November meeting, Tuesday November 8.

The November School Board meeting is light on “action” items, with only a review of bills and extra duty contract on the agenda.  The board meeting will have a teacher’s report and the Board will continue the discussion of a vision statement.  Last year the board approved a vision of an “individualized instructional program designed to ensure students are prepared for work and/or college after high school.”  We will review that vision and potentially add to it. 

Brandon Brown Bio

Mr. Brandon Brown is the newest member of the Shoshone School District Board of Trustees. He was raised in Shoshone and is a graduate of Shoshone High School.  After High school he attended College of Southern Idaho and received a Associates of Arts degree.  He then matriculated to Idaho St. University where he graduated with high honors in zoology and microbiology.  After college he returned to Shoshone and has worked for the Bureau of Land Management Fire and Aviation Program for 16 years.  During that time he has been very active in our community with many volunteer activities.  He was appointed to the board in September of 2011. 

Where are we going?

Moving forward, the Shoshone School District has a plan to improve the school.  The plan is based on a large research project designed to indentify “characteristics of high-performing schools.”  Conversely, the study also looked at “characteristics of underperforming schools.”  Our objective is to change the “characteristics” our school has from those of underperforming schools, to those of high performing schools.  During the last year, each month, the district selected one of the nine characteristics.  During that month, the school board and staff received training on that characteristic.  Beyond training, both the board and staff discussed how to implement that characteristic.  Check out the Superintendent Blog for postings of brief synopsis of each of the characteristics.  Each of the characteristics is listed below.  If you ever wonder, what is the plan for our school?  The plain is to continue to move towards a district that exhibits each of these characteristics.  When we exhibit each of these characteristics, we will be “high performing” school! 

Clear and shared focus

High standards and expectations for all students

Effective leadership

High levels of collaboration

Curriculum, instruction and assessment aligned with standards

Frequent monitoring of teaching and learning

Focused professional development

Supportive learning environment

High levels of family involvement in the learning process

October meeting highlights

The October meeting of the Shoshone School Board will take place on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 7:00 in the High School art room.  In addition to school board training, the two main agenda items for consideration deal with teachers and students.  As part of the "Students Come First" legislative package passed this past spring, a requirement is that at least 50% of teacher evaluation be based on student achievement.  Upon the law being passed, the Shoshone district formed a committee to put a plan in place that will hopefully meet the new requirements.  The work of this committee is on the agenda for approval.  Upon approval of both the local board and the state of Idaho, teachers will be evaluated using both the Danielson model and student achievement. 

The other main agenda item, is approval of the so called "alternative route" to graduation.  This plan has been in place for several years, however, recent technology updates have prompted the state to request plan updates.  This plan is a plan for students that do not pass all the relevant ISAT tests to still graduate by using this so called "alternative route."  The major change will be students that do not meet the required ISAT score will have to retest using the PLATO system.  The PLATO system then assigns lessons based on the areas students did not do well on.  Students will then have to complete the lessons to graduate.