1. Art and Diseño

Springville
www.springville.k12.ia.us
Superintendent:
Amy Kortemeyer
400 Academy Street
Springville, IA 52336
854-6197 Ext. 1001
Springville Secondary
School
400 Academy Street
Springville, IA 52336
Principal: Nick Merritt
854-6196 Ext. 1022
Springville Elementary
School
602 Mill Avenue
Springville, IA 52336
Principal: Amanda
Potter
854-6195 Ext. 2002
MISSION
STATEMENT
The mission of the
Springville Community
Schools is to instill a
lifelong love of
learning, while
promoting the
achievement of the
individual student
within a positive
learning climate where
high expectations are
cooperatively set by
school personnel,
students, parents and the
community.
The next School Board
Meeting will be held on
Monday, February 16th,
at 7:00 p.m.
February 2015
From the Desk of Superintendent Amy Kortemeyer
Happy February Everyone!
In this month’s article I feature our ongoing facilities work, information on the Teacher Leadership
and Compensation (TLC) grant and Attendance Center Rankings.
Facilities Update
As noted in the past few newsletters, we have invited an independent group in to do a brief study of
our facilities and provide feedback as well as hold community meetings to gather input from our
stakeholders.
In January we held our first of two community meetings. Thank you to those of you who were able
to make it and provide feedback to us! Please plan to attend the second community meeting on
February 4th at the secondary school. The purpose of the first meeting was for community members
to share in the discussion of the needs of the school district as it relates to facilities. The purpose of
the second meeting will be to share out the findings from both the facilities study and the first
community meeting.
During the regular school board meeting, on November 19 th, the board passed a motion to hire
Duane Van Hemert and Sam Harding from Iowa Schoolhouse Construction and Planning Services
(ISCPS). Their services include: an unbiased assessment of all facilities; determining different
possibilities and prioritizing needs; holding two community meetings to gather input from
community members, answering questions, and addressing concerns. The timeline is to complete
the facilities study and hold community meetings in January and February, with a report due to the
board during the February 16th board meeting.
Teacher Leadership and Compensation (TLC) Plan
We were notified on December 19th that our TLC Plan has been approved for the 2015-2016 school
year! Last year the Iowa General Assembly approved $50 million per year for three years totaling
$150 million for Teacher Leadership Grants. Districts were asked to apply for this last year and 39
schools were selected in the first round. Our school district applied again this school year and will
be awarded approximately $115,000.
The majority of this funding will go towards hiring teacher leaders, from within our current staff,
beginning next school year. Our grant states that we will hire a full time instructional coach, 5 lead
teachers, and 3 model teachers. The instructional coach’s position would be a full time release from
the classroom position. The lead and model teachers would remain in their classrooms full time and
receive stipends for these positions. Teachers who are interested in applying for these positions will
do so by March 23rd. It is our intent to hire for these positions during the month of April.
Attendance Center Rankings (ACR)
The ACR requirements were established during the 2013 legislative session. It required the Iowa
Department of Education (IDE) to develop a school performance system and report card for all
(1300) attendance centers. The goal of the legislation is to establish specific performance goals and
evaluate the effectiveness of each attendance center in meeting them. The following areas will be
included on the report card: student proficiency, student academic growth, attendance rates, parent
involvement, employee turnover, community activities and involvement, closing the gap scores for
subgroup performance, and college readiness rates. Data sources for several of these areas have
been identified. However, data does not currently exist on all of them. Therefore the IDE is not able
to combine all the indicators into one ranking at this time but it is the intention to do so over time.
The IDE is scheduled to release information on two of the indicators this month.
Please let me know if you have any questions about these or any other items. I can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at 319-854-6197. Have a great month!
From the Desk of Elementary Principal Amanda Potter
As we approach Valentine’s Day, we are encouraging a love of reading at the elementary school! We have set a building-wide goal
for students to read 60,000 minutes during the month of February. This school-wide reading incentive is titled,
“Read Your
Heart Out!”
