SCHOLASTICS New Buffalo school board approves updated middle school schedule

Members of the New Buffalo Area Schools

Board of Education approved a six-period day middle school schedule at their Monday, Feb. 27, meeting.

Per the schedule, morning core classes, which are first through fourth hours, will each be 63 minutes. The afternoon will consist of 54-minute elective classes, which are fifth and sixth periods, which will be on a Blue and Gold alternating schedule. During a Blue Week, students will have their five blue and six blue classes Monday, Wednesday and Friday and their five gold and six gold classes Tuesday and Thursday. During a gold week, students will have their five gold and six gold classes Monday, Wednesday and Friday and their five blue and six blue classes Tuesday and Thursday.

New Buffalo Middle School Principal

Dan Caudle said that, in addition to a need to “continue to improve and show growth academically,” there’s also a need to “give our kids opportunities to find themselves, opportunities to take some risks to see and develop passions.”

Students in a Response to Intervention (RTI) class who are also in Spanish or band don’t get any opportunities for art or physical education.

Caudle said that, with regards to still supporting teachers in the core areas as well as elective teachers “so that they can give to our students all the things that they’re great at and they can instill some of their passions,” this was the best schedule.

“This is the schedule that I feel most comfortable with and that I feel they can grow future leaders and increase purpose,” he said.

BY FRANCESCA SAGALA

Board members accepted the resignation of Edward Fidler, high school math teacher, effective June 30, 2023.

“I am extremely proud to have been a part of such an incredible school and staff for 20 years,” Fidler said in his letter, adding that he’s been a teacher as well as a coach, club sponsor, advisor and colleague.

Board members received an update on elementary school happenings.

Students presented on several areas at the elementary school, such as Positive Behavior Intervention Supports (PBIS), where students can receive tickets and classes can receive “compliments” based on bronze, silver, gold and platinum levels for following the Bison expectations in the building’s common areas; unique days at the school (such as Dress Up Days to raise money for Ronald McDonald House and days where students are given a token to choose a book from the vending machine); “specials” such as music, art and physical education; student groups, such as student ambassadors, student council and safety patrol and education and the different apps students use, such as Achieve 3000, Study Island and Delta Math.

Students presented on several areas at the elementary school, such as Positive Behavior Intervention Supports (PBIS), where students can receive tickets and classes can receive “compliments” based on bronze, silver, gold and platinum levels for following the Bison expectations in the building’s common areas; unique days at the school (such as Dress Up Days to raise money for Ronald McDonald House and days where students are given a token to choose a book from the vending machine); “specials” such as music, art and physical education; student groups, such as student ambassadors, student council and safety patrol and education and the different apps students use, such as Achieve 3000, Study Island and Delta Math.

New Buffalo Elementary School

Principal Adam Bowen said that they’re in the fifth year of looking at how to integrate English language arts into the curriculum. While the focus last year was on how to integrate the social studies and science standards into reading and writing, the focus this year is on grammar instruction and “integrating that as a whole piece.”

The school is in its fourth year in the PBIS initiative and is focusing on Tier Two. Whereas Tier One focuses on 80% of students meeting “instruction by just general whole group instruction,” Tier Two homes in the 10% who aren’t getting it.

Regarding the midyear scores for NWEA assessments, Bowen said that the students are scoring above the national norm in NWEA reading as well as math.

Bowen said 71% of students who took the English Language Arts MSTEP (which is taken beginning in third grade) last year were proficient, making the school first in the county and 45th in the state. For math, 88% of them were proficient, which ranked them first in the county and seventh in the state.

Tom Whitsel, transportation director, gave an update on the district’s transportation.

Drivers do five routes daily, with another five routes in between that transport students to places like AK Smith Center. There are also multiple van runs, which transport students to area schools.

Whitsel gave the following statistics: 378 students are transported on the bus every day; school buses do 300 miles a day and that students are on the bus over 68,000 times in a school year. Five buses (out of 10) go on routes.

Whitsel said he’s pushing to get a routing software called Bus Right, which would allow them to plan routes and parents to receive a text to let them track a bus that their student is on.

A lot of midday routes were added this year for class trips and sports.

Whitsel said the oldest bus has been “updated as far as it can go” and that new state programs with grants and benefits for buses could allow them to acquire an electric bus in the future.

Whitsel said they’re “looking pretty good now” with regards to having enough drivers, with three substitutes and two people being trained.

The employment of Nathaniel Orlowski as the 2023 high school assistant track coach was approved.

The employment of Christopher Thun as the 2023 assistant varsity baseball coach for 2023, pending background check, was approved (board trustee Vanessa Thun abstained).