FROM THE DESK OF THE SUPERINTENDENT...
NOVEMBER 2014 DISTRICT DISPATCH
With November here, we know that winter weather conditions are just around the corner. Please start to make plans now regarding late starts, early dismissals, or school cancellations due to hazardous winter weather conditions. Tune in to radio or television stations KMA (960 AM), KFAB (1110 AM), KNOD (105.3 FM), KMTV (Channel 3), WOWT (Channel 6), and KETV (Channel 7) and make arrangements with your spouse, friends, relatives, and/or our latch-key program regarding where your child or children will go when the weather turns bad. In addition, our school district subscribes to the SchoolReach Instant Parent Contact System. This automated telephone broadcast service enables school personnel to notify all households and parents by telephone within minutes of an emergency, an unplanned event, or a winter storm that causes a late start, early dismissal, or a school cancellation. If you have not signed up for this service and are interested in participating, please contact the principal’s office of the building where your child or children attend. Please note that there will not be breakfast on days that we have a two-hour late start, and all practices are cancelled whenever we have a two-hour early dismissal because of incoming bad weather.
On Friday, October 3, 2014, we hosted the fourth annual Green Hills Area Education Agency (GHAEA) 21st Century Learners’ Conference for the northern part of the AEA at our high school. Over 600 educators attended this event and, based upon a wide range of feedback, it was a huge success. The conference focused on ways to help faculty members become better-equipped to help students maximize their learning potential in our digital age. Keynote speaker Will Richardson started the day with a dynamic and insightful presentation about the challenges we face in making sure school instruction remains relevant in the networked world in which our students live. Throughout the day, administrators and teachers attended sessions ranging from “getting the most out of your 1:1 computing device classroom” to “using Twitter in the classroom.” We were very pleased to host this major event and received numerous compliments on how impressive our high school facilities are and what a nice community Underwood is.
Please make plans to attend the Disney Spectacular Variety Show under the direction of Mr. Eric Wyler at Underwood High School in the performing arts center at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 15, 2014, or at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 16, 2014. (Please note that we will not be having a Friday night performance because of a conflict with the Southwest Iowa Band Association Middle School Honor Band Concert on Friday evening, November 14, 2014.) The show will feature the high school concert choir, the seventh and eighth-grade choir, small groups, and various soloists. The students will be performing popular songs from classic Disney movies including The Lion King, Mary Poppins, Beauty and the Beast, and Tarzan. Following each evening performance there will be dessert social hour at which time additional solo and small group performances will take place. Call the high school at 566-2703 for ticket information. We hope to see you there!
Another musical event that occurs each November is our Grandparents’ Day which is always on the Wednesday morning before Thanksgiving. Our new elementary music teacher, Mrs. Sonya Schiphoff, and our elementary students have been working very hard on their numbers for this very popular event. We are looking forward to another huge turnout. Don’t forget that we have a 1:30 p.m. dismissal that day. Best wishes to each of you for a great Thanksgiving holiday!