Where has the time gone? We are approaching Thanksgiving and will have Christmas Break right around the corner. Our students have been so unbelievably busy and successful at the same time.
A huge highlight recently was the fact that we had a National Champion in the Agriscience Fair at the FFA National Convention. Congratulations to Aidyn Fisher on this awesome accomplishment. Aidyn's project was in the Power, Structural, and Technical Systems portion of the science fair. This same project qualified Aidyn for the International Science Fair in California earlier this year. If you get a chance, stop and visit with Aidyn about this project; there is a lot to be proud of in this accomplishment.
It is not very often a school our size is represented at the national level. In addition to Aidyn, Layla Krinke also finished in 6th place at nationals for her agriscience fair project. Way to represent, Layla, and continue to strive for excellence.
At the school level, we have completed our fall NWEA testing. This testing is our local assessment and allows the teaching staff to dive into data to see the growth of each student, and the strengths and weaknesses as well. This data allows us to personalize some of the teaching and learning that takes place in our classrooms. It is important to analyze this data to make sure there are no gaps in our curriculum or negative trends in certain standards we are teaching our students.
This coming March, we have an accreditation review through Cognia. Every five years, we have an external review of our programs to make sure we are striving for continuous improvement. This review is quite extensive, and our staff and improvement team are putting in a large amount of time to prepare. A large portion of the review pertains to a self-assessment. This self-assessment includes 30 different standards in the following four areas: Culture of Learning, Leadership for Learning, Engagement of Learning, and Growth in Learning. For each of these areas, we must self-assess how we are doing as a school and provide evidence as to how we are meeting these standards. As with any improvement process, the most valuable aspect is the discussion and collaboration we are having as a school district to really do a deep dive into what we are doing well and how we can improve the student outcomes at Scranton Public School. We will continue to provide updates on this process as we get closer to our accreditation review in March.
Our student groups have been so active as we approach the holiday season. Everything from selling fruit and wreaths to collecting and preparing soldier boxes to send resources to troops overseas. We want to encourage our students to join these extracurricular activities. Our Student Council, FBLA, FFA, Honor Society, and others get out and provide community service projects and assist in teaching the importance of community.
School safety is another topic that we consistently try to address. This past week, we had some individuals come into our school and do an analysis of our building and grounds. Some of the items we were discussing were camera coverage and making sure our policies and procedures were up-to-date. Also on this day, we had a presentation for our staff pertaining to lockdowns. We conduct fire, tornado, and lockdown drills so we are prepared in that rare event that the real situation presents itself. This training assisted the staff with any questions they had on student safety as a whole.
As we move towards the holiday season, we look forward to our music concerts and other activities in the school. There is nothing better for school climate and culture than students, staff, and all stakeholders coming together to celebrate. Let's come together and enjoy the entertainment these events provide and celebrate the talents of our students. It is going to be a great month of December!
Once again, thank you to all of our stakeholders for the wonderful support of our students and staff. Happy Holidays to all!
Kelly Pierce
Superintendent