WEST ALEXANDRIA — Twin Valley Community Local Schools K-6 Principal Patti Holly is “proud” of her staff following the school closure order. During the district’s board of education meeting on Monday, April 27, she reported on some of the “cool” things they are doing to engage with students and continue teaching at an optimal level.
“They are meeting with their kids, they’re driving around to homes and the kids are out in their yards, waving and talking to them from a distance. Just a lot of really awesome things,” she said.
She added, their last homework packet goes out in early May, which is a memory book. This will be the last work they need to do, though some teachers are continuing through the summer for students who need extra help.
Jeff Tully, Maintenance and Transportation Director, gave his report, noting the new marquee was delivered on Tuesday, April 17. Installation will begin soon.
He also updated the board on:
•Building — he replaced the hot water boilers, when the heat exchangers went bad and they were no longer under warranty. They also changed the air filters in the building, wiped down the building as a protective measure due to COVID—19, updated HVAC schedules to help with savings, and Korrect Plumbing replaced the faucets in the elementary bathrooms. He issued a thank you to the custodial staff for their hard work.
•Busing — Mr. Snyder will be working on buses to get them ready for the annual inspection. Summer servicing will be starting soon.
Derrick Myers, Director of Technology, directed the board to his report, noting it is a month and a half old.
Myers:
•Attended Cybersecurity webinar hosted by SWOCA.
•Removed admin roles from Microsoft AD accounts other than single domain admin account.
•Adjusted Data Loss Prevention settings in Google Admin Console to better protect any accidental sharing of personally identifiable information or financial information.
•Changed all Chromebook printing configuration as a result of Google Cloud Print end of life announcement. Google Cloud Print was never fully supported and never worked well.
•Planning for potential technology impact resulting from Coronavirus pandemic. Fielded phone/email with students, parents, and staff to make E—Days work.
•Recommended Google Hangouts Meet for video conferencing to all staff and included instructions.
•Kept website announcements up to date regarding virus closing.
•Website was down for part of the day Saturday, March 14 as a result of a SWOCA software update.
•Called Woodhull about a printer in ES not printing color. Kindergarten uses this to print the curriculum in color.
•Setup new email addresses and phones for both St. Joseph mental health therapists located in the Elementary offices.
•Met with another vendor about potential upgrades to the Commons sound system. The current system is overwhelmed by crowds during large events or even lunch time. It’s not loud enough.
•Requested quotes for Chromebooks and provided them to the Intervention team for a possible grant. This would provide a Chromebook for each Intervention Specialist.
•Started troubleshooting random Security Camera NVR alerts reporting problems with hard drive speed. Infrequently I see that recording is affected but usually less than one minute.
•Helped The Panther Den with certain video editing questions and solutions.
•Ordered and received three 75” TVs for the Elementary Commons. Much like the HS Commons these will be used for announcements and/or presentations. PTO funded the majority of the TV cost.
•Helped MS teachers and Mr. Flatter track down students who vandalized Chromebooks.
•Installed Gimp graphics editor on all HS computer lab workstations at the request of Mr. Young.
•Worked with Mrs. Cottingim to come up with a solution to fill out and save a read only PDF from ODE for students.
•In conjunction with Mr. Flatter’s tech committee Myers created and shared a potential 1:1 student/parent policy. We will soon be communicating our intentions with the Board of Education about going 1:1 with Chromebooks next school year 7-12.
•Myers spoke with Commissioner Creech and Connect Communications about a Federal initiative for rolling out fixed wireless internet to rural homes and businesses. This is funded by the “Connect America Fund”. The funds have been awarded to Connect Communications.
•Monday, January 27 Myers provided technology professional development for all K—12 staff. They also had several teachers speak about how they are using technology in the classroom.
•The district had its second annual movie night Jan. 31. According to Myers, there were approximately 50 attendants.
Joshua Senters, Director of Pupil Services, shared that the Special Education Department received a grant for $1,500 to purchase new chrome books for the Intervention Specialists. He recognized Jandee Mowell, Christina Kiracofe, Allison Roach, and Kelly Coffman for their hard work in writing this grant for the Special Education Department at TVS.
Other updates included:
•The school is regularly using Google Meets to check in with Intervention Specialists and other staff.
•The Title Department also received a grant of $800 to help with their Family Reading Night Program. This $800 will help purchase material that is needed for the event. He recognized Becky McCollum, Susan Montgomery, and Diane Baughman for their hard work in writing this grant for the Title Department at TVS.
•All ETR/IEP meetings will still be happening by phone conference to meet deadlines. Phone conferences will be happening for ETR/IEP meetings starting on March 13 through April 3. Intervention Specialists will make sure to contact parents for these meetings to set up dates and times for the meetings.