Students will have a weekly sheet to track their minutes they read at home. We have set the following goal for
each grade level:
PK-1st – 10 minutes per day
2nd & 3rd – 20 minutes per day
4th & 5th – 30 minutes per day
These minutes should be considered a goal but if your student would like to read more, that is fantastic! At the end of each week,
minutes will be totaled and students will receive a paper heart to write their names on for every 10 minutes they read. We are
trying to fill the wall in the elementary gym with hearts and hopefully we will reach (and possibly surpass) our goal of 60,000
minutes by the end of the month. The minutes can be accrued by your child reading to you, you reading to your child, or your child
reading to themselves or siblings. We can’t wait to see the hearts grow!
Iowa Assessments will take place the week of February 16 th-20th for 2nd through 5th grade students. We will be having an assembly
on Friday, February 13th to kick-off the assessments and help students have a positive perspective when it comes to testing.
Hopefully the students will come home feeling motivated and excited to do their best and show off all of the learning that has
occurred in the past year. Please encourage a healthy and hearty breakfast each day during the testing window because students
will be able to concentrate so much better if they are not hungry. C.A.S.T. will also be providing snacks throughout the week to
ensure all students are at their best for testing.
Upcoming Dates to Remember
Wednesday, February 4th @ 6:00 p.m.
Friday, February 6th
Friday, February 13th @ 2:15 p.m.
February 16th-20th
March 3rd @6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, March 4th
Community Facilities Meeting @ HS
No School – Professional Development
Valentine’s Day Parties
Iowa Assessments
Kindergarten Round Up
Spring Pictures
From the Desk of Secondary Principal Nick Merritt
Thank you to all staff, students, and parents for flexibility in regards to the end of the semester. We were able to get finals in before
break and had some time to kick off our project-based learning for the year. The start to the 2nd semester was definitely interesting
with the weather issues, but we managed to get through and are now in full-swing. As we begin the 2nd semester, we hope all
students had an opportunity to recharge over the winter break and take some time to reflect on how the first semester went.
Iowa Assessments – Feb. 16-20
The Iowa Assessments will be held from
February 16 through February 20. We are
excited to see how much the students have
grown over the past year. To help with the
students’ performance, remind and help
students get a good night’s sleep, eat right,
and to do the best they can.
I want to take the opportunity to address Iowa Assessments that are
coming up. Teachers will be working with students to do goalsetting based on last year’s performance. We ask that you help us in
reminding students to put forth their best efforts while taking the
tests as they are a valuable measure to their improvement from year
to year. To assist students’ performances, students should get a
good night’s sleep, eat a healthy breakfast in the morning, and work
on finding ways to eliminate distractions and stay focused. We look
forward to seeing how great our students are doing on these tests and
on getting a picture of their growth from year to year.
Lastly, as we move through the remainder of the semester, we will be intermittently working on our project-based learning
activities that we will focus on at the end of the semester. While plans are still being formulated, hopefully you’ll hear more about
this from both your son/daughter and what exciting things we plan to do to help the school and community.
It’s a great day to be an Oriole!!
Kindergarten Round-up
Kindergarten Round-up for parents/guardians of our 2015/2016 Kindergartners will be held Tuesday, March 3 rd in the multi-purpose
room at the elementary building. There will be a meeting starting at 6:30 pm and there will be an opportunity for registration and
building tours. We will share information regarding our kindergarten program and answer any questions you may have. Children
must be 5 years old by September 15, 2015 to enter kindergarten next fall. Please bring a certified birth certificate and a proof of
residence to this meeting or before registration in August.
If you have neighbors with incoming kindergarteners or know anyone new to the district, please have them contact Jenny at 854-6195
ext. 2000 to be placed on our kindergarten list.
SCHOOL CENTS 2014
Thanks to our great community, Springville has received 1 st place the 5th year in a row for School Cents! Our final award was
$7,100.00. We also won the 1st place midway award which was $1,675.00. Our grand total for this year was $8,775.00. The staff and
students at Springville are so appreciative of the support we receive from our small, but mighty community. The funds should be
distributed within the next month to the school. Our administration will discuss how best to benefit our students with the funds and
we will be sure to let the community know how the funds are spent at that time! The final point totals are listed below.
A special thank you to Marcia Hughes, Tiel Howard, and Iris Trampe for taking time from their busy schedules to take care of the
publicity, turning in receipts and making sure we participated in all of the events to earn our school extra points!
