RIVER VALLEY NEWSLETTER - River Valley Community School

RIVER VALLEY
COMMUNITY SCHOOL
DECEMBER/JANUARY 2015/16
R IV ER
VA LLEY
NEWSLET T ER
KEN SLATER, SUPERINTENDENT
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
MR. SLATER
CERTIFIED
ENROLLMENT
2
FUNDRAISER
FOR C’VILLE
POOL
2
MR. SAUVAIN
BUS SAFETY
3
MR. RILEY
STUDYING FOR
ASSESSMENTS
4
JODI LENNON,
RN
SCHOOL NURSE
5
TAUNIA PRY
NUTRITION
PROGRAM
COORDINATOR
JR/SR HS COOK
6
EARLY BIRD
SALE ON
YEARBOOK
7
SPECIAL POINTS
OF INTEREST:
 1:00 Dismissal
December 2
 1:00 Dismissal
December 16
 Winter Break
December 23—
January 3
 End of 1st Semester
January 15
 No School
January 18
School Building
Grade Configurations
In the near future we will
be starting conversations
with a team of people on
what we should do about
our fifth and sixth grade
classes. As many of you
know the original intent of
the portables for the fifth
and sixth grade were to
serve as a temporary fix
until classrooms could be
added at Washta. Many
years later the portables
remain. There are some
positives for those
teachers and students as
they have developed a
tight-knit community.
While there are some positives there are also some
concerns. Some of those
concerns were expressed in the Iowa Department of Education
site visit two years ago.
Those concerns were
summarized as, “Portable
safety, lack of restrooms,
efficiency of time,
isolation, and weather
concerns.”
We also have concerns at
the secondary school as
we have some large
single sections of 30+
students. The fifth and
sixth grade teachers with
middle school
endorsements could also
be used to teach 7th and
8th grade. We are
looking at helping our
entire system and doing
what is best for all River
Valley students. The
team will look to see what
is the best solution for the
long-term. Those
solutions could involve
one of the following:

Leaving the 5th and
6th grade in Washta

Leaving the 5th grade
in Washta and
bringing the 6th grade
to Correctionville

Bringing both the fifth
and sixth grades to
Correctionville
We would also have to
look at potential building
improvements and/or
additions.
The process for making
the decision will start with
a team of staff discussing
the situation and making
a recommendation. The
School Improvement
Advisory Committee will
then discuss the situation
and their input will be
considered. We will then
share the results with the
Board. Following this we
will have a community
meeting to gain its input.
The team will reconvene
and make final
recommendation to the
Board for consideration.
DECEMBER/JANUARY 2015/16
Page 2
MR. SLATER CONTINUED….
School Messenger
School Reach, our
communication tool for
alerting our community
about late starts and
weather related
closings has been
bought out by School
Messenger. It will work
the same way School
Reach did in past years.
It is important to first
listen to your voicemail
before calling the
school to find out what
the message is as over
3000 phones are
connected to School
Messenger. As the
winter season
approaches, please
keep your voicemail
boxes empty as a
message cannot be
sent to a full “mailbox.”
Thank you for your
cooperation in making
this system a valuable
tool for our school
district.
Certified Enrollment
The chart below shows
our history of certified
enrollment. You can
see we have increased
our enrollment by 18
students from last year.
With 429.58 students,
we have our highest
enrollment at River
Valley in the last five
years. We saw a small
graduation class leave
as well as a good size
kindergarten class
come in. We also added some move-ins
throughout the year.
students, we
have our
Certified Enrollment
600
498.8
Enrollement
500
With 429.58
highest
468.5
455.5
465.4
450.5
441.6
420.5
419.7
422
411
429.58
enrollment at
400
River Valley in
300
the last five
200
years.
100
0
0
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Fiscal Year
Fundraiser for Correctionville Pool Renovations and Addition Project
December 4th Basketball Game vs Woodbury Central @ RV High School
Serving from 5:30pm through girls game—Taverns, Hot Dogs, Chili Dogs, Chips & Dessert
Put on by Correctionville Pool Committee
Come join us for some great basketball and a good cause!
RIVER VALLEY NEWSLETTER
Page 3
STEVE SAUVAIN, PK-12 PRINCIPAL
Bus Safety
Busses are the safest method of getting to and from
school, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration. Yet the most
issues I deal with on a daily
basis involve the bus. Bus
drivers have a huge responsibility transporting our most
valuable commodity to and
from school. Their focus
needs to be on the road, this
is where parents, the school
and the driver need to work
together to ensure our students act responsibly on the
bus.
As a school district we have a
policy to deal with issues that
arise on busses. We also
have cameras installed in
every bus to protect the
school, the driver, and the
students in the event of a
discipline issue. Almost 90%
of the time I watch videos
and there is plenty of blame
to go around. Most of these
situations involve students
moving out of their seats.
The number one rule for us to
all enforce is STAY IN YOUR
SEAT. I have witnessed
students flipping over seats,
running down the aisles,
throwing objects in the bus
and out of the bus, crawling
under seats, etc. If students
would first and foremost SIT
IN THEIR SEATS 99% of the
issues would never happen.
It is imperative that you as
parents impress upon your
children how important it is
to stay quiet and in their
seats on the bus. If you are
driving your children and they
are distracting you there are
consequences. Things like,
“don’t make me stop this
car,” are common words for
parents to use. Imagine a
bus full of 40 children all
talking, getting out of their
seats, and trying to focus on
driving safely.
As a district we will be having
some bus evacuation drills,
and also incorporating some
bus safety talks with our
students. However, as with
anything in education you
parents are the first
educators of your children. It
is my hope that together we
can make bus issues become
a thing of the past. I am
enclosing some good tips for
all involved.
stop sign to be
extended, and cross only
when all traffic has
stopped. Look left, right,
and left again before
crossing.
ON THE BUS:

