March 9, 2021
It’s hard to believe but Friday, March 12th marks the end of the third quarter. Students will be released at noon in order for teachers to complete grades and prepare for parent-teacher conferences which will be held on March 17th and 18th. Teachers will meet with parents either remotely or in person. Indianhead Academy completes its fourth session on March 18th and begins its final session on March 29th. Spring break is March 22nd – 26th.
Pioneer School held their annual Reading Week to celebrate and promote reading the week of February 23rd. The week was filled with activities, dress up days, and great stories. Park School continues to promote positive themes for students each month, and their current focus is on promoting personal responsibility within the school community.
Teachers and administrators at both schools have participated in a professional development collaborative this year that includes four local school districts. Presented by Education Northwest, the cooperative is focused on improving literacy skills for elementary students.
Each spring counselors and administrators at WHS meet with every 8th – 11th grade student and their parents to review and update the student’s 4-year graduation plan. It is a huge undertaking and the effort takes several weeks to complete. The meetings serve as a tremendous effort to keep students on track and help them to successfully plan for their graduation requirements and course options.
As part of our state and school district’s federal accountability system, we are required to survey students, parents, and staff each spring in order to obtain feedback on school programming. The results become part of each school’s State Report Card, which is updated annually and can be found at: https://idahoschools.org/. We launched our surveys on Monday.
Although all students have been able to receive free school meals this year as a result of the USDA meal waiver due to the pandemic, I encourage ALL families to complete a Free or Reduced Meal Application. School funding and some grants that we apply for are based on poverty levels within our district, as measured by the percentage of students who qualify to receive free/reduced meals. Additionally, we are told that another round of P-EBT cards for families may be made available, and that a family may not be considered for the benefit unless they have completed an application and met the designated thresholds. In short – submitted applications still matter.
Activities are in full swing around the district. The HS spring musical, The Lady Pirates of Captain Bree, will be in action on March 8, 10, 12, and 13. Limited attendance has been approved in accordance with current gathering guidelines in Idaho.
Students at WMS continue to compete in their SRV academic competitions. The high school FFA held their annual Community Appreciation Breakfast on February 27th and has begun spring competitions. And, Robotics and HS cheer competition seasons are now underway as well.
Winter sports have wrapped up at WMS and WHS and spring sports have begun. We are proud of the efforts of our wrestlers who placed 4th at the State Championships, and both our girls and boys basketball teams who qualified for a state play-in opportunity.
Finally, I want to thank our community fans for their cooperation during our winter seasons. We began winter sports with no fans allowed in attendance at games, and moved through 4-5 updated attendance plans as new updates and requirementswere released by the Governor and State Board of Education. Each time we responded immediately with an updated plan for Weiser. We finished winter activities given the approval to allow fans, students, cheerleaders, and bands at games. Due to state mandates, we asked fans to wear face coverings at all times while attending events. Cooperation in Weiser was tremendous, especially compared to cooperation in other local districts. Many patrons complied with the mask request even though they may have disagreed with it. We truly appreciate the cooperation and parent and fan effort to help us continue to offer opportunities to our student-athletes, students, and Weiser community while working to keep our school community healthy and comply with state directives.
Thank you for your continued support!
