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May 10thNorthern High Ranked 10th best High School in the State
US News & World Report issued its annual report for top high schools in
the nation, Northern High was ranked 10th in the State. On a national
level, Northern was ranked 539th out of 22,000 schools surveyed earning
them Silver recognition by the magazine. No other area high school made
the rankings.
Mlive Article:
http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2012/05/portage_northern_ranked_10th_b.html
US News Article”:
http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/michigan/rankings
Presentation
Highlights at Monday’s Board Meeting
Four District faculty
members received awards Monday night during the Board meeting from the
Special Education Parent Advisory Committee. Recipients for the 2012 awards
are Kelli Palsrock, science, Central High; Melissa Heath, bus driver serving
North Middle; Linda Kalleward, 1st grade teacher at Central
Elementary; and Vickie Kuehl, parapro at Moorsbridge Elementary, selected
for their creativity, communication skills, advocacy, and for going the
“extra mile” while working with students with special needs. Also mentioned
were nominees for the award: Laurie Kuiper, Tina Pratt, Michele Morrison,
Kristin Stanfill, Larry William, Dennis Kozian, Ginnie Doerfler, Kate
Phillips, Casey Hiltz, Rebecca Bobo, Melanie Remynse, and the Brandt Ingber
support team including Craig Medd, Jen Garrison, Debbie Shannon, Brandon
Baker, Amy Hamet, Katie Oldham, Kathy Vanderwal, Tara Heywood, Nicole
Wisinski, Tara Brow, and Molly Hammond.
Community High School faculty member Amanda Thorpe,
this year’s Michigan Journalism Teacher of the Year, was honored by the
Board at Monday night’s meeting. Amanda, who has been teaching at Community
High for four years, teaches journalism and history. She is the adviser of
the school’s newspaper, The Spitfire, which won numerous awards this school
year.
Forensics 11th State Title; Districts 50th State Crown in 90 years
The school district now boasts 50 state championships in its
90-year-history, with the recent state title in Forensics by Northern High
School. This win is not only Northern’s 11th consecutive state
title in forensics, but is also its 14th of the Northern forensic
team’s 47-year history.
In addition to winning the state title as a team, Kristen Norris captured an
individual state title in dramatic interpretation, 15 participants won
honors as members of the two multiple performance teams, and 18 other
students received individual trophies in various categories. Nearly 70
schools and more than 700 students throughout Michigan competed in the state
tournament.
Northern’s forensics team is led by head coach Laurel Scheidt, who was the
2011 Michigan Speech Coach of the Year, assisted by the talented team of
assistant coaches: James Menchinger (inducted into the National Forensics
League Hall of Fame last year), Brian Snell, Michael Scheidt, Robert Weiner,
Tara Heywood, Ellie Messinger, Chris Wessell, and Adrian Blazek..
PPS Collaborates with City and Library
As a part of the Portage Collaborative initiative launched in
January, Portage Schools and the Portage District Library have begun
running an insert in the City’s Portager publication with the May issue.
The District and the Library are sharing costs to be included in the
Portager which goes to all residents and businesses. The PPS side of the
insert is called “District Extra” and features a column by Board
President Bo Snyder and Superintendent Ric Perry; a tribute
Superintendent Varl Wilkinson, who passed away last month; and a photo
featuring the Portage Suburban Kiwanis Club and their work with the
District. Read this first issue:
http://www.portageps.org/information/news/documents/Portager%20District%20Extra%20May%202012.pdf
The “We Get It” campaign illustrates the value the three governmental
agencies place on the collective strength of our local resources for the
most efficient and affordable services for the quality of life of
Portage residents. Read more about the Portage Collaborative:
http://portagecollaboration.wordpress.com/
May 3rd
Public Hearing Scheduled on Draft Bullying Regulation
Portage Public Schools will hold a public hearing on
May 21 during the regularly scheduled Board of Education meeting to hear
comment on the revisions to Regulation 5400, “Freedom from
Bullying-Harassment, Students.” The public hearing begins at 6:30 pm.
