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November 26th, 2014

11/26/2014

By Dr. Thomas Little
Superintendent of
Perry Township Schools

Thanksgiving provides an excellent opportunity to reflect on the blessings that we have been given. Perry Township is a special place filled with community members who care a great deal about the Southside. I am thankful to call Perry Township my home.

Our schools recently earned an A rating by the Indiana Department of Education. This rating of 4.0 is the highest rank a school district could receive. The achievement is the result of hard work and commitment of the staff, students, parents and community members. Strong schools reflect strong and vibrant communities.

The standard for this achievement is established at the board of education level. These seven individuals spend countless hours in meetings and at school events. We are thankful that they are willing to step forward and shoulder the responsibility of establishing policy and direction for the district.

We are thankful for the organizations that provide support to our schools. For example, the Greater Southside Business Alliance is composed of business owners who have invested not only their personal funds but blood, sweat, and tears into making their dream a reality. Alliance President Joan Miller, owner of 40 Minute Cleaners, and other business owners continually pool their resources to make the Southside even better.

We are thankful for Perry Meridian’s and Southport’s alumni associations, which continue to celebrate and relive fond memories at their reunions. I was simply amazed that several of our elementary schools celebrate with reunions. Homecroft Elementary recently held a celebration at their school, and my wife and I had the pleasure of attending the Edgewood Elementary reunion. The pride that the graduates have in their former school was so apparent.

We are thankful for the Perry Township Education Foundation, whose dedicated volunteers work hard to raise funds to support classroom teachers in their pursuit of creating instructional lessons that captivate a child’s interest and enhance the lesson.

We are thankful for our dedicated staff of nearly 1,900 that serves our 15,000 children every day of school. Your teaching staff is second to none and is the most dedicated group of professionals that I have worked with in my career.

Your leadership team maintains a laser focus on academic excellence; your transportation staff drives buses through ice and snow; your food service personnel provide warm breakfasts and lunches; your maintenance and custodial crews keep your buildings in good repair; and your secretaries and instructional aides provide that individual touch that only a warm heart and soul can provide. All of this is accomplished for the benefit of children.
We are thankful for the awards that staff and schools have received this year. For example:

• John Stebbe, a music teacher at Mary Bryan Elementary, received a $20,000 grant to replace an aging piano keyboard lab.

• Winchester Village was recognized as a National PTA School of Excellence.

• Our high schools were named to the fifth annual Advanced Placement honor roll.

We are thankful to the families who entrust us with the care of their most precious gift to educate.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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November 19th, 2014

11/19/2014

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By Dr. Thomas Little
Superintendent of
Perry Township Schools

Spelling is an important part of a child’s education in Perry Township. Every fall our elementary schools participate in Spell Bowl competitions that support and emphasize the need for this skill. Spell Bowl, a team competition in which the words are written, is not the same as a spelling bee, an individual competition with the words spelled orally.

A Spell Bowl competition consists of eight rounds of seven words with a different team member competing in each round. The 750 words come from a list published by the Indiana Association of School Principals; lists rotate annually. Teams come from our 11 elementary schools, with eight members representing Grades 4 and 5.
At the competition a word is read by an emcee, used in a sentence and pronounced again. The emcee says begin and participants write the word on an answer sheet within a 20-second time limit. The word is scored by a proctor, and the cycle repeats itself.

All of our elementary schools participated in the recent township competition. The team from MacArthur placed first, spelling 44-of-50 words correctly in 10 rounds of competition. Lincoln and Homecroft tied for second before Lincoln won the tiebreaker.

Spell Bowl training is intense. Our students have been studying hard to learn the 750 challenging words. Practice began in August, and some of our teams even met over fall break.

Our coaches are doing a great job motivating these groups. Preparation and incentives are creative and include activities like writing in shaving cream, spelling outside with sidewalk chalk, mock competitions and partner quizzes.
At Clinton Young, team members are participating in “An Amazing Race” where they will go around the building after school to practice tricky words as they follow directions to different locations.

Makayla Owens, a fifth-grader, commented on her favorite activity, “I like to practice our words in the gym because we get to be so active.”

Fourth-grader Michael Gil raised the bar by filling up a whole Spell Bowl journal and writing an additional 1,620 words in one week.

Students have favorite words, and Audra Barclay’s pet one is “czar,” which she actually got at the competition. She was so excited.

Children receive support and recognition during announcements, in school bulletins, at pep rallies and at special lunches with principals (pupils must spell for their food). There are “Keep Calm and Spell” T-shirts, spirit buttons and cafeteria walls dedicated to Spell Bowl. There are even spell-offs against teachers.

Teams bond before competitions with a pizza party or by lunching together. One coach provides team members a good luck charm, and another bought hair bows for the girls to wear and bow ties for the boys.

We look forward to competing against 30 teams at the statewide Spell Bowl at 6 p.m. Thursday at Southport High School, 971 E. Banta Road. The event is open to the public.

