our Emmett High School Drama Team! They competed at State as the 4A SIC District Champions! We are so proud!

We want to give a special shout-out to the outstanding achievements of:

2nd Place Technical Makeup Medalists: Bree Anderson and Sadie Dimmick

3rd Place Original Humorous Group: Deni Allen, Peyton Allen, Dallan Madsen, and Will Chambers

Remarkably, the EHS Drama Team had 6 groups break into the top 16 at state for their events, and then 3 groups finished as state finalists, reaching the top 8 in the state! The team finished 5th in 4A and was in the top 10 for all divisions in the state tournament.

Congratulations to our talented students, their dedicated teacher–Mr. Barrett, and everyone involved in these great achievements!

Congratulations to the Payette River Technical Academy (PR2TA) chapter of Business Professionals of America (BPA)! They competed this week at the regional BPA competition. Students in 16 events are now headed to the state competition in Boise February 12-14th!

We are thankful for our district’s partnership with Payette River Technical Academy. Our students get to participate in wonderful opportunities and technical learning. And we get to share in their successes! We’re proud of these amazing students and their achievements! Best of luck at the state competition!

For decades, Christmas Cheer Baskets have been a cherished tradition in our community, thanks to the efforts of the Gem County Educators Association (GCEA). This annual initiative, organized by the local teachers' union, aims to make the holiday season special for families in need.

Here's how it all comes together:

Nomination Process and Purpose: Families are nominated by district employees. The GCEA then selects families and work to create Christmas miracles on their behalf. After communicating with the families, the GCEA organizes efforts to collect food and gifts. Each family receives food, and is also “adopted” by individuals and organizations who buy gifts. Each child receives four wrapped Christmas presents catered to their Christmas wishes.

Community Collaboration: The work becomes a wonderful cooperative effort as GCEA partners with the Friendship Coalition, the schools host food drives, individuals and organizations adopt families to grant Christmas wishes, the EHS National Honor Society volunteers to collect and organize, and everyone joins together to organize and distribute. So many hearts work together to create something truly generous and beautiful.

This Year’s Efforts: This year, the GCEA has selected twenty-three families to receive cheer baskets. The reality is that many more than twenty-five families were nominated in our community. Fortunately, our amazing Community Schools Liaison, Amy Burr, has stepped up to make sure that all families who were nominated are taken care of with something this Christmas. She works with other community resources, helping with the cheer baskets, but also filling in the gaps.

A Teacher’s Heart: Our Gem County teachers are wonderful both inside and outside the classroom. Through many decades, they have worked to bring the magic of Christmas to countless families. It is these same caring, serving hearts that educate our students, This year, they will work tirelessly to bring Christmas to twenty-five families, just as they have done for so many past years. In that effort, they remind us of what Christmas is all about and leave us to imagine the many smiles of Christmas morning.

December 21: End of 1st Semester

December 22-January 5: No School--Christmas Break. (Students Return January 8)

January 4: Teachers Return from Christmas Break

January 15: No School (Martin Luther King Day)

January 16: Regular School Board Meeting

January 11: Community Calendar Meeting–6:00 Emmett Middle School Cafeteria

January 12: Survey #2 for Parents and Staff opens, Community and Student Survey to follow

January 29: Special School Board Meeting regarding 10-Year Maintenance Plan

February 2: No School (Staff Professional Development)

February 12: Regular School Board Meeting)

February 19: No School (Presidents' Day)

Full School Year Calendars

Final Thoughts and Merry Christmas

This newsletter is put together by me–Amanda Weers. I have been on the job as the Public Information Officer/Community Liaison since July, trying to keep everyone updated with district communication and information. One of the things I appreciate about my job is that it is part-time, which allows me to still spend some time volunteering in the schools. For the past few weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to help with writing projects in 2nd and 3rd-grade classrooms.

One day, we reached the end of our class time, and I noticed that a little girl only had one sentence written down on her paper. The class was working on writing a personal narrative paragraph telling the story of when he or she received the best gift ever. I bent down and talked to the little girl about what she was already supposed to have written. She spoke in a whisper, and though she didn’t have it on her paper, her hushed voice told a wonderful story of going to Build-a-Bear Workshop and picking out a bunny. We were out of time, but I took the time to explain how to put her story onto the paper. I enthusiastically assured her that she had a wonderful story to tell and that I knew she could do it. Her story would be amazing, and I couldn’t wait to read it when I came back.

When I returned to the classroom a couple of days later, the little girl shyly showed me her completed story. She had done it! And it was beautiful. She had done exactly what we had talked about. Her writing, her sentences, her details–it was all perfect. Most importantly–she was so very proud. She ducked her head, unable to hide the proud smile as I told her what an amazing job she’d done.

It occurred to me that this was an example of the moment we all work toward. Every bus driver, janitor, paraprofessional, secretary, teacher, administrator–we all work for a child to have this moment. This little second grader had obviously learned so much from this activity, but perhaps more importantly–she knew she’d learned. She’d learned, and she felt successful and confident in that learning. Hopefully, next time she’s asked to write something, she’ll remember that she can, that she’d been successful before, and that she is a good writer.

I want to give a big shout-out to Mrs. Garringer for her hard work in helping her students learn how to tell their wonderful stories about the best gift ever. When some of her students struggled, Mrs. Garringer worked with them until every single one of them was successful and felt that success.

And I want to give a big shout-out to everyone in the district and the community. From the daily work of cleaning our facilities, to the transportation and food services, to the tax dollars, to the teaching and administration of education… this is what we work for. This beautiful moment is what we work for.

And if we are lucky, every once in a while, we get to be a part of a beautiful moment that lets us know we’ve succeeded.

Here’s wishing all of you many beautiful moments with your families to finish off 2023. May we all work hard to make the upcoming 2024 full of many more beautiful moments of learning and success in Emmett School District.

Our district Facebook and Instagram pages are active with lots of information. If you haven’t already, please connect with us through those platforms.

As always, our doors are always open to communication, suggestions, and feedback. Please feel free to call and make an appointment with any of our district admin. We also have open-door office hours available for anyone to drop by the district office from 2:00-3:00 on the Wednesday following a school board meeting. We also have online Feedback forms available on our website.

You can also always email any questions to info@isd221.net.For other contact links, see below!