Boone Community School District

As we prepare to welcome TK-1st grade students this fall at our new Ledges Elementary building, we would like you to introduce you to some of our staff! 🍎 Our amazing team of preschool teachers currently consists of Ms. Tonja, Mrs. Bulver, and Ms. Tepper. Each of them is teaching at Page, but will transition to Ledges Elementary this fall. We can’t wait to meet our new students for the 2023-24 school year!

See the Preschool flyer for a message from our current Lincoln/Page Elementary Principal, Autumn Seiler! Also included is a timeline of important upcoming events and student/parent testimonials. We’re excited to welcome our Little Toreadors to the new Ledges Elementary building this fall!

During National School Counseling Week, we are thrilled to celebrate the amazing school counselors and professionals that provide counseling support to our students. They make such an important difference in the experience of our students. We’re incredibly grateful for all they do!

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT: Carrie (Greco) Bristle is a 2001 graduate who works as a nurse at the Gabrielson Clinic for Women!

In our authentic learning class, our EDGE students Lee Hikiji and Dayton Morris teamed up with local salon The Mirror Image to create some social media buzz! The two students captured promotional images of products, posted about an open house held at Mirror Image, created makeup tutorials, and helped Mirror Image develop a social media plan to keep business buzzing online. Mirror Image loved the work that these girls did and enjoyed the fresh take on their products. Dayton Morris’s video about Mirabella Beauty (a makeup line sold at Mirror Image) eyeliner even got national recognition from Mirabella. Great job ladies on some fabulous social media boosts!

February is Financial Aid Awareness Month! We encourage students and families to learn more about their options for funding a college or university education. The process can seem overwhelming, but the best place to start is with completing the FAFSA: https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa

During Black History Month, we’re learning about and celebrating African American culture, including local heroes who’ve made an impact on our community! John G. Trice (May 12, 1902 – October 8, 1923) was a football player who became the first African American athlete for Iowa State. Trice died due to injuries suffered during a college football game against the University of Minnesota on October 6, 1923. He is the namesake for Jack Trice Stadium, Iowa State's football stadium. The stadium was named Jack Trice Stadium in 1975.

Haven’t saved your child’s spot for Preschool, TK, Kindergarten, or (if new to Boone) 1st grade at Ledges Elementary? Be sure to sign up online ASAP via https://www.boonecsd.org/ using your desktop, laptop, or tablet! Ledges Elementary offers: 🍏 Brand-new building staffed by qualified educators, trained in best practices for early learning! 🍏 Classrooms with flexible seating! 🍏 Library, Art, STEM & brand-new gym! 🍏 Natural light and indoor space for your child to move & grow! 🍏 Wrap-around child care for four year-olds! Please note the following age requirements: 🍎 Preschool: Must be 4 years old by 9/15/2023 🍎 Transitional Kindergarten: Must be 5 years old by 9/15/2023 🍎 Kindergarten: Must be 5 years old by 9/15/2023 Reminder: AM and PM preferences will be granted in the order your sign-up is received! To learn more about our staff and programming, visit https://sites.google.com/boone.k12.ia.us/earlychildhoodregistration/home.

Health Curriculum Review Parent/Community Involvement

January is National Mentoring Month, and we would like to take time to recognize our dedicated mentors and model teachers who support Boone CSD! Mentor Nate Sporaa said what he enjoys most about being a mentor/model teacher is “getting to know new teachers.” Mr. Sporaa, thank you for supporting your fellow educators! Your talents and hard work are greatly appreciated.

On January 26, Boone CSD and Lane Trailer Manufacturing Co. were presented with the 2022 Business and Student Engagement Award from the Ames Economic Development Commission. As stated at the award ceremony, “The Boone EDGE program prepares students for post-secondary success and collaborates with area businesses to provide opportunities to students. This past year, Lane Trailer provided welding internships over the past summer for high school students within the Boone EDGE program. These internships are paid for by a grant the Boone EDGE program was able to obtain, and these students have the chance to turn this experience into a full-time job after graduation. One intern from previous years recently accepted a full-time position and was able to help summer interns this year with his expertise.” We are incredibly honored to receive this award alongside one of our valued community partnerships!