Go directly to a seat.
Remain seated and
facing forward for the
entire ride.

Talk quietly (so the driver will not be
distracted).

If you need to talk to the
bus driver: wait for the
bus to stop, raise your
hand, and call the driver’s name.

Never throw things on
the bus or out the
windows. Never play
with the emergency
exits.

Keep the aisles clear at
all times.

If there is an emergency,
listen to the driver and
follow instructions.
EXIT THE BUS:

Always walk to the bus
stop. Never run.

Walk on the sidewalk. If
there is no sidewalk,
walk on the left facing
traffic.

Always go to the bus
stop about five minutes
before the bus is
scheduled to arrive.

While at the bus stop,
wait in a safe place away
from the road. Do not
run and play while
waiting.


Never speak to
strangers at the bus
stop and never get into
the car with a stranger.
Always go straight home
and tell your parents if a
stranger tries to talk to
you or pick you up.
Wait for the bus to
arrive, watch for red
flashing lights and the
number
one rule for
When getting off the bus
make sure you walk (not
run) three more steps
away from the door.
This is the best place to
be around a bus. Stay
away from the bus
wheels and watch out
for moving cars!
us to all

Once you get off the bus,
go straight home so an
adult will know where
you are.
YOU SEAT!

Only get on and off the
bus at your designated
stop. If you need to get
off the bus somewhere
else, you will need to
have a note from your
parents.

If you leave something
on the bus, never return
to the bus to get it. The
driver may not see you
come back and they may
begin moving the bus.

Also, if you drop
something near the bus,
tell the bus driver before
you attempt to pick it up
so they will know where
you are.
AT THE BUS STOP:

The
enforce is
STAY IN
DECEMBER/JANUARY 2015/16
Page 4
WADE RILEY, PK-12 ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL
Studying for Assessments
How do you study for
upcoming
assessments? Is there
one generic secret
formula that you can
use to study for those
ever so important
formative and
summative
assessments? This is a
question that has been
passed over my desk
numerous times in the
tenure as an educator.
Here is the answer…
Each person is different
and each person learns
in a variety of different
ways. Nobody knows
exactly what the secret
formula is, however, you
need to figure out which
learning strategy and
technique works for
you, so you know how
your brain
comprehends a volume
of information.
During my teaching
career, I have always
told my students that
studying is a process,
and you should start
studying a week before
the assessment date.
You need to take a little
bit of information each
night to study and go
over and over until you
have it down. The next
night review the
information from the
previous night and
move onto new
information or next
section of the study
guide. If you can do this
for five to six days, you
will have a better
understanding of what
may potentially be on
the assessment. This
process does require
some discipline on your
part to make sure you
get 30 minutes of study
time each night
compared to putting all
your eggs in a basket
the night before the
assessment. Make
sure you go to a quiet
place with minimal
disruptions and begin
the studying process
and try to involve a
parental figure or friend.
When you study and
cram the night before, it
only causes you to be
stressed about the
assessment and you
may potentially lose
vital sleeping time.
Being well rested before
an assessment helps
drive success levels on
each assessment.
In closing, each person
is different and no one
person learns the exact
same. You as students
need to figure out what
your studying process is
now before you go off to
college and have no
idea how to study. If
you are struggling with
assessments and you
do the same
preparation before every
assessment and you
expect different results—that would be the
definition of
insanity. If you didn’t do well
on an assessment,
please try a new preparation technique to
assure success on future assessments.
Being well
rested before an
assessment
helps drive
success levels
on each
assessment.
RIVER VALLEY NEWSLETTER
Page 5
NOTES FROM THE NURSE, JODI LENNON, RN
We had a successful blood
drive in October. Thirty-three
donors registered (5 first
time donors) and collected
31 units of blood that will
save up to 93 lives!
Congratulations to these
donors as they reached a
milestone:

