Your Ellensburg Schools

Hello Friends,

We've made it through the holidays, first semester and, hopefully, the worst of the winter weather.

We hope the guidelines we've shared have helped with these wintery days. ESD is fortunate to have the support of the City of Ellensburg and Kittitas County. Their crews have been working overnight and into the wee hours of the morning to ensure that our streets and roads are safe for buses so our students can safely attend school.

We also have exceptional teams that keep us going. Our Facilities team has been coming in early and working long hours to clear snow and ice. Our Custodial team is working hard to keep up with snow and ice during the day, as well as all the messes the weather brings. A special thank you to our Transportation team for getting all of our riders to school safely! We don't necessarily want more snow, but watching our students enjoy the snow has been a delight.

January mark School Board Appreciation month, and we were able to thank our Board at the Jan. 24 Board meeting. If you think they only go to meetings twice a month, you have no idea how time consuming and difficult these positions can be. Thank you to our elected volunteer officials who spend countless hours working to support our schools and students.

Your Partner in Education,

Troy Tornow

Superintendent

Ellensburg School District Board of Directors were honored for their volunteer service to our community on Jan. 24 in recognition of Board Appreciation Month. Superintendent Troy Tornow presented members with certificates of appreciation and a box of candy. Thank you to our Board of Directors!

Pictured (left to right) are Student Representatives to the Board Amare Thorn and Mac Steele, Board President Mike Rowley, Tosha Woods, Cathie Day, Cindy Coe, and Madeline deMaintenon.

ESD 105 is seeking nominations for Regional Educator of the Year Award winners. Anyone can make a nomination for regional awards including peers, school/district administrators, students and community members. Regional Teacher of the Year and Regional Classified Employee of the Year award winners advance to OSPI's state recognition program where one individual from each category is selected to advance to the national competition. New this year is the Regional Principal of the Year Award. Deadlines are in March.

Learn more and submit nominations online at https://www.esd105.org/.../regional.../regional-awards-105

ESD principals gather every Monday morning to meet with Superintendent Troy Tornow. During the weekly meeting, each principal shares the progress they are making and the lessons learned in achieving their WIG.

WIG stands for Wildly Important Goals. At the onset of the school year, each principal worked with staff to identify the goals they hope to achieve this year. Over the past month, principals have been sharing their WIGs with the ESD Board. The final reports from the Early Learning Center and Choice Schools are on tap for the Feb. 28 meeting of the Board.

To show their enthusiasm and appreciation, principals surprised Superintendent Tornow with brightly colored (and often hilarious) wigs to brighten a gloomy January Monday. Thank you to our principals for leading this important work with a smile!

Pictured (left to right) are: EHS Principal Beau Snow, MMS Principal Michelle Bibich, Lincoln Principal Del Heistand, Valley View Principal Rob Moffat, (seated) Ida Principal JoAnne Duncan, Mt. Stuart Principal Melisssa Singletary, Executive Director of Teaching and Learning Jen Kuntz, Director of Early Learning Juli Hamilton, Choice Schools Principal Haley Naboychik, and Superintendent Troy Tornow.

The Ellensburg School District Education Foundation (ESDEF) invites you to the 11th Annual Super Bowl Warm Up Party on Feb. 9 from 5:30-9 p.m. in Teanaway Hall at the Kittitas County Events Center.

The adults-only evening will feature games, prizes, a silent auction and Fund-A-Need, as well as a delicious dinner provided by Ellensburg Pasta Company. A no-host bar will be provided. Tickets are $55 per person, and can be purchased online at https://www.esdef.net/annual-event-tickets/

Since 2001, the ESDEF has been working to enhance programs, equipment, and services available to the Ellensburg public school students and staff. Additionally the group acts as a fiscal agent for scholarships and donations. ESDEF also sponsors Caring Cupboard, providing help with emergency needs including food, clothing, eyeglasses, supplies, fees and personal items. Since 2014, ESDEF has provided more than $27,000 in items to help students in emergency situations.

Ellensburg School District’s Board of Directors is seeking input from the community as they hire a permanent superintendent to lead the District.

The Board is asking students, staff, teachers, parents and community members to participate in a survey to better understand the viewpoints of stakeholders. The survey is available in English and in Spanish. The survey is confidential. The results will be tabulated and presented to the Board by Northwest Leadership Associates, the firm that is conducting the search on behalf of the District. The Board will narrow the list of applicants in an Executive Session on Feb. 7, armed with the input of our community from this survey.

On Feb. 10, selected candidates will be invited to the first-round interviews. If you would like to be on the first-round interview team, please complete an interest survey in English or Spanish.

Both surveys are also available on the District website in the Superintendent Search materials found on the front page.

