Principal’s

Newsletter
April 25, ba 2010
BRIAN CARPENTER, PRINCIPAL

Official Announcement: More of a formality than anything else, but I do want to

announce that I will be back next year as the principal of Bauder Elementary. With the
merger of Moore and Bauder, there were some unanswered questions as to who would
lead this movement. It is now official. Amy Smith, who is the principal at Moore, will
be the new principal at McGraw.

Core Component: On April 19th, next year’s Bauder staff got together for the first
time. While the entire staff is not known yet, most of us were able to begin
discussions around values and beliefs in bringing two communities together. We were
joined by Tom Balchak, school board member, who opened up our day with words of
encouragement and thanks, and Cathy Smith, former PSD Human Resources director,
who facilitated our morning. It was a productive and energizing morning and WOW
are there a lot of people on staff for next year!

One of the key components of getting together was first to get a sense from the staff if
they saw the merger as one building, integrating our two populations or as one
building, with separate populations. Happily, it was a resounding integrated approach.
This integrated approach was also strongly voiced by our parent population
throughout our various meetings. As we build this new school, we want to be ONE
population. The question then centered around Core Knowledge. If we want to be
ONE, then we feel we need to honor the merger by incorporating components of Core
Knowledge. Having said this, we do want to educate ourselves and the Bauder
community as what this means and to get your feedback. We will schedule
information nights for our Bauder community to get know this curriculum.

First and foremost, the Core Knowledge components will only affect Social Studies and
Science. We will maintain the district math curriculum as well as the new literacy
adoption, Treasures, next year. As the Bauder staff is fairly unfamiliar with the Core
curriculum, implementation may look different at each grade level. How we do this
has yet to be determined, but there will be two Moore teachers at each grade level
(except Kindergarten where there will be one) who will serve to help each grade level
move forward. Also know that the curriculum itself is about what topics we teach not
how we teach them. The strengths that our Bauder teachers bring to the classrooms
will remain intact.

Pho ne : (97 0 )-4 88 -41 50 We b s ite :

http: / / w w w . psdsc hool s. org/ sc hool s/ ba ude r/
FAX: (97 0 )-4 88 -41 52 Email: bc arpe nt@ psdsc hool s. or g
Ne ws : http://principalcarpenter.posterous.com/
I do recognize that this merger in and of itself is unprecedented and will be a huge
change for all of us. I appreciate the staff and community in being optimistic and
welcoming. I also recognize that change can be difficult especially when we don’t
have a lot of answers. Please feel free to contact me as often as you need to get the
information you need to move forward. In times like these rumors sometimes become
the communication vehicle. If you are hearing things that you would like clarification
on, I would rather you ask me or the staff so you get the correct information.

Early Release Announced: Due to the unprecedented nature of the moves involved
in closing and merging schools, the district approved an early end to school for
Bauder, Moore, and the Lab School for Creative Learning. This involves these 3
schools only. Our last day of school will be Wednesday, May 26th. School will
be dismissed at 11:30 AM. Half-Day Kindergarten will have their final day on
Tuesday, May 25th. Both dates are 24 hours earlier than the other elementary
schools and what the school calendar indicates. Lunch will NOT be served on this final
day of school, but breakfast WILL be served. Any changes to classroom events will be
communicated by teachers. By ending school sooner the district is honoring staff time
to pack up and organize for the move during work hours and not relying on staff’s
personal time to do this. We appreciate your openness to this change and hope you
respect the uniqueness of this situation. This is a one-year only occurrence and we do
have extra days built into our calendar (typically for things like snow days) so that
state requirements for seat time will be still be met. Even though Bauder is not
closing, we will be moving an incredible amount of classrooms. POD 1 will contain pre-
school, Title I, Kindergarten, and 1st grade. POD II will house 2nd and 3rd grades, and
POD III will house 4th and 5th grades.

Summer School Options: This year there will be two opportunities for summer
school for Bauder students. The first option is the district summer school, which is by
invitation only through the district. This is new for all of us. Invitations were sent
home already. If you believe your child is in need of summer school but did not
receive an invitation, please contact your child’s teacher. If you did receive an
invitation, confirmation is due April 30th. The second option is our own Jump Start
summer school that is only for Bauder students. Information about this was sent
home in last week’s folders. This is program is on a space availability option, so
contact your classroom teacher soon.

Class Placement: Annually I give families the opportunity to provide us information

concerning class placement. This year the timeline will be a bit tighter. I plan on
sending home our finalized staff list on Friday, April 30th, when I know for sure who will
be teaching at each grade level. The staffs at Moore and Bauder will be putting
classes together beginning Wednesday, May 5th. Therefore, if you would like input into
this decision, I need your requests (in the form of a letter to me) by May 5th. Please
wait until AFTER April 30th, as I know that there will be changes to our current
assignments. Please remember that these letters do not guarantee placement as our
first priority is to create classroom balance.

Pho ne : (97 0 )-4 88 -41 50 We b s ite :

http: / / w w w . psdsc hool s. org/ sc hool s/ ba ude r/
FAX: (97 0 )-4 88 -41 52 Email: bc arpe nt@ psdsc hool s. or g
Ne ws : http://principalcarpenter.posterous.com/
Another change for class placement will be the announcement of your child’s teacher.
Historically, we have put your child’s teacher for next year on the report card at the
end of the year. This year we will not be doing this. Due to the merger and not
having solid numbers on exactly who will be walking in our doors on day one, we will
post class lists outside of rooms the week prior to the first day of school, on a date to
be announced. This will allow us the opportunity to adjust the balance and size of
classes after August’s open registration.

McTeacher Night: Thank you all for a wonderful community evening. We raised
over 600 dollars! In the past, these dollars helped with our enrichment program. As
we discuss enrichment for next year, we anticipate using this year’s money for next
year’s program.

Open House for Moore Community: We have scheduled two days in early May for
our new friends to see our building, walk our halls, and meet the staff. The event is
designed specifically for the Moore families. Events in the fall will be designed for all
of the new Bauder community to come together.

Upcoming Events

April 30 Bowling Bash @ Chipper’s North, 6-8pm

May 3-7 Teacher Appreciation Week
May 4 PTO, 7pm
May 5 Kindergarten Music Program, 10am
May 6 PTO Teacher Luncheon
May 6 Skate Night @ Rollerland, 630-830pm
May 6 Intermediate Guitar Concert, 7pm
May 14 Teacher Work Day, no students
May 17 SITE, 330pm
May 20 Book Swap
May 25 5th Grade Graduation, 630pm
May 26 Last Day of School, 1130 dismissal, no lunch served, busses will run

Pho ne : (97 0 )-4 88 -41 50 We b s ite :

http: / / w w w . psdsc hool s. org/ sc hool s/ ba ude r/
FAX: (97 0 )-4 88 -41 52 Email: bc arpe nt@ psdsc hool s. or g
Ne ws : http://principalcarpenter.posterous.com/