Open Houses

At Wednesday's meeting the board tentatively scheduled open houses for the Glacial Drumlin School and the renovated Winnequah school. The Glacial Drumlin event is scheduled for Sunday August 17th and the Winnequah event for Sunday September 7th. The construction schedule prevents us from having the Winnequah event before school starts.

The Glacial Drumlin School is on or ahead of schedule although Mike Huffman reports the recent weather has delayed the landscaping. Recent pictures of the school can be found here.

The two story atrium behind the curved glass wall in the front of the building is just crying out for a big piece of art - such as a suspended mobile.

2007 WKCE

The results for the WKCE test administered in November 2007 were finally released on May 30th. That is more than six months after the test was given. Worse, the data files containing the detailed results that can be used for proper statistical analysis of the results are STILL not available for download. Assessments are information that degrades over time. The fact that it takes six months to get the data out (whatever its other shortcomings) cheats the taxpayers of the full value of their investment.

At the very least the WI DPI should be embarrassed by the fact it takes this long to release the test results. Personally I find it outrageous. I had an email exchange with DPI officials concerning this long delay and the loss of value, this is an excerpt from part of that response (italics mine):

... The WKCE is a large-scale assessment designed to provide a snapshot of how well a district or school is doing at helping all students reach proficiency on state standards, with a focus on school and district-level accountability. A large-scale, summative assessment such as the WKCE is not designed to provide diagnostic information about individual students. Those assessments are best done at the local level, where immediate results can be obtained. Schools should not rely on only WKCE data to gauge progress of individual students or to determine effectiveness of programs or curriculum.

Does anyone else find the fact that the state issues WKCE results to individual students surprising given the above statement?

Anyhow - the WKCE results were published in the WSJ and on the Cap Times website. As in previous years they show Monona Grove near the top in Dane County, with Waunakee out in front. We do well against tough competition, Dane County schools average the highest in the state.

Ed O'Connor notes that the MG 3rd Grade scores as printed in the paper appear to be incorrect:

The numbers reported in the WSJ (79% Reading/74% Math) are inconsistent with reports we have received from CTB McGraw-Hill and reports provided on the DPI WINSS site. These other sources both show our percent of students at Proficient/Advanced to be 84% for Reading and 81% for Math.

The DPI website agrees with Ed's numbers.

I will do a little analysis when the DPI posts the results files and get back to you when I can. I neither want to put too much emphasis on a flawed assessment nor speak about what it shows without proper analysis.

Garden Drumlin School

Kristi Williams presented her vision for a community supported school garden on the Glacial Drumlin grounds at today's Business Services Committee meeting. Kristi plans to connect teaching staff and community members to develop a school garden as a way to educate and provide enrichment to our middle school students. The committee has recommended to the board approval of the proposal to use the identified property for the purpose of the garden.

Interested gardeners can contact Kristi by phone at 839-4758.

More Energy Savings in our Future?

Today's Herald-Independent editorializes about the energy efficiency of the new Glacial Drumlin School and the savings that will accrue to the district. Unfortunately not all the buildings are up to the same standards. In fact several of our buildings rank near the top in Wisconsin in energy usage per square foot, even when adjusted for age.

Next Wednesday the Business Services Committee will consider recommendations for a vendor to provide Guaranteed Performance Contracts for energy upgrades around the district. In this arrangement the district finances building and energy system upgrades identified by the vendor using low interest loans or lease arrangements. These loans are paid back by the district out of the resultant savings from reduced utilities bills. The "Guaranteed" part is that the vendor will guarantee that a certain level of energy savings will be reached each year of the contract. If savings aren't met the vendor is required to make up the difference.

Next week's business services agenda can be found here.

Here in Frost's Woods, spring ends when the Oaks leaf out and cast us into our summer shade. That makes spring bulbs our best opportunity for a little color in our yards. Alas the tulips are fading, but they were great while they lasted.

Energy Efficiency at GDS

The Glacial Drumlin Middle School construction was audited by Alliant Energy and received their highest rating, both due to its energy efficient construction with a well designed building "envelope", daylighting and a highly efficient HVAC system with geothermal source. Alliant is certain that the building will receive Energy Star certification. More importantly they estimate savings of $114,000 per year (at current energy costs) over more conventional construction. The extra investment in energy efficient construction will be paid back in savings pretty quickly.

Based on these savings Alliant is offering us a low interest loan that we could use to perform energy efficiency improvements elsewhere in the district. Hopefully we can net additional savings while at the same time reducing the environmental footprint of the district.

May 14th Meeting

The agenda for Wednesday's board meeting can be found here. Items of interest:

Election of board officers.
Review of the New Teacher Mentor Program
Presentation of the Artist in Residence project for Winnequah.
Consider a proposal for increasing the administrative resources for Maywood next year with an assistant principal.
Update on implementation of the Block Schedule: Principal Brost will provide information on the state of readiness for Block Scheduling at the high school.
Update on the first year of EPAS (Explore/Plan/Act) testing.
Energy Conservation RFP review: The board will consider proposals from various vendors for contracting for energy efficiency upgrades and energy management. Successful management of these projects will have significant long term implications for the financial status of the district.

Art Project at Winnequah

Kristin is spearheading an effort to bring artists Jeanne and David Aurelius to the district next fall for an artist-in-residence program with the goal of rendering a large tile mural in the Winnequah cafeteria. The project is meant to enhance the environment at Winnequah and mark the transition to an elementary school.

The project involves the artists working with the elementary students to select a theme, create the artistic elements and merge them into the overall design, manufacture the individual tiles (one per student) and then install them as a mural. The result is a unique and permanent creation that is an expression of the students and the school community.

More details of the process can be found on the Clay Bay Pottery website.

Kristin has been working with Ann Schroeder, Peter Kuzma, the PTO and several members of the community on this project. A big fundraising event is being planned for early next school year, hopefully to be supplemented with grants from area arts organizations. Volunteers will be needed to help both with the fundraising efforts and the art project itself, send me an email at sobol_p@yahoo.com if you would like to help!

Kristin is planning a brief presentation at next Wednesday's board meeting to introduce this project to the community.

Garlic Mustard Time

A silent invader is slipping into Monona's park and quietly displacing our native flora and fauna. This insidious invader is of course Garlic Mustard:

WDNR page on Garlic Mustard

The good news is that an hour or two of work once a year can successfully rid a neighborhood park of this pest. Can you help? Prime pulling season is now as the plants are starting to "bolt". I have scouted all the Monona parks and can tell you exactly where to look and what to do if you need some pointers. Otherwise post here in the comments if you do take do an area- that way others can look elsewhere.

I have been taking care of Frost Woods Beach and Maywood Park the last couple of years and will keep those two up.

I know, its not school business related!