The meeting is held in the community room of the PPS Administration
Building. The proposed regulation can be reviewed at:
http://www.portageps.org/administration/boardofeducation/documents/NR5400%20Draft%20with%20bullying.pdf
KRESA Scholarship Winners Announced
Outstanding seniors from the Kalamazoo
Regional Educational Service Agency’s Education for Employment (EFE) program
were recognized for their achievements in career development at an awards
breakfast on Thursday at the Radisson Plaza Hotel in Kalamazoo.
The 92 high school seniors honored at the 26th annual awards celebration
represent high schools throughout Kalamazoo County. Scholarship recipients
were also announced and recognized during the program. Seventy-seven
scholarships funded by local foundations and businesses were presented at
the event.
“This annual celebration is the highlight in recognizing student achievement
in the EFE program,” said Deb Miller, executive director of EFE. “The EFE
outstanding seniors are among our brightest and best and will be an asset to
our workforce. We are proud of what these students have accomplished in
their schools and the community.”
EFE is a countywide career and technical education program that helps
students prepare for their future through practical work experience and
hands-on training.
http://www.kresa.org/cms/lib4/MI01000312/Centricity/Domain/1/EFE_OutstandingSeniors_2012.pdf
Central Middle School's 2012 Michigan Bridge Building Champs
Six teams from Central Middle School traveled to Lansing on April 30 to
participate in the statewide 2012 Michigan Bridge-Building Challenge
sponsored by the Michigan Department of Transportation. Central Middle
School had 18 students involved in this state level bridge building
competition. Seventh grade science teacher Mike Champion coached the middle
school participants. The students who qualified for the state competition
are;
7th grade students - William Chung, Elisa Weber, Grace Schafer, Noah
Sutton, McKenzie Elliot, Nicole Prihoda, and Caitlyn Walsh.
8th grade students - Caleb Taylor, Lyvia Osterstock, Ben Provancer, Joey
Liu, Ben Behrens, Michael Tarn, Ali Thomas, Tristan Greathouse, Alex
Hufford, Conor Koryto, and Tristan Martin.
The winning teams are as follows:
1st place – Elisa Weber, Grace Schafer, and Noah Sutton
2nd place – McKenzie Elliot, Nicole Prihoda, and Catlyn Walsh
3rd place – Joey Liu, Ben Behrens, and William Chung
4th place - Alex Hufford, Tristin Martin, and Connor Koryto
One of the Portage Central Middle School teams, (3 students), qualified
for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials,
(AASHTO) TRAC National Bridge Building Finals. The finals are held this year
at the National AASHTO Spring Conference in Traverse City, Michigan on May
17 and 18. The National qualifying team is: The BoaConstructors, 8th
Grade students Michael Tarn, Ali Thomas, and Tristan Greathouse. Good luck
at Nationals!
April 26thDistrict Listens to
Feedback on Facilities Concepts
Last night was the second of
two meetings this month presenting broad concepts to interested citizens on
the future of District facility planning. A total of 38 citizens attended
last night’s session held at Northern High School and 30 citizens attended a
similar session last week at Central High School.
“We’re pleased with the
turn-out and the comments by community members at these meetings,” said
Superintendent Ric Perry. “This input will help prepare us for the next step
of this process that will impact the future of Portage Schools and our
community.” The presentation given at both sessions is online at:
http://www.portageps.org/information/news/Facilities%20Concepts%2026%20April%202012.pdf
Both sessions began with
background information on facilities planning that occurred prior to the
2007 bond, which built the new 12th Street Elementary, Lake
Center Elementary, Central High, and part-new and part-renovated Northern
High. That planning included needs which did not become a part of the 2007
bond, including middle school improvements. Both groups last week and last
night then heard a variety of broad concepts and broke into groups to
discuss pros and cons of the concepts, and then sharing their comments with
the whole group.
Once all this input has been
processed, next steps will include a community survey and focus groups to
dig deeper into what District officials heard during these two meetings.