Nikki Bauer-1 gallon

Eric Flynn-4 gallons

Johnnie Johnson-1
gallon

Taunia Pry-1 gallon
The Annual Fall Fitness Day
was held on October 7th in
conjunction with the Iowa’s
Healthiest State Initiative.
The elementary building
walked for 30 minutes while
learning about the
importance of staying active.
November brought our
annual Immunization Audits
from both Woodbury and
Cherokee counties. I would
like to say a HUGE thank-you
to the parents for keeping
your child’s immunizations up
to date and for getting me
their records in such a timely
manner. This was all new to
me and your cooperation
helped significantly!
Our annual dental screening
audit is fast approaching.
Iowa law requires all
kindergarten and 9th grade
students in elementary and
Jr/Sr high school have documentation of a dental
screening in their file. A
dental screening helps with
early detection and treatment
of dental disease and must
be provided by a licensed
dentist or dental hygienist.
For kindergarten students,
the documentation
requirement for screening
completion is no earlier than
age 3, but no later than four
months after enrollment. For
9th grade students the exam
is within one year of
enrollment, but no later than
four months after enrollment.
The goal is that every child
has an exam or screening by
a dentist.
Fortunately, this year’s
vaccine is a good match for
the currently circulating
strains of influenza. The CDC
recommends everyone over
the age of 6 months receive
the flu vaccine, the single
best way to protect against
influenza.
Symptoms to watch for if you
suspect the flu:

Fever and chills

Headache

Fatigue
If you do not have a dentist or
need financial assistance,
please call me at the school
at 712-447-6318 or 712372-4656.

Cough

Sore throat

Runny or stuffy nose
Frequent

Body aches
hand
The IDPH Certificate of
Dental Screening is the only
approved form and the
current version is available
at: http:www.idph.state.ia.us/
OHDS/OralHealth.aspx?
prog=OHC&pg=Screenings.
Most dental offices have
these forms available to
complete at the screening or
if you have had an exam,
they will fill out and sign for
you.