Recently, our high school EDGE students visited Iowa Workforce Development to learn about how they create, edit, and produce their podcast “Mission: Employable.” Students learned the background of the podcast, how to find interviewees, how to generate relevant content, how to reach audiences, and explored the recording studio itself. Students had the chance to record themselves in the podcast booth, then see the editing process and how to remove any hiccups that occurred during the recording process. This experience was extremely valuable to our EDGE students, as they have now launched their own podcast, currently focused on the successes of Boone High Alumni. Listen now on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/4hZTiSDwcgcFYYk13yNtgH!

Save your spot for preschool, transitional kindergarten, kindergarten, and (if new to Boone CSD) 1st grade at our NEW Ledges Elementary building starting TOMORROW (Thursday) at 6:00 p.m.! Sign up in-person at Lincoln Elementary or easily complete the process online via www.boonecsd.org using your desktop, laptop, or tablet! The first 100 people who save their spot will receive a FREE Ledges T-shirt for their child. Highlights of Ledges Elementary include: 🍎 Brand-new building staffed by qualified educators, trained in best practices for early learning! 🍎 Classrooms with flexible seating! 🍎 New spaces dedicated to Library, Art, and STEM, plus a brand-new gym! 🍎 Natural light and indoor space for your child to move and grow! 🍎 Wrap-around child care for four-year-olds! Please note the following age requirements: 🍏 Preschool: Must be 4 years old by 9/15/2023 🍏 Transitional Kindergarten: Must be 5 years old by 9/15/2023 🍏 Kindergarten: Must be 5 years old by 9/15/2023 AM and PM preferences will be granted first-come, first-serve, so don’t delay! To learn more about our staff and programming, please visit https://sites.google.com/boone.k12.ia.us/earlychildhoodregistration/home

Throughout January, we’re highlighting several Boone CSD mentors and model teachers in honor of National Mentoring Month! When asked what she enjoys most about being a mentor/model teacher, Nikki Schoch said: “I enjoy helping my colleagues become a part of BCSD and assisting them in a variety of ways so that they enjoy coming to school every day. In addition, I hope to support them so that they grow professionally and will choose to stay in the profession beyond their first few years teaching.” Thank you, Ms. Schoch, for your hard work in supporting our staff and students! We appreciate you.

Congratulations to all of our students who competed at District Speech!

Students of all grade levels at Boone CSD receive opportunities to grow their communication, civic and global engagement, self-awareness, life-ready, resilience, and critical thinking/problem-solving skills as part of our Portrait of a Graduate! At Page and Lincoln, students are working on their communication skills by being Assertive Alligators. Students have learned what assertive means and how to assertively and kindly advocate for their needs and wants! Assertiveness is kindly standing up for what makes you happy, safe, and healthy. Students have learned that being assertive is: ➡️ Asking for help when you need it ➡️ Kindly saying no to others ➡️ Asking a friend when you need help Each week, we recognize PreK-1st students for being assertive by allowing them to sit at the Assertive Alligator table!

Student Taylor Beck partnered with Kluss Reflexology out of Boone on a social media campaign! Taylor helped the business ramp up their social media to be more engaging, active, and aesthetically appealing. From this experience, Taylor learned a lot about how to communicate with a small business, how to manage and schedule posts, and what types of posts users engage with more. She did a great job of representing the EDGE program this semester and has done a wonderful job of teaching Kluss Reflexology their next steps for a social media plan.

The Boone Community School District challenges all students to grow their communication, civic and global engagement, self-awareness, life-readiness, resilience, and critical thinking/problem-solving skills. Kindergarten and 1st grade students recently learned the foundational skills of paper engineering, including folding, creasing, cutting, and curving to change a two-dimensional piece of paper into a 3D structure. They used creativity and problem solving to design an object out of a single sheet of paper. Way to go, students! Keep an eye out for more Portrait of a Graduate highlights.

Our 2nd grade students have been developing their Critical Thinking and Problem Solving skills as part of Boone CSD’s Portrait of a Graduate! 2nd graders created parade floats for a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. Then, they problem-solved to find a way to attach their float to a robotic device. Next, they were given a parade path and worked together to code their parade float to travel along the designated route. At Boone CSD, we are committed to ensuring students in all grades receive opportunities to grow their communication, civic and global engagement, self-awareness, life-ready, resilience, and critical thinking/problem-solving skills. Keep an eye out for more of our Portrait of a Graduate highlights!

Boone Schools is now CLOSED Thursday, January 19th