These meetings are a
continuation of a process that began last school year with a review of
facilities by Tower Pinkster Architects, with those results presented in
four community sessions this past summer and fall with a focus on their
findings regarding swimming pools, middle schools, and outdoor athletic
facilities. The entire process is based on the original plan which was first
developed in 2007. The final meeting of that series was held in November
with an overall review of their findings. Since that time, the information
from those sessions became the broad concepts presented to the community
this month.
Central Elementary's Green School/Earth Day Celebration!
During their first two years of being a Green School , they achieved 10
items, but doubled that this year. This status qualifies Central as an
Evergreen School-which is the highest recognition. One of their biggest
green effort is a Terracycle project. The school collects items such as
Capri Sun pouches, chip bags, candy wrappers and markers-all which are
normally not a recyclable item and send them into a company called
Terracycle. The items get turned ms into usable products and the school
gets $.02 for each item we collect. So far this year, students have have
collected over 32,000 items.
The 8th Annual Matt Thrasher Memorial Lacrosse Event
The 8th Annual Matt Thrasher Memorial Lacrosse game is next
Saturday, May 5th. The event begins with the 5th/6th grade game at noon,
7th/8th at 1pm, Portage Women’s JV vs. Mattawan at 2pm, and the Women’s
Varsity vs. Mattawan at 3:30pm.The 8th annual event to memorialize
Matthew Thrasher, who was a goalie for the 2003-2004 Portage Community
JV Lacrosse team, and was killed in a boating accident in 2004. A
perpetual trophy has been held by Portage Central this year, and will be
held for the following year by the team victorious in this Challenge
game.The event begins with the 5th/6th grade game at noon, 7th/8th at
1pm, Portage Women’s JV vs. Mattawan at 2pm, and the Women’s Varsity vs.
Mattawan at 3:30pm. The Mustangs will take on the Huskies with the JV
game at 5pm and the Varsity at 7pm
Spitfire Team adds on to Thorpe’s Teacher of The Year Award
Last
week, Community High Journalism Teacher Amanda Thorpe received the
Golden Pen for being Journalism Teacher of the Year by the Michigan
Interscholastic Press Association (MIPA) at Spring Conference in
Lansing. The Spitfire Newspaper team also hauled in 16 state recognition
awards including a Bronze Award in the Spartan Website Contest and a
Silver Award in the Spartan Newspaper Contest. Plus, student news editor
for the Spitfire was published on MLive.com after writing a piece
recapping the MIPA awards. Read it here.
http://www.mlive.com/living/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2012/04/local_alternative_school_boast.html
April 19th
First Facilities Concept Community Forum Held; Repeat Presentation Next week
The first
of two Facilities Concept Community Forums was held at Central High
School on Tuesday, April 17th. Approximately 30 citizens, in addition to
District administrators and trustees of the Board of Education, attended
a community forum , held in the community room at Central High.
Superintendent Ric Perry presented a briefing on facility planning
concepts summarizing last year’s research by Tower-Pinkster architects
and community input from four meetings last fall. Their findings were
shared in a series of four public meetings held last fall covering
pools, middle school facilities, outdoor facilities, with an overview
review of all the meetings.
Following his presentation, community members broke into groups and
reported back to the whole group with comments, followed by a question
and answer session. The Next forum will be held Wednesday, April
25th at Northern High School beginning at 6:30
p.m. Here's that
presentation.
Volunteer Week Celebrating People in Action!
It is what this year's National Volunteer
Week, April 15-21 is all about. A time to inspire, recognize and encourage
people to seek creative ways to engage in their community. So, remember to
pat yourself on the back if you volunteer, and tell those who serve our
community that they are appreciated.
Thorpe Wins
Golden Pen
Amanda Thorpe, Journalism Advisor at Community High, won the Golden Pen
Award (Advisor of the year) at the MIPA (Michigan Interscholastic Press
Association) on Monday. This is the highest award a journalism advisor can
win. The District would like to congratulate Amanda for this recognition.
