February 2019 USTANG EXPRESS Corporation Monthly Newsletter for the School Town of Munster Rainy Days and Mondays, or Snow Days and E-Learning Days I was thinking about the song “Rainy Days and Mondays” and the line, “rainy days and Mondays always get me down” when it comes to dealing with snow days. One of the toughest decisions that a superintendent has to Dr. Jeff Hendrix make is whether or not to have school because of inclement weather. It is Superintendent not difficult in the sense that the decision is made to keep our students’ safe, but it is tough because I know that students are losing out on the quality educational learning opportunities due to missing school. In this issue: Here is why. In the field of education, the educational researchers and experts on student Coaches Hall learning and growth believe that some of the best ways for students to learn is by of Fame at interacting with the teacher and other students in meaningful ways in the classroom MHS setting. Students receive direct instruction, group activities, important and immediate Kindness feedback in the learning process. When we have snow days, students for their own safety, Challenge at must stay home from school. This puts off opportunities for those meaningful and rigorous Eads School learning opportunities in the classroom. They have no access to a teacher to discuss Kindergarten problems or ideas. For some students, school is also a constant support for them Registration mentally, emotionally and physically. Furthermore, when school is out, we must add days Information to the school year especially in the longest semester making it more difficult for students to stay focused because there are fewer planned breaks than the first semester. When we add make-up days at the end of the school year, students are looking toward graduation and having their summer off. What is the answer? One may think, the best answer to this problem is having an e-learning day! What is the School Town of Munster doing about e-learning days? There are many school districts in the area near the STOM who are using e-learning days. In fact, our district is in the process of researching the effectiveness of e-learning and we have looked into what other districts are doing. We have learned that many districts use e-learning for make-up days due to inclement weather and also for professional development days for teachers and staff. Students stay home from school and must complete work using their computers or electronic devices. Some of these students who do not have internet access must find a local library or business that provides internet access to the public. This allows them to access their school’s network e-learning platform for assignments. A District of National Distinction Page 2 We also researched the e-learning requirements set forth by the Indiana Department of Education. There are nine criteria areas that must be met by the school corporation for the IDOE to approve an e- learning program in the STOM. They are: Internet Access Our school corporation can demonstrate access to digital learning for students and teachers away from our buildings. Instructor Access Teachers will be directly reachable from students and parents to facilitate and support instruction. Platform Experience All of our teachers and students have access to, and ex- perience using, online platforms and digital resources for learning. Learning Targets All of our students will be informed of their learning targets for the day by 9:00 a.m. Work Continuity Student work will cover content that would have been addressed if school were in session in a traditional setting. Accommodation Support All students who have accommodations for instruction will be provided with or have access to those accommodations. Offline Support For students with disabilities who do not use an online platform for learning or for whom an online platform is not appropriate, teachers will provide parents/caregivers with appropriate educational materials and learning activities for student use. Individual Needs For limited English proficient students, teachers will provide parents/caregivers appropriate educational mate- rials and learning activities for student use per the Individ- ual Learning Plan. Work Measurement Students will demonstrate time on task and/or equivalent learning growth for the time. The key points that our district is currently reviewing are internet access for students and instructors, devices for every student to access instruction and assignments, high quality learning targets that are rigorous and relevant to student learning, and measuring student growth from the e-learning experience. Without students growing and learning from the e-learning activity, then there is no point to having an e-learning day. That is why the STOM is doing its due diligence to make sure that we can guarantee a robust learning program that truly challenges our students. That is what is most important because we do not want rainy days, Mondays and e-learning days getting our students down! Dr. Jeff Hendrix A District of National Distinction Page 3 Super Chat with Dr. Jeff Hendrix Super Chat with Dr. Jeff Hendrix is a monthly podcast program for the School Town of Munster hosted on the corporation website at http://www.munster.us. The program is designed to provide corporation and school information on events, issues and information that is pertinent to the School Town of Munster community. Topics for this monthly program will range from finance/budgeting, academic programs, curriculum, assessment, and instructional practices to student organizations, extracurricular activities and sports. The program this month will feature Superintendent Dr. Jeff Hendrix, talking about how the decision to cancel school for weather related issues is made. Mr. Ray Palasz discussed the Indiana Thespian State Conference attended by MHS and WWMS students. Also featured was Mrs. Jo Cvitkovich discussing the progress of STOM’s separation plan from LC School Corporation. She also shared information about STOM’s Unified Games day to be held on May 14th. The show is hosted by Gary Puckett, a national talk show host and writer. To access the show from the STM website, the listener must click onto the FlyPod logo, where the listener will be redirected to the podcast page and player. There is also a comment section on the FlyPod page for community feedback. We look forward to our community’s responses and ideas for future shows. MUNSTER POLICE DEPARTMENT NEWS INTERNET SAFETY PRESENTATION FOR PARENTS & TEENS The Indiana State Police will be providing an Internet Safety Presentation for parents and teens on Tuesday, March 12th at 6:30pm at St. Paul's Lutheran School, located at 8601 Harrison Avenue. All Munster residents are encouraged to attend. The presentation will include warnings about various apps, websites, and games, along with general safety tips for parents and teens to be aware of in regards to use of the internet. Please note that some of the subject matter may not be suitable for small children. For more information, please contact St. Paul's Lutheran School at 219-836-6270. MUNSTER POLICE SEEKING STUDENT GROUP ORGANIZATIONS AS BOOTH PARTICIPANTS FOR THE NATIONAL NIGHT OUT AGAINST CRIME Before the school year ends, the Munster Police Department is seeking any student clubs, teams, or organizations that would like to set up a FREE booth during Munster's 24th Annual National Night Out Against Crime Celebration on Tuesday, August 6th from 5:00pm to 9:00pm at the Munster Community Pool. The event will include many fun and educational activities for all ages, and last year almost 100 booth participants (businesses, faith-based groups, student groups) participated. We will also be holding a kick-off parade this year starting at 4:30pm which will lead to the event grounds, and any student groups wishing to participate (band, cheerleaders, etc.) are welcome to do so. If your student organization or team would like to participate by either setting up a booth or by being in our parade this year, please contact Officer James Ghrist by May 1st at 219-836-6639 or [email protected] A District of National Distinction Page 4 A District of National Distinction Page 5 School Town of Munster 2019-2020 KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION INFORMATION Please visit www.munster.us beginning the week of March 4, 2019 to access kindergarten enrollment information. You will be asked to complete the Kindergarten Enrollment form and after that to complete Registration Gateway. After completing both forms, contact your child’s school to schedule an enrollment appointment: Eads Elementary School 8000 Jackson Avenue 219.836.8635 Elliott Elementary School 8718 White Oak Avenue 219.838.5250 Frank Hammond Elementary School 1301 Fran-Lin Parkway 219.838.2060 In order to be eligible to register for Kindergarten a child must be five years old on or before August 1, 2019. To register for First grade a child must be six years old on or before August 1, 2019. At the time of the scheduled enrollment appointment at the child’s school, parents must present: Certified/original birth certificate of the child. (Baptismal and hospital records are not acceptable as proof of birth) A valid driver’s license with current Munster address. Residency verification documents (a complete list can be found on the Registration Gateway site) Please note: Only a parent or legal guardian may enroll a student. A District of National Distinction Page 6 Department of Exceptional Needs The Department of Exceptional needs would like to announce the date of our first annual Unified Game Day, which will take place on Tuesday, May 14th, at the Munster High School Athletic Field. The rain date is May 15th.