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November 12th, 2014

11/12/2014

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By Dr. Thomas Little
Superintendent of
Perry Township Schools

Strong schools reflect a strong community. The Perry Township community values education. We have dedicated staff members who strive each day to meet the needs of your children.

WE ARE SO PROUD! The Indiana Department of Education released the 2014 school and district “grades,” and Perry Township Schools earned an A! This is to the credit of the students, families, staff, volunteers and community members who provided the support necessary to achieve this academic standard. It is important to note 4.0 is the highest rating that can be achieved, and that’s what we earned.

In 2010 the State Board of Education adopted a grading scale of A, B, C, D and F, as well as a method for determining the district’s grade. The grades provided parents, staff and community members a way to recognize how well the schools are performing academically.

Indiana’s A-F model holds schools to high standards and provides an assessment of their performance by incorporating student academic growth, graduation rates and college and career readiness assessments.
Elementary/middle school grades are based on performance and growth in English/language arts and math.
Grades at the high school level are based on performance/improvement in English/language arts, performance/improvement in math, graduation and College Career Readiness.

We are extremely proud of each school and the academic achievement that has been recognized. The grades are:
• Lincoln Elementary: B.
• Clinton Young Elementary: A.
• MacArthur Elementary: A.
• Glenns Valley Elementary: B.
• Burkhart Elementary: A.
• Homecroft Elementary: A.
• Jeremiah Gray-Edison Elementary: B.
• Mary Bryan Elementary: A.
• Rosa Parks-Edison Elementary: A.
• Southport Elementary: A.
• Winchester Village Elementary: C.
• Perry Meridian 6th Grade Academy: A.
• Southport 6th Grade Academy: A.
• Perry Meridian Middle School: C.
• Southport Middle School: A.
• Perry Meridian High School: B.
• Southport High School: B.

As we celebrate our success, I want to extend my sincere thanks to our entire community for its support and engagement in the education of our children. We welcome all students who walk through our doors; Perry Township has become a popular place for families to send their children. As a result, the district is growing and has almost every elementary classroom filled in all 11 buildings.

As a temporary solution, children are being taught in 26 classroom trailers located at our elementary schools. My hope is that all of our teachers may soon teach from a permanent classroom within the school, not a trailer. It is also my hope that our teachers at Winchester Village may soon teach in a classroom environment with walls and doors that lock. Our students, staff, families and community deserve nothing less than schools with a safe, secure learning environment.

Together, let’s continue to strive for excellence. Let’s continue to make Perry Township Schools a place where families want to move, live, raise their families and retire. Together, we will continue to improve our skills and strengthen our school district, which ultimately strengthens our community

Congratulations to the township for this achievement!

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November 05th, 2014

11/5/2014

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By Dr. Thomas Little
Superintendent of
Perry Township Schools

The balanced calendar allows students to have six weeks off in the summer while getting two off in October, over Christmas and in April.

More than 1,000 students took advantage of the fall break to attend instructional programs that reinforced skills emphasized during the first grading period; enrichment experiences were also offered so students could expand their knowledge base.

More than 500 students in Grades 6-12 spent their mornings improving their math and English skills. This academic support will assist them as they prepare for the End of Course Assessments.

About 100 high schoolers used the intersession to prepare for the SAT. Teachers provided instruction specific to the math, English and writing assessed on the exam, and students learned valuable test-taking skills.

Sixth- through eighth-graders received math or English instruction with a focus on language acquisition and ISTEP preparation. Students also participated in math and English lessons focused on College and Career Readiness.
Almost 300 elementary students participated in intersession opportunities.
Third-graders worked on language arts and reading skills.

High-ability fourth- and fifth-graders focused on analyzing biographies and creating their own. Other students became experts on a chosen planet. Brochures were created and persuasive articles were written with the goal of attracting visitors to their planets. The children designed their planets, created communities, jobs and survival elements needed for their planets. A presentation to their peers was the culminating activity. Students improved their research, writing, and presentation skills through the unique project.

In a collaborative effort between our elementary and high school students, the Creative Writing Club at Perry Meridian High hosted a “camp” for 40-plus, fourth- and fifth-graders. Nine high school mentors worked together over the course of three days teaching the elements of good storytelling, culminating with each camper writing a children’s book.

English learner students created a dodecahedron, which represented a unit of study on the Titanic. They also ran an electoral race for class president supported by posters and persuasive speeches. Other students built background knowledge with an animal project. They focused on animals from three different biomes … desert, tundra and rain forest.

Thanks to fall break, the Cyberstangs, Perry Meridian Middle School’s robotics team, have a head start in creating their robot for competitions, which begins in December.

Theater students from PMHS, PMMS and Perry Meridian 6th Grade Academy rehearsed the musical “Once on This Island Jr.” and held three performances at the end of the break.

Assistant Superintendent Vickie Carpenter noted, “Our teachers provided high-quality interactive instruction. We appreciate that they chose to take time from their break to support our students. We also are thankful for our parents who supported their children by attending these wonderful, educational experiences.”

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November 26th, 2014

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