School Cents ~ Final Standings
High
School
Alburnett HS
Anamosa HS
Cedar Valley Christian
Center-Point Urbana HS
Central City HS
CR Washington HS
East Buchanan HS
Edgewood-Colesburg HS
Kennedy HS
Marion HS
Metro HS
North Cedar HS
North-Linn HS
Springville HS
Xavier HS
Grand
Total
Points
Publicity
Points
Report
Cards
Other
Points*
14,309
1,048
6,450
1,712
10,749
1,308
2,181
605
442
290
915
1,290
3,187
19,787
1,541
900
270
870
165
450
0
600
130
0
120
240
0
240
900
510
360
0
376
7
362
2
0
108
0
0
0
0
0
435
0
900
150
800
600
900
900
500
0
400
100
400
500
820
925
415
Winter Weather
We will utilize three television stations (KCRG, KGAN, and KWWL), four radio stations, One Call (which sends out a phone call
using information pulled from our PowerSchool student information system), the school website, Facebook , Twitter and Iowa School
Alerts for school cancellations or delays. If you have not already signed up for Iowa School Alerts and are interested be sure to sign up
through the website: https://schoolalerts.iowa.gov/
Emergency Bus Routes – Hard Surface Roads Only by Central Office Secretary Barb Hennings
Due to certain weather-related conditions, we may be forced to use emergency bus routes in order to have school. Please check daily
with your local radio and TV stations for the more current weather related announcements. What does this mean? Emergency bus
routes mean that we will run on “hard surfaced roads” only. We hope you understand that we have the safety of your children first and
foremost on our minds. We appreciate your cooperation when it comes to emergency routes. How do my children ride the bus during
this time? We will need to rely on you, as parents/guardians, to take your children to the nearest paved road (a spot where it is safe for
the bus to stop) and meet the bus. A bus should pass by on the same paved road at least twice. *You may see two different Springville
buses – you can ride any Springville bus that goes by.
The following is the best-case scenario we can give you:
Rusty Horak, #98, will travel up Springville Road, X20, north to County Home Road. He will turn left and go through Whittier, and
then north on Whittier Road, X20. He will turn around at Bowdish Rd. and return the same way. From Whittier, he will travel east on
County Home Road to Alderman where he will turn around and return to Springville.
Carry Nelson, #04, will also travel up Springville Road, X20, north to County Home Road. She will turn left and go through Whittier
west to Jordans Grove Rd. She will turn around at Jordans Grove, make a stop at Stone Rd. and go back through Springville. She will
go south on X20 to HWY 151. She will go west on 151 to Jordans Grove Rd, turn around, and proceed east back to Springville.
Alan Horak/Scott Kilburg, #00, will travel south from Springville on Springville Road, X20, to Linn Ridge Rd where he will turn
around. He will proceed east on Martelle Road to Taylor Rd. where he will turn around, come back on Martelle Rd, then go north on
X20 and return to HWY 151. He will proceed east on HWY 151 and turn north on Linn-Jones Road, turn around, and return to HWY
151 and then to Springville.
NOTE: ALL three buses will leave the bus barn around 7:10 a.m. The time the bus goes by your nearest point could vary. You might
be able to catch it on the way out or on the way back. Feel free to ride any Springville bus that goes by. For pick up at HWY 151, you
will have only one chance to catch the bus going by. The p.m. routes will be run the same way. If we run hard surface for the a.m.
routes we will run hard surface for the p.m. routes. We ask for everyone’s cooperation and understanding if it becomes necessary to
use emergency or hard-surface only routes.
Annual Notifications
Teacher Qualifications Notice
Parents and guardians in the Springville Community School District have the right to learn about the following qualifications of their
child's teacher/paraprofessional: state licensure requirements for the grade level and content areas taught, the current licensing status
of the child's teacher, and baccalaureate/graduate certification/degree. The qualifications of an instructional paraprofessional who
serves the student in a Title I program may also be requested. Parents and guardians may request this information from the Office of
the Superintendent, 400 Academy Street, Springville, Iowa 52336. The Springville Community School District ensures that parents
will be notified in writing if their child has been assigned, or has been taught by a teacher for four or more consecutive weeks by a
teacher who is not considered highly qualified.