Diarrhea and vomiting
(more common among
children than adults)
washing is

Sudden onset of
symptoms
We have had a lot of stomach
flu and strep throat going
around in the schools, and
the flu season is off to an
early start in Iowa. While
influenza activity is still at a
low level, these early cases
and evidence of community
spread from these cases
should serve as a reminder of
the importance of a yearly
influenza vaccination.
Frequent hand washing is the
best way to prevent the
spread of any disease!
Please allow your child plenty
of time to recover from
influenza or the stomach flu
before returning them to
school. Fevers should be
gone for at least 24 hours
without fever-reducing medication, and kids should stay
home for AT LEAST 24 hours
from the last time they vomited. That extra day of rest can
be so important before returning to school so they are
no longer
contagious,
fully recovered and ready for
a full day of school. Thanks
for helping us keep our kids
healthy!
the best way
to prevent
the spread of
any disease!
DECEMBER/JANUARY 2015/16
Page 6
NEWS FROM THE KITCHEN, TAUNIA PRY
Soul Food
Halloween has just
passed and
Thanksgiving is only
weeks away as I write
this, and it feels a little
more difficult to express
what I expect from this
year’s holidays. For
those of you that know
me, you know I have a
son in the Navy
(submarine) and this
will be his first
Christmas away from
home. Our oldest
daughter now has her
own home so that
leaves us with a
preteen and a teenage
girl at home.
I don’t remember
exactly the year we
started our tradition of
opening presents on
Christmas Day and then
by 1 o’clock we’re off to
the movies, but the first
time at the movies we
made the news. It was
really something to see
my little clan all lined up
to get their kiddy tray of
pop, popcorn and
candy on TV. It was almost as good as the
movie, obviously more
because I can’t remember the movie!
Last year as we ALL
piled in the van to head
to our Christmas movie
(minus our son who was
home on leave, but just
had to drive himself and
younger son because
he missed his precious
Mazda so much), I
reflected to my husband
how great it was to still
have our adult children
with us on Christmas
Day. It was a tradition
they had all looked
forward to as well. So
this leaves us with
holding on to a tradition
by the pine needle of a
Christmas tree.
Our son will not be
coming home this year
and our oldest daughter
will be decking the halls
at her own home,
making her own
traditions, and the
teenagers—well all they
want now is money and
to be with their friends.
We will however still be
going to the movies—
smaller clan, but just as
special, with our loved
ones who can only be
there in our hearts.
I’m wondering what the
next few years will bring
us. What new family
traditions will come.
The movies started only
because everyone was
done opening presents
and I quote “WE’RE
BORED,” (for heaven’s
sake we slow down for
one day). As our
youngest get older, we
will have to try to make
some new traditions to
keep it special for them
as well.
So as the seasons
change, and the
holidays get closer and
you’re finding yourself
in a slump from all the
new transitions that
happen to all of us—be
it a loss, children
growing up or you just
can’t afford to do all the
traditional frills or
meals. Embrace it with
an open mind and enjoy
what you do have and
know that things will
always work out.
New things can’t
happen if you can’t let
go of the old……
Season’s
Greetings
Everyone!
Taunia Pry
&
Family
RIVER VALLEY NEWSLETTER
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RIVER VALLEY NEWSLETTER
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DECEMBER/JANUARY 2015/16
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RIVER VALLEY NEWSLETTER
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DECEMBER/JANUARY 2015/16
Page 11
E A R LY B I R D S A L E ! ! !
Only $30.00 with this form and payment or
before December 23, 2016.
Buy your copy of the 2015-2016 Yearbook…
“WE LEFT OUR MARK”
To get this rate, fill out the form and return to
school by December 23rd. (Sale special—
rate goes up if not into office on time)
Name
Grade
Address
If student is a Sr, who will pick up?
Phone Number
Non-Profit Organization
We are on the web!
U.S. Postage Paid
www.rvwolverines.org
Correctionville, IA 51016
Permit No. 3
RIVER VALLEY
COMMUNITY SCHOOL
916 Hackberry Street
P.O. Box 8
Correctionville, IA 51016
Phone: 712-372-4656
POSTAL PATRON
Fax: 712-372-4784
FROM KEN SLATER AND THE STAFF OF RIVER
VALLEY
Dawn Ahrendsen
Jane Harris
Brian Patterson
Roxanne Baker
Darrell Honsbruch
Mike Persinger
Dawn Bates
Zach Hullinger
Tressa Petty
James Bezoni
Renee Hummel
Taunia Pry
Shelley Brauninger
Connie Jensen
Bill Reich
Heather Brinkerhoff
Marlo Jepsen
Angie Reinking
Ryan Brown
Jill Johnson
Susan Reinking
Tonya Carstens
Johnnie Johnson
Wade Riley
Angela Carver
Linda Johnson
Jason Roggatz
Jill Cockburn
April Joy
Sandy Ruleaux
Jane DeWitt
Ginger Kleespies
Steve Sauvain
Cindy Dittmer
Charles Knaack
Sheryl Schmitz
Teena Dreckman
Kim Knaack
Amanda Seuntjens
Doug Eades
Cheri Kurtz
Brittny Shropshire
Kathy Fick
Amy Lahrs
Casandra Simmons
Heather Fitch
Josh Landhuis
Corliss Simmons
Eric Flynn
Jodi Lennon
Annie Simonsen
Pam Frederiksen
Jane Lenz
Amanda Thomas
Joni Georgopoulos
Sherri Ludvigson
Michelle Towne
Madison Glade
Renee Lundt
Terry Towne
Kate Goodwin
Linda Mathers
Rachel Vaughn
Leah Graham
Tom McCann
Melissa Vermeys
Brad Gralheer
Stacey Meadows
Rachel Wassenaar
Bill Gray
Linda Mentzer
Margaret Witt
Dana Hanson
Lisa Mitchell
Jina Wood
John Hanson
Candice Olson
Brian Woodford
Lacy Hanson
Lindsay Paris