The MMCRU High School Dance Team sent in their request to the MMC Board about a trip to Tampa Bay, FL to perform at the Tampa Bay Bowl (previously known as the Outback Bowl). The Dance Team would be going to Florida with the Just For Kix Company to perform at the Tampa Bay Bowl on January 1, 2023.
The trip dates are Dec. 28, 2022 through Jan. 3, 2023. The tentative schedule
includes (Dec. 28-Dec. 31) Arrival, Practice & Dinner Cruise, Practice & Beach, Band
Practice & New Years Eve Parade and Celebration. Jan.1 through Jan. 3, 2023 include:
Game Day Performance & Awards Ceremony, Disney or Universal Studios, and Departure.
Every member on the team has the option to go, but due to the cost of the trip (Approx $2,500 or so depending on airfare prices), it will not be mandatory. Fundraising and additional expenses would be paid individually from each dancer. Some parents/families would also have the option of accompanying on the trip if they pay their way. More information from the company they are going with can provide more information if necessary. This trip and performance would be an awesome experience!
Breakdown Insurance was discussed in Superintendent’s report.
Both Boards went over the Handbook for Updates.
Resignations and hires are still present. Elementary School Counselor, Liz Koenig has resigned and accepted a position at MOC-FV. Karla Piece, Para from MMCRU in Remsen has resigned her position. Mrs. Amanda Olson, MMCRU High School/Junior High School Family and Consumer Sciences Teacher sent in her resignation. She has tentatively accepted a teaching position at North Tama Community School District.
Engagement Letter on the agenda was from Ahlers Cooney, Attorneys dealing with the Bond issue.
Prairie Farms from Sioux Falls sent in their bid for Dairy. Kemps from Le Mars had a Dairy bid and Casey’s from Sioux Center sent in their bakery bid.
The Industrial Technology Skills USA Advisor, Matt Hansen, was asking the Board ‘s approval of the purchase of a CNC lathe with a total package price of $20,000. Hales Machine of Minneapolis wanted to be more involved with our program so they absorbed some costs to get this machine in our budget. Wetherell Manufacturing will be paying for all rigging costs involved. This machine can be seen at Wetherell’s, JTV, and Mill Creek Machine so that it would be a great fit for training students for opportunities right out of high school.
A Technology Purchase request and Weight Room purchase were items for RU Board.
MMCRU Middle School/Remsen Elementary Principal, Toby Young reported the following: The 2021-2022 school year has officially come to an end and we’re currently in summer mode getting the school ready for the upcoming year. We still have a handful of openings that need filled for the upcoming year and I’m confident those positions will be filled or we will make it work to best meet the needs of our district. The first day of school will be Tuesday, August 23. Congratulations to 70% of our middle school students who attained honor roll status for 2nd semester.
Projected Class Numbers for 2022-2023 School year are PS (13), TK (12), K (25 with 2 sections), Grade 1 (19), 2 (22), 3 (21), 4 (27 with 2 sections) and Middle School Grade 5 (35), 6 (35), 7 (47), and 8 (52). Remsen Elementary has Total of 139 (Same as last year) and Middle School has 169 (Total for Last Year was 182).
One student is attending Extended School Year and Summer Reading Program begins June 20 with 15 students.
2022-2023 School Registration is July 26 11 a.m.-7 p.m. and July 27 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Online Registration is also available.
Job openings at Remsen site are 7-12 Art, 7/8 Science and Paraprofessionals. Substitute Teacher’s & Paraprofessional’s, also are needed.
Previous Principal, Travis Sprague reported on PK-4 and 9-12 grades for MMCRU Marcus Elementary & MMCRU High School: he MMCRU Marcus Elementary and MMCARU High School completed their school year on Wednesday, May 25. School grades were submitted and sent to students and parents on the following Thursday. 25 students earned Principal Honor Roll (4.0) recognition, 58 earned High Honor Roll (3.5 and higher) recognition, and 39 earned Honor Roll (3.0 and higher) recognition for 4th quarter. For 2nd semester, 26 earned principal’s honor Roll, 60 earned High Honor Roll, and 36 for Honor Roll. 65% of high school students attain4r some honor roll status during 4th quarter and/or 2nd semester.
Drivers’ Education is being conducted by Rocky Bork (drives) and Alex Wimmer (class and drives). It will be completed in July.
