D91 Update Nov 8, 2024

This week has been a tremendous reminder of our community’s deep commitment to education. With a 64.61% approval of the levy, your support for our teachers and students shines through, and we are incredibly grateful.

Idaho Falls School District is dedicated to being responsible stewards of your investment in our children. We will continue to expand educational opportunities, ensuring that every child has the resources and support needed to reach their full potential. Together, we are building a district that serves as a beacon of opportunity for all our students.

We’re on an inspiring path forward, and with your support, we are paving the way for lasting success and achievement for our students. Thank you for standing with us!

Superintendent Karla LaOrange

Bridger Taylor of Eagle Rock Middle School shares what he likes about the Intervention Model.

With the launch of the new Intervention Model, a renewed focus on Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), and our continued emphasis on student success, we know teachers and staff are working tirelessly to support every student’s learning journey. As we implement these initiatives, you may have questions about the changes, or even about processes that remain the same. Please feel free to submit any inquiries through the following link: Ask the Superintendent

The Idaho Falls School District Board of Trustees place the highest priority on the safety of students and staff. To enhance security, the Board is working with the district to equip all D91 schools with dual-entry systems.

Dual entry involves two sets of locked doors at each school. Visitors must first buzz the office, identify themselves, and state the purpose of their visit. School staff can see the visitor via security cameras before unlocking the initial door. The second door, which leads to the office, must also be unlocked by school staff. Once inside the office, visitors are required to check in, sign a visitor log that records their name, date, time, and purpose of their visit. After completing these steps, an office staff member unlocks the door to the main hallway.

In addition to dual entry, the Board is implementing a new visitor screening system in each school. This system will scan a visitor's driver’s license to check background information for those accessing areas beyond the office. The system also logs the visitor's details and prints a badge featuring a photo, enabling all school staff to verify that the visitor has completed the screening process.

We are grateful to the Idaho Falls School Board for their dedication to creating a safe environment for everyone in our schools. Please watch for future updates about the screening system and dual entry projects in upcoming newsletters.

Excitement is in the air at Eagle Rock Middle School as they prepare to launch a transformative program designed to nurture student leadership, foster a culture of trust, and boost academic success. Under the guidance of Principal Jeff Davis and the school’s dedicated leadership team, Eagle Rock is set to implement the Leader in Me program, and their enthusiasm is contagious!

The Leader in Me program is a powerful approach that encourages students to discover and develop their leadership potential, both in the classroom and beyond. By promoting essential life skills like responsibility, teamwork, and goal setting, this program lays a foundation for lifelong success. The commitment of Eagle Rock’s leadership team to bring this vision to life has been inspiring, and the impact of their work is sure to resonate across the entire school community.

We’re thrilled to have Eagle Rock Middle School lead the way in rolling out Leader in Me! Let’s dive deeper with the Eagle Rock Leadership Team to learn more about how this incredible program will shape the future for our students. Here’s to empowering every student to lead and succeed!

The state of Idaho program provides eligible parents and guardians grant funds to purchase education-related items and services for their students.

Idaho students ages 5-18 are eligible. Income eligibility is based on the parent or guardian’s Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) for the prior year as verified by the Idaho Tax Commission.

Eligible families may receive $1,000 per student and a maximum of $3,000 per family.

Applications will close when funding is exhausted, so apply right away!

Apply at empoweringparents.idaho.gov.

Idaho recently passed a new law that requires parental consent before any non-life threatening medical services can be provided to minors. This includes mental health care, which also requires parent approval. You can learn more about the services offered by Idaho Falls School District at the here.

Additionally, the new law requires parent consent if a student wishes to be called by a name at school that differs from their legal name.

To provide consent for non-life threatening medical services, mental health care, or a name different from your child’s legal name, simply log in to your PowerSchool Parent portal.

We value our partnership with parents and appreciate your help in sharing your preferences to best support your student!

Parent Teacher conferences for the elementary schools are coming December 4-5. These meetings provide an opportunity for parents and teachers to discuss a student’s progress, strengths, and areas where support may be needed. Here are some things you can do before you go to get the most out of the conference.

1. Review Progress Reports and Grades
   Check any report cards, recent grades, or comments from the teacher to understand your child's progress and identify any areas needing attention.

2. Talk with Your Child
   Ask your child if they have any concerns, if they like or struggle with certain subjects, and how they feel about their progress and social experiences at school.

3. List Questions and Concerns
   Prepare a list of specific questions or concerns about your child’s academics, social interactions, or behaviors to address during the conference. Examples:

• How is my child performing compared to grade-level expectations?

• Are there areas where they need additional support?

• How are they interacting with classmates?

4. Bring Relevant Documentation
   Bring previous progress reports, notes from past conferences, or any assessments (like test scores or special education evaluations) that might provide context.

