LPOSD Winter Newsletter 2020

Newsletter of the Lake Pend Oreille School District

At Southside Elementary, it’s full STEAM ahead!

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tudents at Southside Elementary School in the Lake Pend Oreille School District are getting a huge boost for their educational pursuits - in large part thanks to the efforts of Southside school librarian and technology teacher Lynette Leonard.

Not only did she help implement the STEAM (incorporates Arts into Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) curriculum at the school, Leonard was also one of two Idaho educators honored for their efforts this past year by the Idaho STEM Action Center with the INDEEDS (Industry’s Excellent Educators Dedicated to STEM) award.

The kudos are well-deserved, as Leonard is passionate about the STEAM curriculum and its benefits for local students. “The whole purpose is to help our kids gain the skills to be competitive with the rest of the nation,” Leonard said. “Our program is wonderful.”

So what does the STEAM curriculum look like? “Southside students take STEAM classes every Thursday, and get to choose the enrichment programs that sound interesting to them,” she explained. “Teachers decide what they’re going to teach, and let

students fill out first choice, second choice, and third choice.

The students get into one of their three choices. For example, there’s 3D printing, claymation, paper-making, gardening.” A unique feature about Southside’s program is that it is multi-age, available for students from kindergarten through sixth grade.

She said the school’s STEAM program started about five years ago with some of Southside’s teachers. “They had this vision Continued on back page

Lynette Leonard

Message from your Superintendent: Priorities for the year

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appy New Year! I hope this message finds everyone well as we are in the midst of winter and close to completing the midway point of the 2019-20 school year. I appreciate the great parent/guardian support each school receives as we create a working partnership in every student’s education.

The two most important factors for a student’s success are the relationship each teacher creates within the classroom community of learners and the level of involvement parents/ guardians have in the student’s education outside the classroom – those impromptu discussions around the dinner table and/or in the car about learning go a long way towards safeguarding a positive attitude about learning and problem-solving.

Midway through the year is also a good time to revisit the Lake Pend Oreille School District’s five priorities set by the school board based on extensive community input.

• Ensure academic success for every student • Engage our communities • Recruit, train, and retain highly effective personnel

• Utilize resources effectively and be fiscally responsible • Provide safe and innovative learning environments These priorities cannot happen without our community’s continuous support – THANK YOU! We are a unique district geographically which proudly support our rural schools in providing an education in smaller environments closer to students’ residences. In addition, I am proud of the important focus on each student working toward proficiency in reading, writing, math, and science as well as the transition of secondary students being prepared and ready for college and/or career. Given this focus, LPOSD staff will work extremely hard to provide students with the opportunities to achieve Tom Albertson these goals.

LPOSD #84 Superintendent

Newsletter • Winter 2020

Students’ social/emotional wellness a community effort

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t truly does take a village to make sure our students’ needs are being met. Just look at the incredible success with Panhandle Alliance For Education, a nonprofit that funds teacher grants and READY! For Kindergarten programs for parents. And the Sandpoint Rotary’s CHAFE bicycle ride each summer, which raised funds for students on the autism spectrum and now assists childhood literacy efforts.

Delving further into the social and emotional well-being of our community’s children, Kaniksu Health Services has assisted the Lake Pend Oreille School District in the implementation of their comprehensive wellness program by contributing to the purchasing of the K-6 social and emotional curriculum four years ago and providing mental health school clinics allowing students to access seeing a therapist.

“Sandpoint is a rural area and community partnerships are essential and without our partnership with Kaniksu Health Services LPOSD would not be able to provide the mental health services in the school” said Dr. Joy Jansen, Director of Special Education and Elementary School Counseling for LPOSD. Over the past seven years, Kaniksu has been helping serve students mental health needs.

Dr. Jansen notes that “LPOSD was the first district in Idaho to offer school-based mental health clinics without cost to the district.”

“After a successful pilot program at Southside three years ago, all elementary schools have had a mental health school clinic for the past two years and this year we have expanded it to the secondary level,” Jansen said. “Every one of our schools has a therapist in the building one day a week.”

She explains that one of the primary reasons school clinics were implemented is to serve rural areas, such as Hope and Clark Fork. “We want our students in rural schools to have the

Want to attend a school board meeting?

Board of Trustees meetings are held at 5 p.m. on the second Tuesday of every month in the Ponderay Events Center, 401 Bonner Mall Way in Ponderay. Here’s the schedule for the remainder of 2019/2020 school year:

Feb. 11, 2020 May 12, 2020 March 10, 2020 June 9, 2020 April 14, 2020

same access to services as Sandpoint students. Many students in our community live in hardship. When you consider the various effects of hardship, social and emotional well-being is a critical piece. LPOSD recognizes the social and emotional well-being of our students as a priority, as we acknowledge and understand the importance it has on students’ academic learning.”

Beyond the clinics, the social and emotional wellness curriculum in the district includes Second Step for students K-6, with two additional programs for 5th and 6th graders, WhyTry and Coping and Skills Training. On the secondary level, Sources of Strength is the primary social and emotional program.

