The Christina School District Board of Education meeting originally
 scheduled for September 9 has been rescheduled to September 23,
 2008.  The meeting will be held at Bayard Middle School and is
 scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.

 

Through the combined efforts of over 1,200 employees, ING DIRECT, the nation's largest direct bank, helped transform Christina School District's Bayard Middle School and Pulaski and Stubbs Elementary Schools on August 21st during the company's 2nd annual "Orange Day of Giving."  The ING DIRECT team completed a series of extensive renovations to the educational and recreational facilities at the three schools in order to provide students with an enhanced learning environment.

Hundreds of volunteers met at the parking lot at Frawley Stadium in the early morning, where they boarded Christina school buses to take them to the various sites.  The ING Direct employees worked in teams all day long to produce tremendous results by the end of the day.  "The employees of ING DIRECT are excited about the opportunity to improve and enhance areas where our children learn and play, and our neighbors live and work," said Arkadi Kuhlmann, President and CEO of ING DIRECT.  "Playing such a role in the renovation and revitalization of several areas in both the City of Wilmington and New Castle County is our way of showing our appreciation and commitment to the area."

The ING DIRECT volunteers performed a variety of tasks, including fence installation, painting, landscaping, assembling and networking computers, filling shelves in the library, and cleaning to improve the overall look of the schools.  They also performed many other important tasks to ensure that Bayard Middle School was ready for its opening on August 25.  This included checking combinations on school lockers, finishing cleaning and painting, laying mulch, and assembling equipment.  In addition, ING DIRECT Associates filled hundreds of backpacks with school supplies.

New fencing now completely surrounds the Bayard multi-purpose field, computer labs have rows of new computers, Pulaski's playground boasts freshly painted stripes and a giant US map, and many classrooms at Stubbs are brightened with walls painted orange, purple, and lime green.  Many ING DIRECT employees commented on how pleased they were to assist with a project that would directly impact the community where they work and live.  The Christina School District is extremely thankful to ING DIRECT for this incredible contribution of time, effort, and volunteerism.

 

Implementation of the "Community Consensus" Plan (CCP) will be completed over two school years:

Christina School District’s 3-year Strategic Plan provides goals and objectives for achieving higher levels of student success in key areas. It was important for District staff to have a way to communicate progress to the community, as well as set targets and track achievement from year to year. To accomplish this, staff developed a “dashboard” or “scorecard” to communicate outcomes and performance to all stakeholders on how the district is achieving its mission and objectives as outlined in the Strategic Plan. This tool is called the Balanced Scorecard.

The Balanced Scorecard has indicators of success in several areas including, but not limited to, student achievement, parental involvement, leadership effectiveness, school climate, student/staff relationships, and use of facilities. It uses a color-coding system to provide a visual review of where the District is succeeding (green), where improvement is needed (yellow), and where we are not meeting our goals (red).  Data in green indicates that we have met the target in that area; yellow indicates we did not meet the target, but we increased over the previous year; red indicates that we did not meet the target and we decreased over the previous year.

Since developing the Balanced Scorecard, Christina has shown leadership at the state level by assisting the state in developing a model based on Christina’s Balanced Scorecard. We invite members of the community to visit the district website and view the Balanced Scorecard. For more information, please contact the Public Information Office at 552-2610.

To view the Balanced Scorecard in the Strategic Plan section of the District website, please visit: http://www.christina.k12.de.us/StrategicPlan/2007-2010

Meal Benefit Forms
Each year, families are offered the opportunity to apply for federal assistance which may result in free or reduced priced meals.  Children from families with incomes at or below 130 percent of the poverty level are eligible for free breakfast and lunch meals. Those families between 130 and 185 percent of the poverty level are eligible for reduced priced breakfast and lunch meals.   

You will receive an application in the first few days of when school opens.  If you feel that your child(ren) qualify for this federally funded program please fill out the application and send it back with your child.  Students can return the completed forms to teachers or to the Child Nutrition staff in their cafeteria.  A letter will be sent home notifying you whether or not your application is accepted.

Please Note: If your child(ren) received Free or Reduced priced meals last year, they will automatically receive these meals through October 7, 2008.  However, if your application has not be submitted or processed by October 8, 2008, then your child’s free or reduced price status will be changed to a paying status and therefore he/she will have to purchase meals.

