[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=53148.96

home : local news : local news
7/23/2008 10:34:00 AM Email this article • Print this article
MCAS Discusses Registration, Attendance

Amanda Haverstick
The News-Dispatch

MICHIGAN CITY - With the start of a new school year around the corner, the Michigan City Area Schools board spent Tuesday's meeting mulling policy changes.

Sarah Fine, MCAS coordinator of student support services, presented revised guidelines on the issue of legal settlement, which concerns children being registered in the appropriate school system.

"One of the things we're trying to do ... is get the information out in a more coordinated effort so parents know what is needed," Fine said.

The department is in the process of training staff to make sure returning and new students have the necessary documentation to be enrolled, she said.

Transfer requests, Fine continued, depend on two factors: If crowded conditions of the student's school cannot accommodate the student or if curriculum offerings at high school level that are important to the student cannot be met at the student's current school.

The student, Fine said, must have written consent from the sending school superintendent and MCAS superintendent.

The attendance policy for the 2008-'09 school year was presented to the board on first reading. Fine said what they have tried to do is make the polices more consistent across grade levels.

"The good news is ... we've shown improvement from 2006-2007 to 2007-2008. That we can celebrate," Fine said. "We're on the right path."

MCAS has set a benchmark of 95 percent attendance for the school system. Most of the schools either have met or exceeded the benchmark by at least a percentage point.

The only school that did not meet the benchmark was Michigan City High School. It did, however, improve from 91.8 attendance in 2006-2007 to 93.5 percent in 2007-2008, she said.

The board tabled approval of the Student Handbooks & Code of Responsible Behavior for the 2008-'09 school year until the next meeting.



Contact reporter Amanda Haverstick at ahaverstick@thenewsdis patch.com.

[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=49942.06

Back To School Efforts Set

From Staff Reports

MICHIGAN CITY - All-day kindergarten will be available to all students at all Michigan City elementary schools.

Registration for kindergartners, as well as other students through fifth grade, is from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 7, at elementary schools. The first day of class is Thursday, Aug. 21.

A limited number of spaces will be available for half-day kindergarten at Eastport Early Learning Center, 1201 E. Michigan Blvd. Parents who wish to enroll their children should call Eastport at 873-2149 for details.

Also, Operation Back to School is Aug. 1-17. The joint effort involving the MCAS, The Salvation Army and The News-Dispatch, along with other businesses in the community, collects school supplies for children and families in need.

Any business can help by placing a collection box in their business. The items can be turned in from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 3 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 19, at The Salvation Army, where the items will be sorted for distribution. Volunteers are needed to help sort items.

Among the items sought are pencils, black pens, 24-count crayons, spiral notebooks, dry-erase markers, glue sticks, glue bottles, pink erasers, scissors, pencil boxes, two-pocket folders, antibacterial wipes, facial tissues, backpacks, small "Ziploc" sandwich bags, colored pencils, rulers, highlighters, composition books, small pencil sharpeners, calculators, washable markers, three-hole notebook paper and three-ring binders and organizers.

Collection locations are at the MCAS administration building, The News-Dispatch, The Salvation Army, City Hall, Wal-Mart, CVS, Office Depot, OfficeMax, Jewel/Osco, Marquette Mall and Hicks Chiropractic.

[Roger Kaputnik]

Is Kindergarten required now in Hoosierstan?

[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=47777.95

Schools Teaching What Parents Don't

Dave Hawk
The News-Dispatch

Criticism of Michigan City Area Schools is unrelenting, but the public is missing something. With the exception of special education and minority students, public school students have made significant progress the last couple of years, School Board member Jeff Jones points out.

Our good students are as good as anyone's good students. I've believed that for years.

For example, Kristyn Rice of Michigan City was named this week a winner of the prestigious Herman B. Wells Scholarship at Indiana University. She graduated from MCHS with highest distinction.

Another example is Nolan Fine, whose mother Sarah is a school administrator and whose dad, David, is pastor of St. John's United Church of Christ. Most know him because he ran track, but he is a 4.0 MCHS grad, Jones said. "He got tons of scholarships. Is Michigan City Area Schools failing a kid like that? I don't think so. He's going to go to Loyola and do just fine, and not fall behind students from Valpo or Duneland."

"To say that this is not a good school corporation is a disservice to those doing well and competing with other students on an equal footing," he said.

"The problem is we have few who are prepared to do that," Jones said. "Over 50 percent of our students are eligible for free or reduced lunch, and there is a strong correlation between poverty and educational attainment," he said. "A disproportionate number of those who come from poverty are inadequately prepared coming into the system."

What is MCAS doing about it?

Among the schools' strategies to address this educational gap is the Early Learning Center.

"I haven't heard anyone who has visited the Early Learning Center criticize it. Some have criticized it on philosophical differences. It's only been a couple years, but we are making great progress there," Jones said.

"If you talk to kindergarten teachers who have observed these students, you'd find a powerful story there. Kids are coming to school who know their colors, know how to follow a story, piece together a sentence. These things weren't true a couple years ago. Some kids didn't know how to go through a book left to right. We're taking steps to fix those things, but it takes years.

"There are no quick fixes, there are no immediate turnarounds, we have to recognize progress and get over this perception that our schools are broken. Do we have challenges? Absolutely."

"But Michigan City is poised to become one of the turnaround stories in Indiana," he said.

"My biggest fear is that we turn over the board again," and new people "throw out the baby with the bath water," said Jones, who doesn't face re-election this year. He is director of admissions at Indiana University-South Bend and has been working in education for two and a half decades, and continues to seek new ideas to improve education here.

Michigan City's many problems begin with the educational gap that so many children grow up with, born to families that are undereducated and that don't value learning. But all children have potential. Since many families don't or can't bring them to their potential in Michigan City, the schools are trying.

We have tried many things over the years, and not enough has changed. Let's hope Jones is right that we are poised to see some real progress.

[JHeath]

"My biggest fear is that we turn over the board again," and new people "throw out the baby with the bath water," said Jones, who doesn't face re-election this year. He is director of admissions at Indiana University-South Bend and has been working in education for two and a half decades, and continues to seek new ideas to improve education here.

Gee, is the writing on the wall that obvious?

[Southsider2k12]

Gee, is the writing on the wall that obvious?

That makes it sound like he is ready to run again. I figured with the move to South Bend, he would move on.

[Roger Kaputnik]

I object to Dave Hawk's saying the MCAS is the subject of unrelenting criticism. The Board is the subject of this criticism. The teachers are by and large doing a good job. The students are doing well--look at the kids highlighted in the paper at graduation. Parents--some are, some aren't. The Board is a friggin' mess.

[Ang]

As well as administration

...A friggin' mess I mean