The last year in education has been unlike any in the past.  There have been many struggles and triumphs, frequent opportunities to change approach, and regular changes to reconnect with our core purpose: changing the world for the better. In this difficult year, we’ve seen opportunities for students change.  Things we used to take for granted--like simply attending school on a daily basis, games and concerts, in-person graduation ceremonies--became less commonplace.  This...

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Math, English, social studies, science, music, career and technical education, athletics, nutrition.  These are all extremely important elements of what public schools do for young people.  I think it’s fair to say that over the last year, it’s become even more evident the absolutely critical role that schools play in society.  I am intensely proud of the work that educators and support staff have done and are doing through these historic times.  I am also thankful...

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Many are wondering, now that January 2 has come and gone, what the state of athletics is.  In this Key Communicators, I will do my best to share what I know. The NIAA published a revised schedule for athletics back in July and August.  Briefly, the revisions outlined shortened sports seasons of approximately six weeks each, beginning with winter sports (wrestling and basketball) with “unmodified” practices set to begin on January 2.  The memo also classified sports...

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It can be easy to become sidetracked by ever changing covid restrictions, economic uncertainty, political strife, and more.  While these are certainly important issues, I was reflecting a bit over the weekend on some of the things that I am proud of regarding the people, systems, and structures associated with the White Pine County School District.  Through this reflection process, I came away inspired by how, despite difficult times, having a clear and compelling vision of what we collectively...

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Happy October! We are more than six weeks into the most unique school year in recent memory.   I want to begin by acknowledging the incredible work being done by the WPCSD’s team of educators.  Whether we’re talking about students, teachers, custodians, bus drivers, support staff, or administrators, committing to world class learning in the middle of a pandemic is an admirable endeavor.  Where many states do not have students in schools yet and others are utilizing...

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Click here for a video of this message. Happy September! This message is provided as an update on several items relative to students beginning school on September 8. First, bus routes are posted on the district’s website.  Kurt Lee and his team have worked very hard to reconfigure routes based upon the information received from families in July.  This takes an extensive amount of planning and preparation.  We have added an additional bus from McGill to Ely in order...

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Click here if you'd rather watch a video of this message. Wow--it’s been an incredible few months, hasn’t it?  And as hard as it is to believe, WPCSD teachers and instructional support staff return to school next Monday for two weeks of training and work.  And students return on September 8.  My purpose today is to 1) provide an update regarding the district’s plan to bring students back on campus, 2) share information about how we plan to serve our students who...

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A little over four weeks ago, I sent a survey home to all WPCSD families eliciting feedback on their Learn from Home experiences and asking for feedback on returning to In Person Learning in August.  Based on these survey results and the guidelines published by the Nevada Department of Education, I convened a committee to examine the feasibility of reopening our campuses for learning. This committee has met twice and will meet a third time next Monday evening.  The Board of Trustees...

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Happy June! Despite the weather for the last few days, summer is upon us.  The last few months have been very difficult for students, parents, teachers, and probably almost everyone.  The school year ended in a way that I certainly have never experienced before--and one that I’d rather not experience again.  I am incredibly grateful for the work of the WPCSD staff--teachers, principals, instructional support staff, custodians, food service, maintenance, technology, and district...

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Good Morning Key Communicators, At this point, you’re no doubt aware that at yesterday’s press conference, Governor Sisolak closed school buildings for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year.  While I’m not surprised by this, I am wholly disappointed for all of us as educators, our organization, our students, and our families. There are details to still work out regarding what the end of the school year will actually look like.  Graduations, field trips, class...

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March 15, 2020 Through the weekend, the Nevada superintendents have been collectively monitoring and communicating about the world, national, and state coronavirus situation.  Last Friday morning, we had a lengthy conference call regarding athletics and extracurricular activities. As the situation continues to evolve extremely rapidly, we met again this morning to discuss school closures. There are many, many factors that weigh heavily on our minds at this time, including the social and...

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I want to take a moment to celebrate the really wonderful accomplishments towards world class learning that our students and staff have achieved recently. First, it’s so important to lead with the fact that students’ overall core academic learning is improving.  Elementary literacy proficiency rates have improved by nearly 10 percentage points in the last three years. And elementary math proficiency rates have improved by nearly 9 percentage points in the last three years. ...

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Please click on this link for the Key Communicators Message.

In my last message, I shared information about student growth as measured by the Nevada School Performance Framework (NSPF).  Click here if you missed that message, which includes data about White Pine students and their growth as compared to a fairly complicated norm-referenced measure called the student growth percentile (SGP).   A hefty portion of the WPCSD’s district performance plan is centered on creating world class Tier 1 instruction.  I’ve shared a number...

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Please click on this link to read A Deeper Look.  Due table and other formatting, it's difficult to view in this platform.

Today was the official back to school for this forever student. I started my career 20 years ago in this historic building--which is also where I graduated from high school. By the time I returned to Ely, it was White Pine Middle School. My classroom was on the second floor just outside the main office, on the right hand side from this angle. There has been lots of change both personally and professionally in that time; and I couldn't help but feel a little nostalgic today! That year, I taught...

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Please click on this link for some outstanding information about the schools in our community.

I’d like to share some incredibly exciting news! For the last four months, David E. Norman principal Cammie Briggs and I have been working with Nevada Department of Education professionals to secure funding for an innovative new college and career ready program at the school.  I am thrilled to announce that the school has received a grant of nearly $300,000 to launch the DEN Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM) Academy. This concept was developed in examining the...

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The WPCSD has three overarching goals in its District Performance Plan (DPP).  The first two of these goals are focused on academics--specifically, students’ literacy performance and progress and students’ engagement and performance in college and career ready learning opportunities.  The third goal in the DPP focuses on school culture: attendance rates, chronic absentee rates, and students’ perceptions regarding their social and emotional experiences at school. The...

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It’s fairly easy, as a student or even as a working professional, to get to a point where one feels “I’ve learned enough to be reasonably competent, so now I’m going to just take it easy for a while.”  Believe it or not, this can even happen in education, where lifelong learning is constantly preached but less frequently observed. I am so thankful to be part of an organization where continuous learning is embraced, modeled, and part of the culture. More Fridays...

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