102.E1 Notice of Non-Discrimination
Students, parents, employees and others doing business with or performing services for the Springville Community School District are
hereby notified that this school district does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation,
gender identity, socioeconomic status, disability, religion, creed, age (except for permitting/prohibiting students to engage in certain
activities), political party affiliation, marital status, or genetic information in admission or access to, or treatment in, its educational
programs and activities, or its employment practices. Any person having inquiries concerning the school district's compliance federal
and/or state non-discrimination laws is directed to contact the school district’s compliance officer: Melissa Murphy, High School
Guidance Counselor at 400 Academy Street, Springville, Iowa 52336, or 319-854-6196 from 7:45 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. who has been
designated by the school district to coordinate the school district's efforts to comply with federal and/or state non-discrimination laws.
The Iowa Department of Education has announced a series of February public forums and a statewide survey
following a state panel’s recommendation to get public feedback on the Next Generation Science Standards.
These are a set of learning expectations in science for students in kindergarten through high school. The Next
Generation Science Standards were developed by 26 states, including Iowa. All states can consider adopting
and adapting them to meet their needs.
Public feedback will be used to provide guidance to the Science Standards Review Team, which is expected to
submit a final recommendation regarding science standards to the State Board of Education later this year.
The survey, which is open through February 27, can be found at the following link:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VW6SHDY?c=Iowa_Science_Survey
The public forums are scheduled as follows:
Wednesday, Feb. 11: Waukee
4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Waukee Community Schools District Office – Board Room
560 Southeast University Ave.
Waukee, IA
Tuesday, Feb. 24, Ottumwa
4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Great Prairie Area Education Agency, Ottumwa Office – Auditorium
2814 North Court Street
Ottumwa, IA
Wednesday, Feb. 25, Dubuque
4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Keystone Area Education Agency, Dubuque Office – Room 1 ABC
2310 Chaney Road
Dubuque, IA
Thursday, Feb. 26, Sioux City
4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Northwest Area Education Agency, Administrative Office – Room A/Auditorium
1520 Morningside Ave.
Sioux City, IA
The Next Generation Science Standards can be found at http://www.nextgenscience.org/.
For more information, please visit the Iowa Department of Education’s website at
https://www.educateiowa.gov/.
SPRINGVILLE COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT
Springville, Iowa
BOARD MINUTES – January 21, 2015
NOTE: These minutes are unofficial until approved by the board at the next regular meeting.
BOARD WORK SESSION
A Board Work Session was held at 6:00 p.m. on January 21, 2015 prior to the Regular Board Meeting with Lee Ann Grimley, Todd Nulle,
Laura Riley, Tami Gillmore, Superintendent Amy Kortemeyer, Secondary Principal/Instructional Leader Nick Merritt, PK-5 Elementary
Principal/Curriculum Director Amanda Potter, Board Secretary Stacey Matus and guest present. Board member Dee Wagaman was
absent.
The Board and Administration team discussed Chapter 6 entitled “Developing Leadership and Collaboration around Shared Purpose”
from the Iowa Association of School Boards Leadership for Student Learning book. Topics of discussion were as follows: Timely chapter
with the recently awarded TLC grant; Leadership and collaboration are deeply imbedded in the culture that has already been established
in our district; PLC conference training in June will provide essential learning time and positive feedback to our TLC instructional
leaders; District’s commitment to weekly early dismissals provides valuable collaboration time for instructors; Wednesday early outs are
devoted to professional learning time and collaboration all in the best interest of improving instruction; Exploring possibilities with
neighboring school districts to provide collaboration time with teachers in specialized areas of instruction; Important to create and
maintain an environment of not being fearful to try new things to get better outcomes; Teamwork is inclusive from all district personnel
and the Board of Education; Board members spoke highly of the teachers and quality of interaction who share during board learning
time; Importance of celebrating staff and students who show growth and take on more responsibilities.