Pin Numbers
Child Nutrition Services utilizes a computerized payment system. This system ensures the status of each child is kept confidential.  The pin number will allow the student to purchase meals and snacks, identify the student and status for cafeteria staff, and display a students’ balance. 

Many of you have asked what they can do to help speed up the lunch lines…

1. Help your child memorize the pin number (unless they change schools the number remains the same).

2. Pre-pay for lunch (buy ten lunches get one free) via check or cash.

3. Be sure your child has his/her money ready for the cashier.

Food Allergies
Should your child be allergic to milk or milk products, wheat, soy, eggs or peanuts a physician’s note is required for cafeteria staff to provide an appropriate substitute. A registered dietitian is available to meet your child(ren)’s nutritional needs. 

Forget money for lunch?       
Should a student in an elementary building (grades K-5) forget money or lunch the Child Nutrition staff will allow them to charge a lunch.  The student can charge up to 3 meals, but will not be allowed to purchase seconds or snacks until the charge is paid.  Charge notices are sent home on Tuesdays and Thursdays for those identified with charges on their accounts. Notices are printed in the cafeteria and placed in the teacher's mailbox to be sent home with the student.

In the event a student in grades K-5 has a negative balance of more than $ 4.50, the student may be given a peanut butter and jelly or a cheese sandwich, with fruit and milk for lunch. 

Wellness 
In an effort to promote a healthier school environment we ask that you follow these recommendations for all classroom parties.  A healthy nut free food choice such as pretzels, fresh fruit, or fresh vegetables should accompany a dessert in all classroom celebrations.  Water and 100% fruit juice are recommended beverages.  Candy and soda are not permitted.                       

For more information, please contact Child Nutrition Services: 454-2400 x237, or visit the website at www.christina.k12.de.us/ChildNutrition

ParentLink is Christina's parent notification and school-to-home communications system.  Through an easy-to-use interface, ParentLink help educators improve parental outreach efforts and enjoy the benefits of increased parental involvement. 

The system is capable of delivering messages via telephone, email, text message, fax, and printed letters to students, parents and staff.  Types of messages that can be sent include absence notifications, reminders, and general information.  In emergency situations, ParentLink can prioritize and rapidly send messages containing important information from the district to school staff and parents. 

The Christina School District is pleased to expand the pilot program of the Home Access feature to include all middle and high schools for 2008-2009.  This feature offers parents/caregivers access to students’ schedule, attendance, assigned class work, grades, and more through a web-based application called the Home Access Center. The system is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, except during routine maintenance periods. Password-secured information can be accessed from home, work, or any computer equipped with internet access. E-mail links are available throughout the center so parents can communicate easily with teachers and school officials. For more information, please contact your student’s school or visit your school website.

The average American child spends nearly 12,000 hours in school, from kindergarten through 12th grade.  That's a big chunk of time during which he or she can develop good (or bad) health habits.  Happily, schools today are recognizing the many benefits of a healthy head start - and Health magazine recognized those schools that are doing an A+ job.  To find the health stars, Health Magazine asked education officials in every state for their nominations and scored them based on how they measured up to the same tough criteria. 

Congratulations to Brader Elementary School for representing Delaware in the national competition. 

To learn about America's Healthiest Schools, please visit:  http://living.health.com/2008/08/20/americas-healthiest-schools

Brader Elementary School Power Library Featured in National Publication
Brader Elementary School's award-winning media center, the Brader Power Library, is featured in the 2008 edition of the publication Leadership for Excellence:  Insights of National School Library Media Program of the Year Award Winners, published by the American Library Association and edited by Jo Ann Carr for the American Association of School Librarians.  Brader's librarian is Sharon Brubaker.

Gauger-Cobbs Librarian Elaine Heyden Selected to Participate in Two National Programs
Gauger-Cobbs Middle School librarian Elaine Heyden was one of 20 educators chosen to participate in a program at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC in August.  The program explored avenues of research, discussion, and presentation techniques regarding the topic of immigration past and present.  Heyden was also selected to attend a seminar at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in August for participants in the Picturing America project.  Gauger-Cobbs received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities last year for the Picturing America project, and the seminar gave teachers involved with the program the opportunity to work with museum curators and scholars, and to develop and refine lessons. 

Click here to learn more about the Picturing America project.