Ellensburg School News - Ellensburg School District

Ellensburg School News
Fall Newsletter, 2011
MEETING ON VACATING MORGAN
The Ellensburg School District Board of Directors has made the decision that the cost to resolve the
seismic, structural and electrical issues at Morgan Middle School cannot be dealt with economically. Therefore, the board is asking for your thoughts at a community meeting as to options that would be the best viable
to vacate the oldest parts of Morgan Middle School.
There will be a community meeting Saturday, October 8, 2011 from 9:00 a.m. – 12: 00 in the Ellensburg High School Commons.
Vacating Morgan Middle School
The problems with the structural and functional deficiencies of Morgan have been well
publicized for the past several years. The Daily
Record provided more coverage on Morgan’s
problems during this past bond campaign than the
previous two elections. Numerous guest articles and
opinions from the community were also published.
In addition there were many meetings and informational sessions held on Morgan Middle School. The
community’s attention on the issues in the recent
elections resulted in the largest turn out the district
had for a bond. Although, much of the attention was
focused on the building itself, we cannot forget, most
importantly, the crucial connection between the quality of education and the educational environment.
It is very costly to resolve the seismic, structural and electrical concerns at Morgan Middle
School.
After reviewing previous engineering
reports, financial estimates and education requirements that are appropriate and essential for students,
the board has made the decision that it is not
economical to continue to use taxpayer dollars to
address the concerns at Morgan Middle School, and
then to have the same building that limits the educational opportunities for our students. After three
failed bond campaigns the district must now decide
how best to vacate an aging building that does not
provide for the students’ educational and safety
needs.
1300
EAST
THIRD
AVENUE.
On October 8, 2011 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00
we would like to hear your thoughts as to the best
and most viable options to vacate Morgan Middle
School. The district has identified some options and
these options will be presented. These options include utilizing existing buildings available to the district and/or purchasing portables, moving as many
middle school students to the high school as possible
and utilizing the newest parts of Morgan for the remaining students, as well as double shifting the high
school and middle school students at the high
school. Each option will have emotional and fiscal
consequences on our students, parents and community. The purpose of the meeting is to hear your
thoughts on which options you feel are most viable
for the board to consider.
Once the board has had an opportunity to
review the comments made by our community a
timeline will be established to vacate Morgan.
Please plan to attend the meeting on the 8th.
ELLENSBURG,
Sincerely,
Paul Farris
Superintendent
WA.
509-925-8000
WELCOME to our New Staff
Mt. Stuart
DAN PATTON - PRINCIPAL
Mr. Patton comes to Ellensburg from
Hood River, Oregon. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education
from Oregon College of Education and a
Master of Science in Education Administration from Portland State University. Mr. Patton brings us 15 years of
teaching experience and 19 years as an
Elementary Principal.
ERIKA HANSON
Ms Hanson is teaching 5th grade at Mt.
Stuart Elementary. She earned her
Bachelor of Arts degree from CWU in
Elementary Education and Theater Arts.
She brings with her teaching experience
from North Kitsap, Bethel, Wahluke and
North River School Districts.
Morgan
COLETTE WATSON
Mrs. Watson is teaching science at the
middle school. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in K-8 General and
Science Education with a Biology
minor from CWU. She is familiar
with the middle school students and
staff as she has served as a long term
substitute here on two separate occasions.
Local Education TV
Channel #2
Channel #15
Channel #16
EHS
PAMELA TIPTON
Ms Tipton is teaching Life Skills to our
students with significant disabilities.
She comes to Ellensburg from the
Wahluke School District. She earned
her Bachelor of Arts degree at CWU in
Elementary Education with a Special
Education endorsement.
MEGAN SMEDLEY
Ms Smedley is teaching math at EHS.
She received her Bachelor of Science
degree in secondary math from LewisClark State College. Megan completed
her student teaching at Clarkston High
School.
CHARLIE ACHESON
Charlie Acheson, an Ellensburg native is
teaching social studies at EHS. He
received his Bachelor of Arts in Spanish
and History from Montana State University. He holds a Master of Arts in
History from Central. Charlie brings 6
years of teaching experience to our
district.
YOKO ALLEN
Ms Allen earned her Bachelor of Arts in
English as a student in Japan. She
earned a Masters Degree in TESOL
(Teachers of English to Speakers of
Other Languages) from CWU. Additionally, Yoko is endorsed to teach bilingual Education in Japanese, K-12 ESL
(English as a Second Language) from
CWU.
District Wide
BEN MOUNT
TRANSPORTATION DIRECTOR
Mr. Mount comes to Ellensburg from the
Ocean Beach School District in Long
Beach, WA. He brings with him 9 years
of experience in Pupil Transportation,
with over half of that in a supervisory
capacity. Ben holds a Bachelor’s degree
in mechanical engineering and has completed all four levels of the CWU Pupil
Transportation Management Program.
MARLENE HUGHES
Marlene Hughes returns to Ellensburg’s elementary Highly Capable
Program.
Marlene received her
Bachelor of Science from Brigham
Young University in Elementary Education. Marlene has over 15 years of
teaching experience and we welcome
her back.
EDEN YOURKOWSKI
Ms Yourkowski joins our district as a
Speech Language Pathologist. Eden
earned her Bachelor of Arts in Biology
from CWU and a Masters of Science
in Speech Pathology from University
of Wyoming.
SALLY GASPER
Mrs. Gasper, an Ellensburg resident, is
teaching English at EHS. She taught at
Davis High School in Yakima for the
past two years. In 2009, Mrs. Gasper
received a Bachelor of Arts in Secondary
Social Studies Education from CWU,
graduating magna cum laude. She holds
the honor of being a Dean’s Scholar in
the College of Arts and Humanities. She
is certified in English and Social Studies
in grades 5-12.
Katie Hull, 2nd Grade teacher at
Lincoln Elementary
and her
students in an outdoor learning
experience.
MMS
Mt. Stuart
Mount Stewart
Elementary
is
going to be doubly endowed with
two Library Media
Teachers.
Jerry Alldredge
recently resigned
half of his position to pursue
another venture
in his life. Lisa Withrow, who had been the Media
Assistant, and who is a certified teacher with a library
endorsement, was selected to fill the vacant position. As a result, the dynamic duo will continue in a
new form; she will work the first half of each week,
with Jerry completing the last half of each week.
Valley View
Our fourth and fifth grade students spent the day at
CWU on Monday Sept. 12, investigating reptiles,
planets, lasers, Mammoths and physics.
Valley View fifth
grade, Mrs. Wright's
class, Karson Keaton
standing on a CWU
student as they lay on a
bed of nails.
Valley View Fourth
Grade, Mrs. Clark's class,
student Briana Lubinski
during the CWU Science
field trip.
Morgan
Middle
School has had a
great start to the
school year! We welcomed 736 students
on the first day of
school, with the largest group of sixth
graders ever to attend
Morgan in one class. It was wonderful to have the energy of the students back in the building and we are
looking forward to a great 2011-2012!
Lincoln
This year at Lincoln, we are focusing on
teamwork within the school building. Teaching has
traditionally been a somewhat isolated profession. We
have had independent contractors who spend six hours
a day in the classroom working with students and
there has been limited opportunity for collaboration
with other teachers. We have created a time during
the workweek for grade level teams to work together
to improve the teaching and learning in our
school. We are responding to four critical questions:
What do we want our students to know and be able to
do? How will we know if they have learned essential
content and skills? How do we respond if they have
not learned? How do we provide enrichment for
students who learn quickly? The answers to those
questions are rich and complex, and they pave the
road to improved teaching and learning for our
students.
EHS
Students arrived to school to have the ASB
Officers and Link Crew Members greeting them with
an enthusiastic welcome to the 2011-2012 school year.
At the opening school assembly we introduced
our new certificated staff and gave the students a brief
description of our new Advisory Program at EHS,
C.C.R.: Career and College Readiness. The focus of
the advisory program is to prepare students on how to
explore, plan and follow-through on post-secondary
plans.
We also introduced the new School Tip Line
which is designed to give students the opportunity to
anonymously text school administrators regarding
inappropriate student behavior.
School Board
Summer Maintenance
The Ellensburg School
District maintenance,
grounds, and custodial
departments continued to
work very hard in maintaining all the district
grounds and facilities in
the 2010-2011 school year.
Some of the major projects
that were completed in the
fall and summer are as
follows:
Mt Stuart
New carpet and tile
installed in all the hallways and activity
pods.
 Sealcoat parking lot,
playgrounds, drain
catch basins and service lanes.