Secondary Principal/Instructional Leader Nick Merritt and PK-5 Elementary Principal/Curriculum Director Amanda Potter gave a
presentation on the Teacher Leadership and Compensation Grant. Topics of discussion were as follows: Statewide system to provide
leadership opportunities for teachers, increase collaboration amongst teachers, retain and grow new teachers and current teachers in the
district and in the profession, and provide compensation for various leadership roles; Ten part application was submitted by the district
detailing the plan and impact on the district; Springville applied in year one and was not selected but applied again in year two and was
selected out of 171 districts that applied; 74 total districts were selected for 2015-16; Springville’s score was 82 and the cut score to be
considered was 73; Estimated funding per year based on enrollment is approximately $115,220.00; Funding will be used for 1
Instructional Coach, 5 Lead Teachers, 3 Model Teachers, and professional development expenses; Full time, full release position of
Instructional Coach will have 10 extra contract days and receive a $6,000.00 stipend; Lead teachers will have 5 extra contract days and
receive a $3,000.00 stipend; Model teachers will have 3 extra contract days and receive a $1,500.00 stipend; Application criteria and
deadline for new positions; Memorandum of understanding will need to be created and agreed upon; and New teacher leadership
positions are applied for and selected annually.
Board work session ended at 6:56 pm. No action was taken.
REGULAR BOARD MEETING
President Lee Ann Grimley called the regular meeting of the Springville Community School District Board of Directors to order on
January 21, 2015 at 7:01 pm. Other members present were Tami Gillmore, Todd Nulle, and Laura Riley. Also present were
Superintendent Amy Kortemeyer, Secondary Principal/Instructional Leader Nick Merritt, Elementary Principal/Curriculum Director
Amanda Potter, Board Secretary/Business Manager Stacey Matus and guests. Board member Dee Wagaman was absent.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Todd Nulle made a motion to approve the agenda as presented and also to approve the walk in agenda item. All ayes, motion carried.
PUBLIC FORUM
No one addressed the board during public forum.
APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA
Tami Gillmore made a motion to approve the consent agenda to include the walk in item of Robin Menster’s middle school girls track
coach resignation. All ayes, motion carried.
- Minutes from the December 10, 2014 board work session and regular meeting.
- Financial reports and activity account reports as presented.
- List of bills presented for payment.
- Resignation of Rachel Scriver as Middle School Special Education Associate.
- Resignation of Robin Menster as Middle School Girls Track Coach.
- Hiring of Rachel Scriver as Secondary School Secretary; $11.50 per hour.
- Hiring of Pamela Nissen as Middle School Special Education Associate; $8.50 per hour.
- Approve Contract with the Mt. Vernon Community School District to provide educational services.
COMMUNICATIONS/REPORTS
Amy Kortemeyer, Superintendent/Transportation Director reported on the following: Site visit preparation continues; SAI New
Superintendent’s Mentoring Meeting on January 15th provided learning on updating individual administrator goals, negotiations, Teacher
Leadership and Compensation Plan implementation, and crisis planning; TLC implementation planning continues including
communication with teachers and developing a Memorandum of Understanding; Attended the Iowa Superintendents Finance and
Leadership Consortium conference with Stacey which provided collaboration and learning on various aspects of school finance; Finance
meeting with Joe Crozier continues to provide learning and guidance as we work to reverse the declining trend of the district’s unspent
balance; State reporting; Forms of communication used with our stakeholders regarding the upcoming Facilities Community Meetings by
mailing postcards, newsletter article, district website, City of Springville newsletter, and One Call; Attended SEDC meeting on January 8 th
and gave a brief update regarding our facilities study and process the district is undertaking; GWAEA Superintendent meeting was
cancelled due to weather.
Nick Merritt, Secondary Principal/Instructional Leader/AD reported on the following: TLC Grant will provide many wonderful
opportunities for our district; Site visit preparation; January 5th professional development included team building activity, TLC Grant
presentation, web-based MAP updates and winter MAP scores, curriculum mapping and essential standards charts; Met on January 15 th
to discuss options for adoption of the 7-12 ELA curriculum; 1st semester ended December 23rd; Expressed appreciation to Rob Taylor,
retiring School Resource Officer, for the 12 years of service he gave to Springville CSD and the great asset he was to our district; Looking
forward to working with Nick Hamilton as the new School Resource Officer; Record boards have been completed through the work of Joe
Martin and the support of the summer slow pitch softball tournament proceeds; Deciding on the best way to display the new record
boards; Special appreciation to the community for their support of Springville CSD to win School Cents for the 5th year in a row; Mr.
