ACCOLADES

• Regional Special Olympics Track and Field Events were held right here in the Erlanger-Elsmere School District on Saturday, April24,2010. Thanks to Robyn Burke, Candace Campbell and many other staff members who made the day possible and wonderful for the athletes involved. School Resource Officer, Todd Brendel was recognized and awarded at the event for his many years of service to Special Olympics.
• The Reptile Convention was held at Lloyd High School this past Saturday. Kudos to Mr. Gels and the students who organized and planned the event. Student presentations lined the hallway and reptiles filled the gymnasium.
• Lloyd student, Jibril-Inman McCaster was recognized for his community service and presented with the prestigious Commonwealth Ambassado Award for from Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson.
• Lloyd High School Teachers Lisa Heck, Mac Coolley, Richard Dube, and Jami Sastre were recognized at the April Board meeting for their dedication and leadership.
• Tichenor Middle School Teachers Jeremy Dodd, Darryl Camack, Tony Montague, and Karen Luehrman were recognized at the April Board meeting for their dedication and leadership.
• Howel Elementary partnered with Wendy's to rasie money for their school through a "burger bash".
• Arnett Elementary Teacher Stephanie Ruttle was recognized at the April Board Meeting bya parent for her dedication to students.
• Students from Miles and Howell Elementary received awards in the Governor's Cup Competition. Teacher sponsors Julia Dubowy, Jami Wheeler, and Krista Wainscott and school principals Bryant Gillis and Eric Sayler made the competition possible.
• The Erlanger-Elsmere Family Resource Center held the Summer Fair Event on Thursday, April 15th at Scheben Gym and Dietz Auditorium. It was a great event. Thanks to Missy Sorg and Karen Costello for their organization of the event.
• Girls on the Run has been an excellent program for a team of Erlanger-Elsmere Students. Tracey Molley, Angie Bielecki, Jennifer Weber, and Karen Hughes have all been working with the team that will run in a big event next month. Girls on the Run is a national program that promotes a healthy lifestyle, exercise, and self-esteem.
• Miles Elementary will be featured in an upcoming article in Kentucky Teacher!
• On May 15, Lindeman Elementary will be looking for volunteers to assist them with landscaping the front of the school. On Saturday, May 15th a crew from the 7 Hills Church and volunteers from the A.J. Lindeman community will converge to create a new face for their school. They are looking to get as many families, parents, students and volunteers to help transform Lindeman Elementary. To quote Mr. Shires, Principal, "I want to give a huge THANK YOU to our neighbors Viox & Viox for providing us with an outstanding landscape plan and 7 Hills Church for providing volunteers and the purchase of all of the materials. We are grateful for all the help and support these community members have shown our school."

Upcoming News and Events

• Legislative Caucus-February 20, 2010- Just a reminder that this Saturday, February 20th the NKY Legislative Caucus will hold a public forum at Boone County High School starting at 10:00 AM. It is recommended that you plan to arrive by 9:30 if you wish to sign up to speak. It is crucial that we have a large turnout like last year; an even larger turnout than last year would be outstanding!! Our legislators need to hear from us again about the importance of maintaining funding for P-12 and postsecondary education in Northern Kentucky. Please wear red and plan on being there to give your personal input on the needs of education for our children.
• NKEAT (The Northern Kentucky Education Action Team) includes many stakeholders. Northern Kentucky Superintendents attend these meetings which are held in support of education and collaboration with the community. To learn about NKEAT's legislative priorities and to contact your legislators in support of our students and their education, click on this link: http://www.erlanger.k12.ky.us/news/2010-02-NKEAT.pdf .

ACCOLADES

• Arnett Elementary: Arnett is a finalist for a 21st Century Learning Grant. They have made it to the next round and were visited by KDE as a part of the process. They will find out if they will receive the grant after the new year!
• Howell Elementary: Howell hosted their first men of Howell event with fathers of students at Howell. It was well received and the group has plans to take the children bowling for their next meeting.
• Lindeman Elementary: Lindeman has been working with Viox and Viox to design a plan for landscaping for their school. Viox and Viox kindly donated their services to develop a formal plan. Lindeman plans to work through BEST partnerships, the extension office, FRC student programs and local businesses and organizations to eventually fulfill the plan through donations and programs.
• Miles Elementary: Mr. Bryant Gillis, Principal, Mrs. Della Kemper, Teacher, and Mrs. Gina Danks, Teacher were asked to speak before the Education Committee of the Legislative Research Committee. They shared some of the work they are doing with standards based instruction, interventions, and all that they are doing to help students succeed. The Office of Education Accountability was also present and was extremely complimentary of Miles Elementary. Thank you to these three individuals for representing Miles and our district in sharing some of the wonderful things that are being done to ensure student learning.
• Tichenor Middle School: Tichenor received an aquatic grant and has been working with students through hands-on activities and events to provide students real-life science opportunities.
• Lloyd Memorial High School: This week Mr. Riehemann and I met with our first student advisory committee. The students were very insightful and informative. We look forward to collaborating with them to make our district the best it can be! Thanks to everyone involved that made this possible.
• Maintenance/Transportation: The maintenance/transportation department has been working diligently to make repairs and fulfill work orders and to transport our students safely. These staff members have accomplished quite a bit . Most of the maintenance department will be working over the winter break to continue that work. We appreciate all of their efforts!
• Food Service: More students than ever are participating in breakfast and lunch. This is largely attributed to the work being done by our staff members of the food service department. Thank you for providing our students with nutritious and delicious meals!

News and Events

• The Lloyd Girls' Varsity Basketball Team defeated Newport Ind. High School in the first round of the Grant County Tournament that began yesterday. The tournament started yesterday and will end on December 23rd.
• The Lloyd Boys' Varsity Basketball Team will host the Lloyd Memorial High School Invitational Tournament from 12/26/-12/28. Their first game will be on Sunday, December 27th at 8PM against North Laurel.
• The Fall Cycle for KTIP has concluded. Interns, you are halfway through your internship program. Resource Teachers, the district deadline for the spring timesheet will be April 23, 2010. Thanks to everyone for getting your timesheets submitted.
• ACCESS Testing for ESL/ELL Students will begin in January. This testing is a requirement of the state testing and NCLB and ALL ESL/ELL students must be tested at all schools. ALL STUDENTS SHALL BE RELEASED FROM THEIR CLASSES WHEN CALLED FOR ACCESS TESTING. NO STUDENTS SHALL BE PENALIZED IN ANY WAY FOR HAVING TO MISS ANY PORTION OF THEIR CLASSES FOR ACCESS TESTING.
• MAP TESTING winter testing window is January 11-January 29th.
• Tumble Books is a program that has been purchased for all schools. Please contact Mr. Palmore, Ms. Hellmann, or me if you have any questions about how to access this great resource for all grade levels.
• Site visits went very well and we learned a great deal about the strategies being implemented to move students toward proficiency.