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New members join AUSD board of
trustees
By Lori Bledsoe
For
The Alpine Sun
ALPINE — New Alpine Union School
District board members Eric Wray and Gina Henke joined the
trustees at the meeting held Dec. 13. New student
representatives Amber Thoennes and Emily Keach also took seats
at the monthly board meeting.
Also at the meeting, member Scott Barr was elected to
the position of Board President. Mark Price now holds the
position of Vice President on the board and Ann Pierce is the
new Clerk.
Greg Ryan relayed the enthusiasm of the school site
principals with the new web site development program. This
program promises web site access for all students and parents to
current AUSD teachers, who will have the ability to create and
update individual web pages. These web pages will allow teachers
to list, and briefly instruct students in their assignments as
well as give another avenue of communication between students
and teachers.
Sharon Faith Ford was introduced by Katy Woodward as a
new employee for Joan Mac Queen Middle School. In the
introduction Woodward expressed how happy she was with Ford, and
Ford reciprocated that she is also happy working at JMMS.
Bill Cudog, Assistant Superintendent, made a
presentation to bring the new board members up-to-date with the
on-going testing procedures at AUSD. Cudog reiterated that the
assessments are an on-going process to allow the district to
continually monitor the success in education that is present at
AUSD.
Gina Henke asked where the questions come from that are
on the current testing materials.
The on-going assessments that the district currently
uses are a collaborative effort made by a team of teachers as
well as the questions that the state releases for leveled
learning. These questions are entered into Edusoft, the
district’s current testing program. Also included in these tests
are questions put out by publishers to assess the learning that
is taking place from the current texts that are being used.
Henke was pleased that the district was using Edusoft,
as she has experience with this program. This program gives the
opportunity for teachers to get feedback from the given
assessments.
Cudog added that many districts now want to monitor the
students’ progress throughout the year; however, it is in the
district’s mind set not to overkill with assessments. Ann Pierce
added that these assessments at our district are a tool to align
teaching to the students’ ability.
On the action calendar, Joan Mac Queen Middle School
has revised their promotion policy. Students will now be flagged
as being in danger of being retained.
This means that when a student is seen as failing in
classes, he or she will receive intervention through a process
that includes extra help in study skills and counseling. The
purpose of this is to catch students who are struggling with
their studies as early as possible to enhance the possibility of
achievement.
Rob Turner presented the first interim certification
and explained that this process has become very complicated.
In closing statements Emily Keach asked about an issue
that came up in last month’s meeting. She wanted clarification
on the Wednesday Packet policy and which flyers were able to be
included in these packets. Greg Ryan explained that in order for
the district to strike a balance in paperwork that is sent home
every week, the district holds a “limited open forum” for the
flyers that are included in the Wednesday Packets.
The criteria for these flyers include: educational and
educational opportunities, government agencies, local agencies
and Alpine opportunities. All flyers are reviewed by district
staff to ensure that they comply with criteria.
Mark Price welcomed everyone to the new board and
congratulated Scott Barr on his first meeting as president.
Price also made positive comments about the two new student
representatives, saying that they had great questions and
conducted themselves well.
Scott Barr said he was looking forward to working
with everyone, and Greg Ryan also welcomed all to the board.
Eric Wray thanked everyone for being so nice on his
first board meeting. Said that he believes in children and is
sure that he and Gina Henke will work hard to do the best job
that they can.
 E-mail
Christy Scott
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