Last week, I centered the weekly newsletter around the motif of the Iditarod Trail sled dog race. This week as the “race” continues, some of the contents of the sled shifted a bit too much and was causing an unsustainable drag in the snow. We know that to make to the finish line successfully, we need to be attentive to the little things as well as the big things.

As I mentioned last week, the staff noticed that there were too many students in the study halls and too many students with too many study halls. I mentioned that part of the issue is the lack of usable spaces to offer meaningful electives. The other part of the issue was that the staff suspected that the schedule being used was suspect. So, several MS/HS staff and I met on Monday for six plus hours to essentially start from ground zero to look at all the plausible options and begin to build. The result was the 6th grade class being pulled out of the schedule and placed in a self-contained classroom with Mrs. Strohbeen as the teacher, and a schedule that corrected many of the pitfalls identified. It is a little too early to know if the intended goal has been met, but early indications are encouraging.

This week on Tuesday, @ 5:30, the school board met for its regularly scheduled meeting. It was great to see many parents in attendance. Their attendance spurred some great discussion on the topics of the agenda. The next regularly scheduled board meeting will be on Oct. 5th @ 5:30pm at the school. Coming soon, there will be a special meeting of the board regarding the new school facility. Once the details are firm, I will get that information to you.

At the last board meeting, there was some discussion centering around the topic of dress code. Inadvertently, you might have received an incorrect edition of the handbook. We are attaching the correct version of the handbook and are asking you to help us enforce the dress code at the school by reading through the code with your student and working with them to meet it.

We all have need to have a method of ordering our time. For several years, the school has provided planners for our middle school students as a means of developing skills in tracking their assignments and ensuring the completion of those assignments. The staff will be taking time in their classes each day for the student to enter the appropriate assignments and is asking you to help us build these skills by asking your student about/for his/her planner and going over it with them.

Currently, the school have students with planned absences to fill out an excused absence form where the student goes around to their teachers to gain a list of assignments that they will miss

while away. We are going to extend that protocol to student athletes who leave early for games or tournaments.

Continue to pray for the school for we can only have success when His hand of blessing is upon it. Pray for the staff and students that the Holy Spirit would enlighten their minds to the things of His Word.

Warmly,

Ron Brace