April is Alcohol Awareness Month
Did you
know that April is National Alcohol Awareness Month? This is an ideal
time of year to really make a difference in our community as it relates
to alcohol abuse. Starting this month, the Kalamazoo Task Force is
kicking off their annual underage drinking prevention campaign called
Parents Who Host Lose the Most. Check out the following link to learn
more about what the Task Force is doing and how easy it is to get
involved and join together to make a difference.
www.kzootaskforce.com
The Portage Collaborative
Be sure to
catch the first “We Get It” video featuring elected leaders of the City, the
Library, and the District talking about how each of these three government
units helps with job preparation, searches, and support of job creation
itself. The video is playing on Public Media Network Channel 21 every day at
7 a.m., and Tue., Wed., Thur., and Fri., at 6:30 p.m. You can also watch
online at:
http://portagecollaboration.wordpress.com
April 12th
Improved PIV for Parents and Guardians
Portage Public Schools is happy to announce that the Parent Internet
Viewer (PIV) now supports parent/guardian logins. This level of access will
allow you to review all of your students at the same time without having to
log in for each student. Details can be found at
https://piv.portageps.org/userselfservice.htm .
Remembering Former Superintendent Varl Wilkinson
Former PPS Superintendent Varl Wilkinson passed away last
week at the age of 96; he was our superintendent for 23 years from 1947 to
1970.
“Varl played a vital role in making Portage Schools what it is today,” said
Superintendent Ric Perry. “His decades of leadership during the growth of
our District was truly a remarkable achievement and we celebrate and honor
his long life of service to education.”
Wilkinson grew up in Baldwin, Mich., graduated from high school there in
1933 as class valedictorian, and attended Ferris Institute (now Ferris
State) for a year to earn his teaching certificate, followed by another year
of study at Western State Teacher’s College (now WMU). He then began his
teaching career in a one-room school house near Baldwin (Peacock), earning
$585 a year. After two years of teaching, he returned to Western and
graduated magna cum laude, and later earned his master’s degree in school
administration at University of Michigan. He met with wife of 68 years,
Nancy, while they both taught in Ortonville, Mich., where he then went on to
serve as superintendent until he came to Portage in 1947. He became the
fourth superintendent here, following Cleora Skinner, Hugh Archer, and Lewis
Crawford.
Varl became deputy director of the Michigan Association of School Boards
when he left and served in that capacity for 11 years, living in Grand Ledge
and staying there during his retirement years. He continued his contacts
with Portage Schools throughout the years, and was present for the
ground-breaking of the new Central High School and returned again for the
recent grand opening.
“Varl truly was the beginning of Portage Public Schools as we know it today.
His leadership took us from a district of 800 students to one of 10,000
students, helping us as a community deal with nearly overwhelming change,”
stated Central High School Principal Eric Alburtus. “But we were not
overwhelmed – because Varl lead with quiet confidence, thoughtfulness and
compassion. All of us continue to be blessed by Varl and the work he did –
whether we knew him or not.”
Wilkinson’s portrait hangs in the lobby of the Administration Building, and
you can read about his life in his own words at the District’s oral history
collection at
http://www.portageps.org/information/aboutpps/history.aspx.
You can read the obituary at:
http://obits.mlive.com/obituaries/kalamazoo/obituary.aspx?n=varl-ormand-wilkinson&pid=156902711.
March 29th
Jeanna Walker Receives State
Appointment
Northern High’s Teacher
Media Specialist Jeanna Walker has been appointed to the State of
Michigan, Michigan Department of Education, newly formed School Library
Advisory Group. The charge of this advisory team is to bring fresh
issues and voices to the Library of Michigan statewide services and to
regularly review the Michigan School Libraries for the 21st Century
program measures.(www.michigan.gov/sl21).
Portage Public Schools would like to recognize and congratulate Jeanna
for her new appointment. Portage Northern is one of the top 35 Library
Media Programs in the Nation – American Association of School Librarians
Vision Tour.