Feb 10 first-round interviews are scheduled from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and participants will need to attend the entire day. The first-round interview panel will consist of 15 District representatives (parents, students, staff members, administrators, and community members) as well as our Board of Directors. The panel participants will be selected at random to include an equal proportion of District stakeholders.

From the first-round interviews, the Board will identify up to three candidates to participate in final interviews Feb. 12-14. Each of the candidates will be interviewed by various groups throughout their day-long interview.There will be an opportunity for the community to interact with each candidate at Special Board Meetings on Feb. 12, 13, and 14 at 5 p.m. at Ida Nason Aronica Elementary. No RSVP is required and the meeting is open to all members of the community.

Referrals for Highly Capable services are currently being received for students in grades K-8. The purpose of the District's Highly Capable programs is to meet the unique needs of students who demonstrate exceptional ability, academic achievement and creativity. If your child or a child that you know shows signs of being intellectually advanced, please consider referring him/her for Highly Capable services. The referral form should be submitted to the district by Friday, February 9.

Referrals can be submitted on-line at https://www.esd401.org/students-families/student-services/highly-capable under "Referral & Forms."

Referral forms can also be obtained from building secretaries or by calling Gemma Wolfenbarger at the District Office, 925-8447.

Our dietitian Charlotte, and Farm to School Coordinator Jen spent an afternoon with 4th graders at Ida Nason Aronica Elementary School talking about apples, the first lesson in a four-part nutrition series based on WA agricultural products.

Students across the district will be participating over the next few months. This lesson was all about apples: how they grow, their healthful benefits for our bodies, and science-based taste testing.

This project was funded by the Healthy Meals Incentive grant ESD Child Nutrition received last summer. Judging from the smiles, this lesson was a huge success.

Students at Lincoln Elementary spent a morning assembly with NED, a cartoon character whose name is an acronym for Never give up, Encourage others, and Do your best. Through NED's journey to exotic locales he learns some valuable lessons about how to be his best self, while helping others achieve the same.

If you've been to any schools this month, you have likely seen children frolicking happily in the snow. For Mt. Stuart Kindergarten students in Schelaine Barnsley's class, the snow is not only fun, but provides a great canvas for little painters. In addition to their outdoor art, students are growing crystal snowflakes in their classroom.

Meanwhile, Special Education teacher John Giesin shoveled snow from an outdoor play area into a hill for students to ride sleds. He thoroughly tested the hill for safety, before opening it for students to enjoy for the season.

Thank you Mrs. Barnsley and Mr. Giesin for making snow even more fun for our students!

Students and families enjoyed Art Night at Ida Nason Elementary. The event was co-sponsored by Ali White and 4-H.

"It was such a fun, messy (in all the best ways), and inspiring night!," says Principal JoAnne Duncan. "Watching all that creativity and hearing all the laughter was pure joy."

Students created art that will be submitted to the Kittitas County Fair. Be on the lookout in August for some great student art!

After weeks of plotting and planning, the donut shops were opened! Valley View 4th grade teacher Heather Butchart’s students designed, created, staffed and opened their own in-class donut shops in a fun-filled project-based math exercise.

In the design phase, students had to decide on how many square feet of space they would rent, considering that a smaller space would serve fewer customers, but a larger space would cost more in rent. Students then created a menu, which included determining the cost of materials and the profit margins for each selection on the menu. Next, students used more math skills to hire an employee. Among the questions they had to answer were: “How will you find people to hire?” and “What is a reasonable rate to pay an employee?”

With their Dioramas, floor plans, business plans, and menus in place, the students invited family and guests to Donut Shop Opening Day. Thank you to Heather Butchart for creating this enjoyable and memorable math experience for her students!

The latest installation at Gallery One, a mini golf course, is brought to you by Morgan Middle School students from Josh Humphrey's woodworking class. Students went on a field trip to the gallery to install their class-designed project.

According the Gallery One website, anyone can grab a ball and putter and play for free. However, competitive players are invited to purchase a scorecard for $5. Submit your card with scores for a chance to win the Lucky Duck Lego trophy made by Pat Stanton, one of two $50 Gallery Gift Card or Two 18 Hole Rounds of Golf w/ Cart at the Ellensburg Golf Club. Winners will be announced on February 29.

Even if you don't play golf, take a few minutes to stop by and see the handy work of our students! Thank you Mt. Humphrey for extending learning into the community!

The District’s Orchestra teacher Kara Hunnicutt has been named the Outstanding Orchestra Director for the Washington Chapter of the American String Teachers Association (W-ASTA).

She will be recognized at an award ceremony, February 16 at 6:30 p.m. during the Washington Music Educators Associate State Convention in Yakima.

Hunnicutt teaches orchestra at every grade level offered. She has been an orchestra teacher for more than 22 years, most of those in Ellensburg.

Congratulations and thank you for your dedication to the music profession and the students of Ellensburg!