5. - 11. ICESR 08-14-2007 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Otsego schools: New school to assist elementary, middle school h 1 1 ssr Bezek and Jana Hennen- Burr, the assistant superin- tendent in charge of educa- tional services lent their sup- port to such and approach. Tom Walerius, the assistant . superintendent in charge of business operations, was slow to warm to the idea. Coming from an urban school setting, he envisioned an urban model of a K-eight program` and demonstrated repeatedly the numbers would not work. But fel- low school administrators cleared up any confusion he had. They are looking at two ECFE/SE• Pote populations, but reaching out 'to early childhood and ~teens:is:also a stated prior- ity of the group. "It seems hke a neat idea," said Scott Whitman, who serves on Athe Main Street Family Services Board of Directors. In Zimmerman,. it's pos- sible the space could be added to an existing school, but nothing has. been etched into stone. Charlie Blesener, the long-time Bead of District 728 Community Education which runs the ECFE and ELSE programming, said he is pleased with the board's decision. He said for $2.5 million, the district should be able to provide better space in the north and south and double the separate programs within one building, the first being a K-five program with a capac- ity of 500, and the second being a six-eight program with a capacity of 460. The six-eight program will be comprised of students from a new K-five atten- dance zone as well as stu- dents from other elementary schools (primarily Otsego Elementary School). The program will be separate with the exception of some shared spaces like the cafete- ria, gymnasium; the media center and perhaps art and ntial exists for music. Hennen-Burr sees some exciting opportunities with- in the facility, including the option of developing mentor- ing programs inyolvmg the older and younger students. The one concern board mein-. hers forwarded during the debate leading up to its deci- sion to come with a bond referendum was not sacrific- ing the ability to offer equi- table programming from one middle school to the next. Walerius stands by his coin- ments ,that the district will not be able to offer as many middle sc oo c a oom opportunities at this facil- ity, but he and other school administrators figure the program will be very work- able and will still have access to the advantages of alterna- tive scheduling' proposed in a $5.1 million operating levy. Jorgensen said the good, thing is the K-eight. plan keeps kids in their communi- ty longer and it takes a long stride toward reaching the district's . long-range vision for schools to handle Otsego's growth. partnership with communities capacity of what the school district currently offers in the Rogers and Zimmerman areas. Blesener has met with Elizabeth Golden of Main Street Family Services to begin a dialogue and com- pare notes on their mis- sions. Golden was on vaca- tion late last week and this week and could not be reached for comment: Whitman said she gave the board a report on the meeting, and the meet- ing seemed to be a posi- tive. Whitman said pairing young children and seniors is an idea they talked about quite some time ago, and suggested the two groups were a good fit. "We're excited about the potential," Whitman said. The basic .needs for suc- cessful early childhood pro- gramming have been laid out for the School Board by Blesener and Carl Jacobia, the director of special edu- cation for the school dis- trict. The purpose of includ- ing money in the bond and small dollar amount in the levy is to have families able to access services with their home communities. This decentralization of ECFE and school readiness is an attempt to provide dedicat- ed spaces in the north and in the south. The basic ECFE program would include two kin- dergarten-like classrooms (1,200 square feet), a par- ent conference room and a sibling care room. Similarly, four kindergar- Revenue: Community announcements would be shown on screen Should the screen or equip- ment get vandalized by pa- trons, REACH is responsi- Eik R~rer~ Lions Club ti ~P~saE>e~,x - r~esday IEl ~' ~_ .,ach~~_„ Li~IlS P~ Building CE3, ^ ~ I •..~. S. ,~I.LCASFI GABIT)1' R{)UT~ Au yuu cane 5300 inn JnY^ Yt?ur~wu {aca! trs up candy rnwe. Includes ~S(a machines-:md candy. 49 Pcr All for $9,993.883(776-3066 )-d 138 F ~ . 1~}1!I our ~>" ct's wArrrrn: $uyin8 prc-1965 «hllye civilian nr militar} ..~ Jecps Jeep ~Lndc.r^ and paMs.^Phone ble for paying for expenses. The agreement specifies that REACH will pay Rog- ers $2,000 the first year of the three-year contract, and $2,500 in year two and ten-like spaces would be ideal for a basic ECSE pro- gram. To do both would cost an estimated $3.1 million, according to documents crafted last month. The need for school readi- ness programming is burst- ing in the center of the school district. Its current- ly full at 210 for the fall 2007. program. There are 14 on the waiting list in Zimmerman, four in Rogers' and 20 in Elk River. Parent fees range from $710 for a two half-day/week 3-year- old program to $1,205 for a three half-day/week 4-year- old program. Space Is one of the lim- its, as is the ECFE School Readiness budget, Blesener said. $3,000 m the final year. the agreement takes ef- fect Aug. 1 2007. Using this keeps your Business Using this keeps running smoothly... ~ Si~ik ~`~t4's .~~' your car ~ ~, ~~ -._`. running STARNEWS & 5~ -- smoothly 5O6 FREEPORT STE.A ~ 763-441-3500 www.erstariew~:cun~