Central Elementray Artists At It
Again
First, an art project
from Central Elementary Young Five students went on display in the Admin
Building lobby, to rave reviews and now PEF “hand prints” paintings are
showcased there as well.
March 22nd
Community Forums Scheduled on
Facility Concepts
The District will hold two
community forums for citizens to learn more about the concepts being
discussed for future facilities planning at Portage Schools: Tuesday, April
17 at Central High and Wednesday, April 25 at Northern High. Both sessions –
featuring the same presentation – will be held from 6:30-8 p.m., in the
community rooms at those schools.
The concepts that will be shared
were presented by Ric Perry at the last board of education meeting and also
presented at this month’s District Advisory Council.
Check out the powerpoint.
“We are looking forward to
continuing the community input to this process now that we have some
concepts identified,” says Dr. Ric Perry.
These concepts resulted from
last year’s review of District facilities by Tower-Pinkster architects;
their findings were shared in a series of four public meetings held last
fall covering pools, middle school facilities, out-door facilities, with an
overview review of all the meetings in November. Stay-tuned for more
information resulting from the community input gathered from these
presentations.
PCMS Qualifies Six for State
Build Bridge Challenge
Portage Central Middle School
qualified six teams to participate in Michigan Department of Transportation
(MDOT) 4th Annual TRAC Design and Build Bridge Challenge State Finals in
Lansing Michigan on April 29 and April 30, 2012.
In addition to the State
competition.
I am so proud to announce that
one of the CMS Bridge Building teams has qualified to participate in the
National AASHTO TRAC Bridge Building finals this year. The event will be
held at the Grand Traverse Resort in Traverse City on May 16, 17, & 18. The
students will get to tour the Mackinac Bridge and participate in other
events at the competition.
March 15th
Facilities Concept Up for
Discussion
Dr. Perry presented a
Facilities Concept PowerPoint to the School Board on Monday. These concepts
are open for discussion and are in the early stages of gathering information
from the community at-large. He will also be presenting the presentation to
the DAC, District Advisory Council, tonight. The PowerPoint is currently
posted on the main Board page and through this link
http://www.portageps.org/departments/communications/Facilities%20Concept%203-12-12.pdf
Book Donations For Goodwill
Portage Public Schools
has agreed to participate in a book collection for Goodwill. PPS will
appreciate positive reference to the collaboration to foster county-wide
literacy in future marketing efforts. The collection will take place in
April. We will have ‘drop boxes’ at every school, Administration building
and Transportation/Maintenance bldg.
Early Childhood Special
Education Team Receives a Grant for iPads
The Early
Childhood Special Education Team
(ECSE) has just been awarded a grant
from the
Kalamazoo Community Foundation to purchase five
iPads to use with students. The
iPads
will support
students and teachers with acquiring
learner behaviors through visual
social stories, behavior plans,
quick reinforcement lessons, visual
schedules and visual timers for all
children within the early childhood
classrooms.
This
technology tool will also assist
educators with collecting data and
record keeping, along with tracking
program, district and state early
childhood outcomes.
Board of
Education Approves Two-Year Contract for Superintendent
Parents are satisfied with the
academic reputation of the District
and the achievement of their
students, and believe the District’s
top priorities should be expanding
attention to individual student
needs, expanding initiatives
focusing on math and science,
maintaining small elementary class
sizes, and expanding the variety of
challenging curriculum at all grade
levels, according to this year’s
annual parent survey.
The electronic anonymous survey –
sent to parents by e-mail ending
March 2 – was completed by 1,341
parents. Respondent demographics
show 59.9% with elementary students,
45% with middle school students, and
38.5% with high school students.
Highlights include:
-“How satisfied are you with the
academic achievement of your
student?” 55.2% very satisfied,
28.8% somewhat satisfied, and 9%
satisfied.
