submitted by Guy Johnson, Superintendent, Garretson School District
Greetings, and welcome back!
We are so excited to get started with another school year! Our intentions for this school year are to have as close to a “normal” school year as can, while still being mindful of doing what we can to keep our students, staff and families safe. Our school has developed a “continuous learning” plan that outlines some of the changes we expect to have in place as we start the year. The full plan can be found on the district’s webpage, and has been shared on our social media. As we start the school year, students and staff are encouraged to wear a face covering, but the decision will be left up to the individual. We will still do our best to maintain social distancing of 3 feet between students, but at times, this will not be possible. We will continue to watch data from a variety of sources, and if necessary, we will modify the plan based on our local conditions.
We are excited about some opportunities that will be afforded our kids over the next two years which were made possible with Federal funding. There have been a number of bills passed by the congress over the last year and a half aimed at helping schools to overcome some of the difficulties associated with the COVID pandemic. Two of the stated purposes of the federal funding was to help students with mental health issues related to the pandemic and to help students who have experienced learning loss due to the pandemic.
Our district has chosen to invest those funds in people and programming that will help our students directly with mental health and academic skill development. At the elementary level, we have hired Anna Nelson, a teacher who has a passion for helping students to work in our Title room to provide one on one and small group instruction for students who have fallen behind in math. Having Ms. Nelson on board will also allow our current Title I teacher, Kim Macziewski, to focus her efforts on helping students to develop skills in reading.
In the HS/MS grade levels, we are excited to implement a new program called the REACH (Relationships, Education, Accountability, Character and Hard work) program. We have hired Tina Reiter as the school counselor who will head up the program. The program includes providing support for students in both mental health and academics through small group and individual work. We believe that this program will provide some supports necessary to help our students to thrive. As we discussed how to best use that federal money, our school board was adamant that we use the money in ways that touch the kids directly. I am excited to see how these new staff members impact our kids and our school!
We will also be welcoming a few other staff members to the district as well. Denyelle Ageson will be stepping into the fifth grade classroom. Some of you are familiar with Ms. Ageson, as she student taught in our elementary school last year. She is a recent DSU graduate with a degree in both special education and elementary education. Stacy Williamson will be joining our team as an educational assistant. Ms. Williamson has spent years in the field of education, with the last several years spent serving as an educational assistant at Lifescape in Sioux Falls. She brings with her a passion for helping kids and a wealth of experience! Mallory Zell is also joining the team as an educational assistant. She will be working with our middle and high school students. Ms. Zell has worked in business and accounting and has a strong background in mathematics. She also has a passion for helping kids, and we look forward to seeing her step into this new role.
We can’t wait to get our kids back in the building!