5. Review School Policies
   Be familiar with policies on grading, discipline, attendance, and homework to better understand any feedback.

The District Calendar Committee has been meeting and working on calendar for the next three school years. Committee members include teachers, parents, administrators, and classified staff. Board policy requires that the committee develop three different calendar options to the board. The committee will present 2025-2026 calendar options to the board in February.

Developing a calendar seems like a simple process until you start to dig into all the state requirements and needs of our D91 community. Some of these requirements include meeting state required instructional hours. Not meeting this requirement can impact funding. Even early release days can impact the number of instructional hours. Not meeting this requirement can impact funding so the committee is careful in how instructional days are assigned.

The day of the week for Christmas has a large influence on the timing of Christmas break. Other holidays also impact how the school calendar is developed. Holidays and breaks can also drive the start and end dates for school. The list of considerations is long and each one can alter the school calendar.

These are just a few of the factors the committee must consider in developing a calendar. It’s a big task to develop a calendar that meets state requirements, the needs of educators and our families. Watch for calendar proposal updates in future editions of the newsletter.

• Nov 11: Veterans Day
• Nov 22: End of 1st Trimester
• Nov 25-29: Thanksgiving Break, No School
• Dec 4-5: Parent Teacher Conference- Elementary Schools
• Dec 23-Jan 6: Christmas Break, No School

To give our community the information they need to try and make a difference in this fight, the City of Idaho Falls is planning a special community Town Hall on Fentanyl from 6:30 pm to 8 pm on Tuesday, Nov. 19, at Taylorview Middle School.

Discussion will include:

• Learn how the community can make a difference in battling the nationwide fentanyl epidemic.
• Hear from the U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit, local law enforcement officials, and local healthcare and recovery experts.
• Find out what is happening with fentanyl on the national, state, and local level.
• Connect with community partners sharing resources on how to keep families safe or how to respond in a crisis.

Come learn how you can do to make a difference.

Time to start preparing for the 2025 District Musical. This year it will be Guys and Dolls. Auditions will be Nov 13th, 4-6:30 pm at the Skyline Choir room and Nov 14th, 4-6:30 pm at the Idaho Falls Choir room. Auditions are open to all district students grades 7th through 12th. Performance dates are April 11-12, and April 14-15 at Compass Academy.

Linden Park had an EPIC celebration this week. Their students passed a record number of iReady Math lessons during the month of DODGETOBER (also known as October). The class that passed the most lessons from each grade got to play dodgeball versus teachers, staff, police officers, and parents! Even Plory, the beloved iReady character, came to cheer on our awesome kids! What a fun way to celebrate!!

What a great weekend for the IFHS Choir program at the National Association of Teachers of Singing Competition at BYU-Idaho on Saturday. Six different singers placed, including a two-time winner and a clean sweep in one entire category.

Here is a look at the winners:

Lower High School Musical Theater: 1st Lucy Marlowe, 3rd Henry Johnson

Upper High School Classical: 1st Grace Barfuss, 3rd Madisyn Page

Upper High School Musical Theater: 1st Grace Barfuss, 2nd Eliza Ritchie, 3rd Lizzie Bird

Congratulations to all the talented singers.

Good luck to our D91 swimmers at the 5A state meet this weekend in Boise. The boys and girls district champion Idaho Falls Tigers have 17 swimmers competing at state. The Skyline Grizzlies have 15 swimmers who qualified. The state meet is Friday and Saturday, November 8-9 at the West Ada YMCA. Go Tigers! Go Grizzlies!

The top seeded Skyline Grizzlies will tackle Twin Falls Saturday in the 5A state quarterfinals. Kickoff is set for 3 pm at the ICCU Dome (formerly Holt Arena) in Pocatello. Skyline started the playoffs last week by knocking out Nampa 42-14. The Grizzlies are gunning for a fourth state title in five years. Let's go, Grizz!!

Congratulations to Skyline Boys Cross Country for winning the 5A State Cross Country championship. It was a great day for D91. The Idaho Falls boys finished second by ONE POINT behind the Grizzlies. Caleb Boyle was the individual state runner-up for the Tigers. The Idaho Falls girls finished 4th with Jaycee Jensen also taking 4th. Nice work from all our D91 runners.

Congratulations to Idaho Falls Volleyball for taking 3rd place at the 5A state tournament at the Mountain American Center last weekend. The District Champions got wins over Columbia and Pocatello on their to earning the program's first state trophy in eight years. Way to go, Lady Tigers!

Dora Erickson Elementary: Crossing Guard-Part-time

Temple View Elementary: Special Program Aide-Limited Full-time

CTEC: Health Occupations C.N.A Clinical Supervisor

Eagle Rock Middle School: Kitchen Worker-Limited Full-time

Eagle Rock Middle School: Title I Tutor Limited Full-time

Eagle Rock Middle School: Night Custodian-Full-time

See all current openings here.