Lincoln
 Replaced carpet in
three small offices and
two portable classrooms.
 Top off Fibar material
in playground equipment areas.

Morgan
 Replaced roof on covered play shed.
 Seal coated Gymnasium roof.
Valley View
 Top off Fibar material
in playground equipment areas.
Ellensburg High
 Sealcoat parking lot
and service lanes.
 Painted Athletic buildings, main stadium and
visitor bleachers.
 Additions to main
stadium stairs.
Several other projects
throughout the district will
be completed during the
2011-2012 school year.
With the dedication and
hard work of our maintenance, grounds, and
custodial staff, our
facilities will continue to
be a safe learning environment for students and
staff.
Feel free to contact the
building principal if you
would like to visit our
schools. We encourage
anyone who has a question about our facilities or
grounds to contact Dale
Leslie, Maintenance/
Custodial Director, at
(509) 925-8108.
Back Row: Paul Farris, Superintendent, Anita Boyum,
Sandy Elliot, Bob Haberman-Vice President.
Front Row: Pat Gigstead-Legislative Representative,
Chuck Wahle-President.

The Board of Directors  Board members Pat
meet regularly on the
Gigstead, your Legisla2nd and 4th Wednesday
tive Representative;
of each month beginAnita Boyum, past
ning at 7:00 p.m. in the
WSSDA President and
City Council Chambers
board member on the
located at 501 N AnderTrust Lands Commitson.
tee; and Sandy Elliot
 The Study Session in
attended the WSSDA
preparation for the
Legislative Assembly
meeting is held the
in Pasco, Washington
Tuesday prior to the
on September 23-24,
regular meeting from
2011.
6:45-7:30 a.m. at the
district office.
 The Board of Directors
 On occasion the Board
will attend the
of Directors meet in a
WSSDA, Washington
Special Study Session
State School Directors
or Executive Session.
Association Annual
When a special meeting
Conference in Bellevue,
is held it is posted on
WA on November 18the district website, and
20, 2011.
time permitting, notice
is given to the local
newspaper.
Ellensburg School District #401
1300 E Third Avenue
Ellensburg, WA 98926
Non-Profit Organization
Postage Paid, Permit No. 146
Ellensburg, WA 98926
ECRWSS
RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER
ELLENSBURG
SCHOOL
NEWS

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