News of the Huskies

We are just days away from starting the 2021-2022 school year. The first day is Monday, August 23. I’m excited to welcome your children back.

Principals and school secretaries have been back nearly two weeks and teachers and support staff begin Tuesday, August 17.

When I was hired, I placed a heavy emphasis on relationship building, and I’m happy to say we’ve had a great start to that this year. Earlier this week our principals and administrators spent a full day with a phenomenal school leader Randy L. Russell. Mr. Russell wrote The 3 Ships - Relationships, Leadership, and Partnerships. People were buzzing after our day-long session. I know the information was relevant and will help take the Emmett School District to the next level, because I’ve said all along, “it comes down to building relationships with students, fellow educators and the community.”

Tuesday morning, we welcome nationally known motivational speaker and educator Todd Whitaker. Every employee will hear him Tuesday morning for two hours. Mr. Whitaker has written or co-authored nearly 50 books aimed at improving education. But it’s not just for teachers. He’s going to deliver a message that should resonate with every employee, from the secretary at the front desk to the person driving your student to school.

As a district, we’ve focused on consistency and improved communication with one goal in mind: What’s best for our students.

I sense some anxiety over the growing fear of the Delta variation of COVID, but let’s remember that Emmett School District was one of the few in the Treasure Valley schools that provided face-to-face education for all but a few days. We plan to do the same. If you didn’t read the letter I sent last week, find it here. We don’t plan to have a mask mandate. We will follow the same process as last year to reduce spread and we have a better understanding of how to cope during this pandemic.

We have a handy one-sheet guide attached here that you may want to print and hang on the refrigerator.

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Here is the link to the new school year calendars. The bell schedules are also there. Please take time to look at them.They are different.

The secondary shift from trimester to semester provides students with better access to more electives and to match most, if not all, other high schools in the Treasure Valley and beyond.

We also have a comprehensive Super School District Calendar with the hope we can include all the critical dates and Emmett High School activities. By next week, it will also be located at the bottom of each school website.

August 17: Teachers and staff return from summer break

August 19: Open House - Elementary Schools are open 5-7 pm and Secondary Schools are open 6-8 pm.

August 23: First Day of School

September 6: Labor Day, no school

September 17: Home Team Football Breakfast - 7 to 9 am at Emmett High School; RSVP; donations accepted. The Football team will serve.

September 17: Seniors present their projects for review by a panel of judges, beginning at 9 am.

September 18: AAA Boosters Quarter Craze Fundraiser!

September 27: Homecoming Week begins.

October 1: Homecoming Parade and Game.

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Three of the Emmett School Board’s six seats are up for election in November. The deadline to file your intention to run for one of those three seats is 5 pm Friday, September 3, with the Emmett School District Board Clerk.

The three seats are held by Ronnie Weeks, Ross Walker and Zach Higgins and it’s not known if they plan to seek re-election. If more than three people file for the seats, then the three who receive the most votes will be sworn into office in January when the new four-year terms begin.

Because the Emmett School District is a specially chartered school district, established before Idaho became a state, trustees don’t represent zones like they do in other school districts. Emmett’s trustees are elected in a county-wide election and may live anywhere within the Emmett School District. Read the full press release.

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We’ve talked about this fabulous opportunity where people can fill the needs of students and families via the Purposity App and how wonderful it is when people fill the needs. We have nearly 200 followers now and many people have been generous. Once school starts, we will identify needs and you can help.

However, we’ve found that people often forget to check the app to see if there are new needs. And of course there are needs.

Purposity recognizes that it has not figured out how to remind our faithful followers to check for new needs.

We hope this serves as a gentle reminder to either put the app on your phone or go check to see if there’s a “need” that you would like to fulfil.

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This is the sixth edition of the Emmett School District Newsletter. It’s designed to celebrate the good and important news in the Emmett School District.

We will continue to distribute press releases on immediate news and share information on the web and Facebook. If you have an idea or want to contribute something, please email Public Information Officer Vickie Holbrook.