Merritt reported that the district will be awarded $8,775.00 through the program and thanked Marcia Hughes, Iris Trampe, Jennifer
Wyman, and Barb Hennings for their time and energy in coordinating the effort; Discussed organizing a 5th year School Cents
Anniversary Celebration event.
Amanda Potter, Elementary Principal/Curriculum Director reported on the following: ELI committee will meet on January 22nd to
discuss the most current guidance regarding early literacy and to plan for the January 26th parent meeting; Parent informational meeting
will provide information to parents on the Early Literacy legislation, the language being used, and will provide an opportunity to clarify
questions and concerns parents may have concerning this legislation; January 15th was the first of three Celebration Assemblies to
celebrate students who have shown academic and behavioral growth and success; Expressed special appreciation to Gretchen Eastman,
Tiel Howard, Kendra Kedley, Amy Kortemeyer, Nick Merritt, Melissa Murphy, and Stephanie Schlotterbeck for their time and efforts in the
process of applying for the TLC Grant; Met to review ELA curriculum possibilities and hope to have a recommendation for the board at
the April board meeting; Commended Rob Taylor for his service to the district as School Resource Officer and complimented Nick
Hamilton for being very visible in the district as he assumes this role; January 27 th will attend the SAI State Mentoring meeting; Mrs.
Potter explained a few of the specifics regarding the Early Literacy legislation to the board.
BOARD LEARNING – ATTENDANCE CENTER RANKINGS
Superintendent Kortemeyer reviewed the State Attendance Center Rankings that were established during the 2013 legislative session.
The legislation requires the Iowa Department of Education to develop a school performance system and report card for all attendance
centers. The goal of the legislation is to establish specific performance goals and evaluate the effectiveness of each attendance center in
meeting them. The information released has been minimal but the criteria shall include student academic growth, parent involvement,
student attendance, employee turnover, and community activities and involvement. Performance grades will be used as one measure to
rank and classify schools into different performance categories such as exceptional, high performing, commendable, acceptable, needs
improvement, and priority. Superintendent Kortemeyer explained there are no current data sources in existence to measure criteria such
as Community Activities and Involvement and Parent Involvement.
NEW BUSINESS
APPROVE LEVEL 2 INVESTIGATOR
Laura Riley made a motion to accept the recommendation to approve Nick Hamilton, School Resource Officer, to serve as the district’s
Level 2 Investigator. All ayes, motion carried.
APPROVE EARLY BIRD PHYSICAL EDUCATION CLASS
Tami Gillmore made a motion to accept the recommendation to approve the early bird physical education class to provide students the
opportunity to meet physical education requirements. All ayes, motion carried.
APPROVE SPRINGVILLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION MEMBERSHIP FOR 2015
Todd Nulle made a motion to accept the recommendation to approve the $250.00 Springville Economic Development membership fee for
2015. There was discussion regarding the different membership level fees. All ayes, motion carried.
DISCUSSION ITEMS
Upcoming dates: Facilities community meetings will be on January 25th and February 4th; Professional development on February 6th.
CLOSED SESSION
Tami Gillmore made a motion at 7:50 pm to go into closed session as provided in Section 21.5(l)(i)of the Open Meetings Law to evaluate
the professional competency of an individual whose performance is being considered to prevent needless and irreparable injury to that
individual’s reputation, as that individual has requested a closed session. Roll call vote as follows: Gillmore, aye; Riley, aye; Grimley, aye;
Nulle, aye. Wagaman, absent. Motion carried.
The board resumed open session at 8:32 pm. There was discussion on the hopes that there will be a high number of stakeholders in
attendance at the upcoming facilities community meetings to share their thoughts, ideas and concerns.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business President Grimley declared the meeting adjourned at 8:44 pm.
________________________________________
Stacey Matus, Board Secretary
_________________________________________
Lee Ann Grimley, Board President