Several documents have been submitted to the Iowa Department of Education over the past several weeks. These include Spring BEDS, Spring SRI, SCTREA, Assessment Accountability and the CLNA. At the time of writing this Non-Fall Supplemental Weighting and Graduation Verification have not been completed due to issues at the DE office. In addition I completed the Perkins application. All of these documents are important in terms of funding and adherence to state/federal law. I have laid the groundwork for the next school year shift in JMC.
Our elementary staff completed the Science of Reading AEA training on Thursday, May 26 and the CKLA reading curriculum training on Monday/Tuesday June 6/7. This will help ensure MMCRU is ready to implement the CKLA curriculum come August.
We have begun high school summer school (credit recovery) led by Mrs. Youde and extended school year led by Mrs. Roling and Ms. Bird. Elementary summer school will begin in July with Mrs. M. Letsche and Mrs. Nieuwenhuis. Professional development planning has taken place in relation to next school year.
Baseball and softball seasons are in full swing as is our summer weightlighting program and summer basketball/volleyball regimen.
Tentative 2022-2023 Student Class Breakdown is: PK (26), TK (12), KG (33), Grade 1 (20), 2 (28), 3 (31), 4 (32) for a total Elementary of 182 students.
Grade 9 (50), 10 (49), 11 (53 with 2 in Alternative School), and Grade 12 (48 with 3 in Alternative School) making a Total of 200 in High School and 382 Total in Marcus.
Current Openings in Marcus include an Elementary Guidance Counselor, Secondary Art Teacher, Assistant High School Boys Basketball Coach, Elementary and High school Paraprofessionals, and Substitute Teachers and Paraprofessionals.
The MMCRU Board of Education Dashboard Reflection for MMCRU Marcus Elementary and MMCRU High School was included in Principal Sprague’s report with 7 pages of important grades. I did take out Percent of Students in Attendance for 2021-2022 for Elementary Attendance with 96.03% and Unexcused Absences as 18. High School Percent of Students in Attendance was 93.11% with Unexcused Absences as 90 and Unexcused Tardies as 584.
Summary and Principal Explanation of the following: ISASP is conducted once a year for grades 3-4 and 9-11 for English Language Arts, Math, and 10th grade Science. Percentages were given with Grade 11 advancing proficiency in Math increased by 3.87%. The biggest focus needs to be on the writing component of the English Language Arts because that hindered our students’ scores. This focus can be done throughout the year across high school course. Just a reminder that these ISASP tests are a part of our school performance profile but they are also just a small segment of tests.
FAST is conducted three times a year for grades TK-4 in both reading and math. The tests expect students to improve throughout the year so the cutoff for proficiency increases throughout the year. It is our hope that our new CKLA reading curriculum will improve our Tier I interventions and reduce our need for Title reading or special education services in reading.
Attendance was a major concern of Principal Sprague. In the elementary, we saw a decrease in overall attendance. At the high school we again have seen a decrease in unexcused tardies and absences (which is good), however his biggest concern is the decrease in overall high school attendance. Parents/guardians have called out their children for absences at a higher rate and have not always been honest with the office personnel and building administration. Getting parents and students to understand the importance of continuous attendance and value that concept will likely be an increasing issue. There is a direct correlation between continuous attendance in student success in and out of the classroom (higher GPA, decreased likelihood of class failure, increased participation in all manner of extracurriculars).
GPA & Failure Rate: Principal Sprague’s goal has always been a failure rate of under 10%. This year we averaged exactly 10% (the lowest non-COVID year in MMCRU history). There is still more work to be done. Most of our student failures are not related to a lack of ability but rather due to lack of attendance or homework completion. I would encourage the high school staff to collectively review grading practices and how to best meet student needs while maintaining rigor.
College Course Credit: Again we broke our record for college credit earned by our high school students. Most of our students earn college credit through NCC online course but this year students also earned college credit through our English (Mrs. Sarah Bottjen, agriculture (Mrs. Sam Schroder), and industrial technology (Mr. Matt Hansen) departments. College credit will be earned next school year through Western Civilization (Mr. Alex Wimmer) as well. These concurrent enrollment, no-cost-to-student college courses are a great benefit to our students and their families. I anticipate a continuous increase in enrollment in these courses. I do caution that the rigor of some of the NCC online courses is lacking. The point person on these courses is Mrs. Kayla Schroeder.
Extracurricular Involvement (Goal is 20% student involvement per activity) states that Football is in a better lace in terms of student involvement and competitiveness since Principal Sprague began. Volleyball has had steady numbers and has twice been one game away from state. For each of his 3 years, their last loss was to a state qualifier. Cross Country has seen 2 state qualifiers and great improvement in terms of individual and team WEC finishes.