-“How satisfied are you with the
academic reputation of the
District?” 57.1% very satisfied,
27.8% somewhat satisfied, and 12.3%
satisfied
-To the question, “We want our
graduates to have every competitive
edge possible in a high-stakes
world. As we prepare our students
for the future, we need your
thoughts on prioritizing these
areas. The District should,” parents
could rank nine priorities as most
important, important, and least
important. The top four priorities,
all breaking into the 50% range,
include: expand attention given to
individual student needs (52.9%),
expand initiatives that focus on
math and science (52.5%), maintain
small elementary class size (52.3%),
and expand the variety of
challenging curriculum at all grade
levels (50.3%).
A new set of questions this year
asked about volunteering. A total of
61.6% respondents volunteer in their
schools or elsewhere in the
District, with 25.5% of those doing
so through their school’s parent
organization. Regarding information
about volunteering, 73.6% say there
is enough information available
about volunteer opportunities, with
the source of that information
coming from (marking all answers
that apply) their school parent
newsletter (74.1%), from PTO
information and meetings (40.6%),
through teacher requests (45.6%),
and through District information
(22%).
Another new question for this year
asked about use of the Parent
Internet Viewer: 9.4% access the
site daily, 33.3% access the site
weekly, 24% two or more times a
month, and 13.9% rarely.
Customer service questions included:
“Do you receive sufficient
information from the school
District?” 72.5% said often, 25.7%
sometimes, and 1.9% rarely.
“Do you have the information you
need to contact someone when you
have a question?” 85.7% said yes,
12.2% sometimes, and 2.1% no.
Responding to the follow-up
question, “Is the response you
receive timely?” 76.7% often, 21%
sometimes, and 2.3% rarely. “Is the
response you receive helpful?” 77.5%
often, 21% sometimes, and 1.5%
rarely.
The results of last year’s survey
(December 2010), answered by almost
700 parents: District’s academic
reputation with 70% very satisfied,
25% somewhat satisfied, 4%
satisfied, 1% somewhat dissatisfied;
top District priorities with
maintain small elementary class size
(57%), expand attention given to
individual student needs (43%),
expand initiatives that focus on
communicating, both verbally and in
writing (43%), and expand the
variety of challenging curriculum at
all grade levels (39%); and customer
service: Receiving sufficient
information from the District (71%
often, 23% sometimes, 5% rarely),
contact information (87% yes, 10%
sometimes, 3% no), Response timely
(82% often, 17% sometimes, 1%
rarely), Response helpful (81%
often, 18% sometimes, 1% rarely).
The Board of Education approved the
move to All-Day
kindergarten/young-fives program at
Monday night’s regular board
meeting, and District staff are
moving forward with plans for the
roll-out for this coming fall. The
District will be filling 20 new
kindergarten/young-five teaching
positions as a result of this
initiative. This approval is the
culmination of many months of
planning, identifying classroom
space and studying best-practices
for all-day kindergarten/young-five
programs. Meanwhile, information
about this improvement to our
elementary program will be shared
with parents at the upcoming
kindergarten parent meetings, with
screening dates as another
opportunity to spread the news.
“This is exciting news for our
youngest students, their families,
and the District, according to
Elementary Supervisor and Lake
Center Principal Mark Root. “It’s
the right move from both the
academic and financial perspectives,
and as a result, we will see
students benefiting from this
additional instruction and
socialization.”
Read the administrative
recommendation approved by the Board
Click Here
After
placing 2nd out of 16 schools, West
Middle Schools Mathcounts team will
be moving on to the State Finals at
Ferris State University on March
17th. 133 students competed in
Michigan's second-largest regional
competition at Western Michigan
University where West Middle placed
with Gagie School to move on to the
next round. Some of West's
team-members will be in the
individual competition as well for
placing in the top-ten; Erika Lozon,
eighth, Jack Eichman, ninth and
Ziyan Mo, tenth. Also in the state
team competition will be Simran
Singh and Hannah Wang along with
their coaches Abhiram Krishman and
Mari Nowak. For More on Mathcounts
go to Mathcounts.org