Nappanee Advance-News, Volume 129, Number 8, Nappanee, Elkhart County, 23 February 2006 — Page 18

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• Advance News • Thursday, February 23, 2006

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■ FILE PHOTO ; Wa-Nee School Board of Trustees President Cletis Miller looks over some of the merchandise that l was offered during a sale by students in the Gifted and Talented Program at Nappanee Elementary. ’ The students are (left to right) Trista Grove, Kylee Lamason and Callie Julian.

Schools succeed, but always improving

By Anthony Godson Editor If the annual School Report Card gauges the success of a school, then Wa-Nee is sitting pretty- " You always feel good about success," Wa-Nee Superintendent Joe Sabo said. "But with that, we also look at what we can. do to make improvements. We are in the improvement business." If Wa-Nee does in fact improve, its improvement will only be besting what it has already done, as its high school ISTEP+ scores are already the best in Elkhart County. According to the 2004-2005

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ADVANCE NEWS PHOTO'A'W GADSON North Wood Middle School is located at N. Elkhart St. in Wakarusa.

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FILE PHOTO Wakarusa Elementary students (left to right) Aaron Downs, Sofia Metzger and Langston Wenger do some drawing during art class.

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Annual School Report Card, 81 percent of North Wood ninth grade students passed the math portion of last year's ISTEP+ test, while 78 percent passed Language Arts. In the 10th grade, 80 percent passed math, 78 passed the language arts standard, while 71 percent of students passed both standards. At the high school level, North Wood had better numbers than any other Elkhart County school, and also placed above the state average in all five categories. "We certainly want the kids to succeed," Sabo said. Along with the ninth and 10th

grades, students in grades three through eight are also administered ISTEP+ tests. Included in the testing are math and language arts, while those in grades three to five are also tested in science. Of the 38 ISTEP+ tests taken, which includes grades three through 10, Wa-Nee only tested below the state average four times. Wa-Nee has been able to stay on top of its game in a time when many new programs are being initiated, such as English as Second Language (ESL). Before this school year, WaNee employed one part-time employee to help students who

Progress

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FILE PHOTO Students at North Wood High School leam to property care for a baby by using Real Care Baby II dolls. Pictured are (clockwise from bottom left) Denise Hoke, Brandi Andrews, Michelle Steffen and Kendra Lentz.

are still in the process of learning English. Once this year rolled around, ESL was being taught by a full-time teacher, two full-time assistants and one part-time assistant. The instructors travel between Wa-Nee's three elementary schools (Nappanee, Wakarusa and Woodview). "We needed to address the needs of our limited English speaking students," Sabo said. ALTERNATIVE SCHOOL Another new program to WaNee isn't restricted to just helping its current students. When the school corporation began its Alternative School as a pilot program last year, seven students took advantage of it. This year, 30 students attend the school, with 15 attending morning sessions, while the other 15 take courses in the afternoon. "We currently have 30 kids, and our goal is to expand it, and have it during the evening," Sabo said. The Alternative School allows students who may not have earned their high school diplomas to take the necessary courses to do so. Students attend the school, located in the old

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ADVANCE NEWS PHOTO/A.W. GADSON North Wood High School is located at 2101 N. Main St. in Nappanee.

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Central Building, where they use software which meets Indiana Academic Standards. "We want to see our students graduate," Sabo said. "Some students just may have made some life-changing choices in high school. This is one way to offer courses to former students, which may fit into their schedules." By taking courses on the computer, students learn at their own pace, and the students enrolled at the school aren't always learning the same things. 'lt's not a place where a teacher stands up in front of the room and teaches," Sabo said. Before setting up its own alternative school, Wa-Nee had transported students to the Goshen Merit Center. Now instead of paying to send. the students somewhere else, the money is used to keep the students in Nappanee. While most students Enrolled at the Alternative School recently went to North Wood High School, Sabo explained that he'd like to get any former student who didn't graduate to earn a diploma through the program.

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TECHNOLOGY Following the retirement of Wayne Klotz as Wa-Nee's Director of Technology, the corporation hired Tyson Mock last summer and it appears that things are working out. "We are looking forward to improving our technology," Sabo said. "In terms of infrastructure, we will become more efficient." In becoming more efficient, Wa-Nee plans to move all of its students, kindergarten through 12th grade, to a single database. In doing this, all of a student's attendance records, lunch accounts and library check-outs can be transferred from elementary to middle school and then on to high school with ease. "We want to improve our technology to stay on the cutting edge, but we want to make sure it works first," Sabo said. Currently in Wa-Nee computer labs, if a server goes down, all of the computers inside the lab must be re-booted. At the same time, all the programs on the computers must also be reloaded. With new technology, Sabo says that an instructor's See WA-NEE, Page 5