The Boys Basketball team is in a good situation with improved competitiveness and increased numbers. Mr. Kuchel has provided sound leadership. The Girls Basketball team has seen the greatest success while I have been principal. Two state qualifying teams and a runner-up trophy. Numerous girls have been named to all-conference, all-district, all-region, and all-state teams. Coach Letsche has received numerous honors as well. Bowling has seen improved individual and team success with 3 state qualifiers and the boys team qualifying over the past 2 years. Archery has maintained solid numbers and has had success on the state and national level. Wrestling has seen lower participation but the MMCRU wrestlers were team leaders last year.
Boys Golf has steadily increased their participation rate and has maintained competitiveness. Girls Golf overall participants have remained steady. The Boys Track team has had solid numbers over the past 3 years with increasing team success and state qualifiers. Many school records have been set over the past two years. The Girls Track team has seen an increase in participants with state success (high jump and long jump).
Baseball has seen steady improvement over the past three years with good numbers. Softball has remained steady, solid, and competitive.
The FFA has earned tremendous recognition at the district and state level over the past few years. In addition, that have led several food drives to benefit the area. Skills USA has seen its participation rates greatly increase in the past 3 years. Significant success at the state and national level have followed. Speech, under the direction of Mr. Alex Wimmer, has flourished with performers more than doubling. All-State banners have been earned over the past 3 years. FCCLA began this year and we anticipate participation to grow. A Business CTSO (career and technology student organization ) will begin within a year. The skills learned in these areas is invaluable to our students and shows off the unique abilities of our Royals.
Fine Arts Involvement (Goal is 20% student involvement per course). Our numbers are increasing for both choir and band. Ms. De Vos has helped turn around our choir beyond singing in unison. Students now know parts in songs and have a better understanding of their role within the larger choir. I continue to expect growth within this group under the directorship of Ms. De Vos. Mr. Davis has continued her success in year 2. She has emphasized pep band, jazz band, and other activities that has drawn more student in. Our concert performances have greatly improved as well and the students take pride in their performances. Both band and choir are approaching the 20% student involvement level.
CTE/Art Involvement (Goal is 30% seats taken) Industrial Technology is succeeding with an additional 52 students taking courses compared to last year. They met the 30% goal. Business also met the 30% goal with steady numbers the past couple of years. Agriculture and FCS has slight decreases and increases in numbers but overall their numbers were steady and just below the goal of 30%. Art had an increase in students as it shifted to a 4-course offering. The biggest shift will be in art with new teachers coming in.
Superintendent Barkel reported that staffing: We still have three teaching vacancies at this late date which is concerning. Open positions thus far are: Elementary counselor at MMC, 7-12 Art to be shared in both districts, and 7-8 Science at the middle school at RU. We still have some hope to find someone, but we may be looking at a long-term substitute situation for some or all of these. The problem with that, is that we already area short substitute teachers. Like many businesses, we are also short of help.
Joe feels it is advantageous for both districts to utilize breakdown insurance. It helps us to be able to use management funds for these premiums to pay for repairs for both districts. It keeps the pressure off of the general fund. Cost proposals for both districts will be in the board packet.
Our building principals will share their proposals for modifications to the Parent-Student Handbook. Both districts must approve the handbooks.
The MMC board will need to have a special board meeting on Wednesday, June 22 at 1 p.m. We have two perfunctory things that we need to take care of for the bond: 1. Review the results of the bond sale and 2. Pass a resolution directing the sale to the lowest bidder. Should be a very short meeting. The sale actually takes place at noon that day. We will need at least a quorum that afternoon.
The shooting in Texas once again has shone a spotlight on school security. We are in the process of updating our emergency operations plans to make sure it is up-to-date and ready to be used in case of an emergency. We will take what steps are possible, including active shooter training., which is scheduled during staff PD in August, but I doubt any school can keep out a gunman with an automatic weapon, unless we turn the school building into a hardened fortress.
The beginning of construction and the closing of the south parking lot has already squeezed parking a the Marcus site. Last month I discussed this issue with the powers that be at Grace Methodist Church, and they appear agreeable to allow us partial use of their parking lot, and eventually partial use of their facility during the 4th quarter of the 2022-23 school year.
The MMC Board of Education met in Regular session at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, June 20, 2022 at MMCRU Commons @ Marcus. Remsen-Union Board members present were Harpenau, Loutsch, Krier, and Tentinger. Absent was Penning.
MMC Board members present were Staab, Leavitt, and Prunty. Absent were Olson and Dreckman.