District partnerships go beyond Kaniksu. Dr. Jansen states that “LPOSD works collaboratively with other mental health agencies as it is critical in meeting students’ needs.” Also, Dr. Jansen, with Dion Heller, Juvenile Probation Manager of Bonner County Justice Services, created a community collaborative the Bonner County Youth Mental Health Collaborative. The Collaborative is committed to the wellness and advocacy of youth, their families, and the community by developing and sustaining a collaborative effort that promotes mental health wellness prevention and awareness in Bonner County. Members of the collaborative are the North Idaho Community Mental Health, Kaniksu Healh Services, Sandpoint Psychotherapy, Bonner General Health, Bonner County Juvenile Justice Services, Department of Health and Welfare, Panhandle Health District, and several others. “In the end, community collaboration is a must to meet the mental health needs of our Bonner County youth mental health.”

A village, indeed.

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Newsletter • Winter 2020

Music outreach program launched in Clark Fork

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very other day — on “B” days ­­— 14 students at Clark Fork Jr./Sr. High School gather for their Intro to Performing Arts class. The main focus is choir, but they also learn other elements including theater, improv, audience etiquette, as well as perform in concerts.

The class is part of a pilot program launched this year at the school through the Music Conservatory of Sandpoint’s Music Matters outreach, and private funding covers the cost. Instructor Sarah Caruso, who has been at MCS for eight years, travels to Clark Fork every other school day to teach the class, and said the response has been extremely positive.

“The kids love it, and I’ve gotten really good feedback from the principal and the teachers,” Caruso said. “There’s a real value to this program. We believe that every child should have access to music. That’s our philosophy at the Conservatory. It’s so important for them to have an outlet.”

TEACHER FEATURE Kathleen Olsen

INSTRUCTIONAL COACH Lake Pend Oreille School District

How many years have you been coaching?

The 2019-2020 school year is my second year as an instructional coach. I have been in the education profession for 14 years.

What is an instructional coach?

An instructional coach partners with teachers and administrators to support them in bringing evidence-based practices into the classroom. Instructional coaches work with teachers, administrators, paraprofessionals, community members, and students to enhance teaching and learning practices. Typically, an instructional coach supports teachers who seek out advice on their practice or who are looking to challenge themselves by learning new strategies.

Why did you become an instructional coach?

I became an instructional coach to challenge myself in the field of education. I found that I not only loved teaching students, but also really enjoyed teaching professional development to adult learners. When the instructional coach position came open, I figured I would give it a shot

and would have been happy either way - to get the position or stay in the classroom. I was thrilled to be offered the position, but I also miss the classroom and students. Being an instructional coach has supported me on a journey to really focus on evidence-based instructional strategies, reflection both myself and encouraging others, and learning the ins and outs of education.

What’s the most rewarding part of your job?

The most rewarding part is working with the awesome teachers and students in the Lake Pend Oreille School District.

I love seeing teachers push their craft to the next level. Our school district’s teachers have such a passion for students, their learning, and well-being, I am proud to work here. The other part of my job that is so rewarding is seeing students learn, discover, and push themselves to do their best.

What’s the most challenging part of your job?

The most challenging part of my job is trying to meet the needs of all our K-12 staff. We have a lot of initiatives in our district and serving K-12 can be challenging to manage the time and get to every school and serve every need.

What do you want the community to know about our youth?

I want our community to know that our youth need a supportive community for them to grow, feel pride, and be successful. Our youth are amazing problem solvers and can meet challenges when skillfully taught to persevere, try new approaches, and believe in themselves. Sandpoint’s youth is imperative to our thriving community.

901 Triangle Drive Ponderay, Idaho 83852

Lake Pend Oreille School District #84 Newsletter

STEAM

Continued from front page

to give our kids 21st century skills. It started out really small, and as the years went on, we thought ‘hey, let’s try for STEM certification’.”

SNOW DAYS Curious about the process for school closures due to snow, ice, or other dangerous weather?

And now, Southside’s success is benefitting the entire LPOSD. “We know that some of the other schools have taken our pattern and started to do some of that,” Leonard said. “The middle school changed to some STEM electives, and other schools are asking questions about it.”

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Transportation department starts driving roads and checking conditions at 3 a.m.

The school received its official STEM certification in 2019, and is now going through the final steps to become a STEMdesignated school. “It’s a huge honor,” she said, as Southside is one of six schools in the state of Idaho to receive certification.

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Weather forecasts will be watched closely and communicated with the superintendent.

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A recommendation from the Transportation department will be given to the superintendent no later than 4:30 a.m. and the final call for a closure will be made no later than 5:30 a.m.

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If school is closed, all employees and parents will receive a phone message, a text (if registered to receive), and email about the closure.

“Certification is the first step. As far as certification goes, it’s a huge process. Parents, community members, and students are interviewed, and we have to submit a whole bunch of documentation. We have three more steps to go and then we’ll be a STEM-designated school.”

For students at Southside, the benefits of a STEAM curriculum can extend far beyond their elementary years. “A lot of students who are in STEM-designated schools can use this for scholarships,” Leonard said. “It shows that they have those skills, and it opens opportunities for them.”

SCHOOL CLOSURE HOTLINE IS 208-263-2312