Board Summary

Mrs. Brock

Following this evening's board meeting, we are pleased to confirm the appointment of Mrs. Karen Brock as the new principal of Syracuse Elementary School. Mrs. Brock, previously the Principal at Waterford Elementary School in Goshen, brings extensive experience and a strong commitment to excellence in elementary education.

Selected through a round-robin style interview process involving approximately 40 community members, Mrs. Brock plans to implement a comprehensive long-range plan addressing the needs of all students and staff. She spent the day at Syracuse Elementary, meeting students and staff, and expressed her enthusiasm for leading the school into a new era. We look forward to the positive impact she will undoubtedly make in our community.

Centralized Registration

We are excited to announce a new centralized process for registering new students in our district, set to begin next school year. While returning students will continue to use the online registration process available later in the summer, all new students and families will now register at the Wawasee Schools Central Office.

This centralization will allow us to collect all necessary information in one location and standardize our procedures for new students. After completing the registration at the central office, appointments will be made with individual schools to cover building-specific items, including tours, meetings with key staff members, and receiving important school information to ensure a smooth start for new students.

We believe this streamlined process will make it easier for families to receive essential information and for us to gather the necessary details from new families. We are currently finalizing our workflows and will implement the new procedures over the summer.

BRIDGE Program

Mrs. Phillips, Director of Special Services and Mrs. Henn, Assistant Director of Special Services presented on the newly installed BRIDGE program. The BRIDGE program is for students in grades 6-8 who need a more structured environment in the continuum of services for students with emotional disabilities and intense behavioral needs. The alternative setting supports students with academic, social, and behavioral challenges. The BRIDGE classroom focuses on the idea of smaller groups, a more close-knit environment, and one-on-one attention.

The BRIDGE program classroom aims to equip students with the tools they need to transition into the general education classroom setting successfully. This is accomplished through the following:

• Individualized Support: Tailoring our teaching and interventions to meet the unique needs of each student, recognizing that every child is different.

• Emotional Well-being: Creating a caring and accepting atmosphere that promotes emotional growth and stability, helping students develop self-awareness and coping skills.

• Academic Excellence: Delivering a high-quality education that ensures students acquire essential academic skills and knowledge, enabling them to succeed in future educational pursuits and life.

• Social Skills Development: Providing opportunities for positive social interactions, building peer relationships, and enhancing communication skills to facilitate successful integration into the broader community.

• Parent and Guardian Collaboration: Collaborating closely with parents and guardians to create a supportive partnership that maximizes each student’s potential.

• Continuous Improvement: Continually evaluating our practices and programs to ensure they align with best practices in special education, striving for excellence in all aspects of our classroom.

This program is seeing great success with a large decrease in disciplinary behavior issues as well as an increase in daily attendance.

We are thrilled to announce the establishment of the Health Services Discretionary Fund, generously funded by the K21 Health Foundation. This initiative will significantly enhance our district’s health services by providing direct financial support to our school nurses. With this fund, our nurses can promptly address students' immediate and preventative healthcare needs without the constraints of budgetary approvals, ensuring timely and effective care.

At the May 14th board meeting, Rich Haddad, President and CEO of the K21 Health Foundation, presented a $10,000 check to officially launch this initiative. We are deeply grateful for the foundation’s generous support and look forward to the positive impact this fund will have on our students.

We are pleased to provide an update on the new CTE program partnership between Wawasee Schools and Polywood, approved by the board last December for the Pathways co-op. Over the past few months, Polywood and Pathways leadership have developed this program, including the hiring of Jeremy McKenzie, a 16-year Polywood employee, as the program's teacher. Mr. McKenzie, while remaining a Polywood employee.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) outlines the terms: Polywood will cover the teacher's salary and benefits, while Wawasee Community School Corporation will reimburse Polywood with the CTE funds received for this program, any tuition from out-of-district students, and an additional $3,000 to cover the teacher's educational responsibilities outside of regular school days.

Employment:

Karen Brock - SES Principal.

Sheila Adams - WHS 2nd Shift Custodian.

Michael Beer - SES 2nd Shift Custodian.

Marisela Melendez - SES 2nd Shift Custodian.

Stephanie Platz - WHS 2nd Shift Custodian

Peyton Maxwell - WHS Girls’ Soccer Varsity Assistant

Leave of Absence:

Kristina Long - SES 4th Grade

Retirement:

Paula Fiscus - Secondary Instructional Leadership Support Specialist.

Carol Speicher - Wawasee Middle School Secretary.

Resignations:

Aaron McKinley - WHS Building Trades effective June 1, 2024.

Tammy Plastow - SES Special Services

Erica Benetiz - WHS Cafeteria Manager.

Kimberly Busselberg - WHS Cafeteria

Kayley Drummond - WELC

Angelica Galindo - WHS Cafeteria

Myranda Stewart - WMS Guidance Counselor Secretary

Chelsea Beer - WHS Head Fall and Winter Cheerleading Coach

• Northern Lakes Realty - WHS Academic Hall of Fame
  

• Kiwanis Club of Lakeland - WHS Academic Hall of Fame

• Kiwanis Club of Lakeland - WHS Key Club

• DSI - WHS Band

• Ace Pest Control - WHS Band

• Poly-Wood - WHS Band

• Syracuse Bud’s Body Shop - WHS Drama

• Pete & Kristin Bonner - WHS Drama

• The Blackbaud Giving Fund - North Webster Elementary

• K21 Foundation - $10,000 - Wawasee Community Schools - K21 Health Services Discretionary Fund

The School Board recognizes the value of public comment on educational issues and the importance of allowing members of the public to express themselves on School Corporation matters. This month the following patrons spoke:

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To find more information about making a patron comment at monthly board meetings, click HERE. Under Bylaws - po0167.3

• Financial Report - See Graphic Below

The charts below are presented to the board each month by Dr. Penrod, recapping the total revenue and expenditures from our four main school funds. This month their are two summary reports. This comes from the transfer of funds from Lake City Bank to Interra Credit Union.