Superintendent Cassandra Schug, left, explains the role of the Lebanon Plan Committee to the audience gathered in the Lebanon Elementary School gymnasium Thursday night. The meeting introduced the committee which included members, from left, Brad Vickroy, Ben Tietz, Lara Koellen and Fred Jandt.
Members of the community were invited to come up with positives and negatives for the proposals, the school as is and other ideas and write them on easels. Director of Educational Services Dave Vitale, left, was stationed at the easel describing the positives and negatives of Lebanon School as is and had numerous participants.
Superintendent Cassandra Schug, left, explains the role of the Lebanon Plan Committee to the audience gathered in the Lebanon Elementary School gymnasium Thursday night. The meeting introduced the committee which included members, from left, Brad Vickroy, Ben Tietz, Lara Koellen and Fred Jandt.
Members of the community were invited to come up with positives and negatives for the proposals, the school as is and other ideas and write them on easels. Director of Educational Services Dave Vitale, left, was stationed at the easel describing the positives and negatives of Lebanon School as is and had numerous participants.
The Watertown Unified School District took its first steps towards solving the Lebanon Elementary School puzzle with a community meeting on its future Thursday night and both approaches to the future got high marks.
The meeting, which took place in the Lebanon Elementary School gymnasium, W4712 County Road O, is the first of two such community meetings by the district’s newly formed Lebanon Plan Committee, which is charged with creating a plan to make Lebanon Elementary valuable for the district’s growth, with the next to take place February 6 at 5:30 p.m. at Lebanon Elementary.
District Superintendent Cassandra Schug explained during the meeting the concepts the committee will research for the school’s future, an environment focus and a Montessori focus.
“The Lebanon community gave the Lebanon Plan Team some great feedback and input on the two potential concepts for Lebanon School,” Schug said Friday. “The feedback was primarily very positive; the community seemed to think there was potential in both ideas, and they suggested considering merging the two concepts into a unique Montessori School with an environmental focus. The Lebanon plan team will take this feedback and use it to plan next steps for our research and defining the final concept for our plan proposal for Board consideration on Monday, Feb. 24.”
The environment focus would teach concepts of sustainability, food science and respecting the world. The Montessori focus would have middle-age classrooms, self-directed activity, hands-on learning and collaborative play. According to Schug, the environmental focus received the highest amount of votes by parents on a poll for the future of the school, while the Montessori focus received the second highest ahead of an agricultural business focus and a fine arts focus.
Although the committee’s attention will be on the two focuses, Schug did say during the meeting the committee will listen to suggestions from the community and could combine the two ideas.
These ideas would be new concepts for the district and the community and something many parents did not know much about before the proposed plans.
“Montessori was a scary term for me,” Committee member and Lebanon parent Nate Wegner said during the meeting. “But, we may not have to do a full Montessori school and could have a similar layout to what the school already has.”
For the rest of the meeting, audience members, approximately 30 in total, were given the opportunity to give feedback to the committee. The audience was split into four groups and the feedback was written on four easels throughout the gym, each with a different pertaining to a different subject. The subjects were: the positives and negatives of an environmental focus, the positives and negatives of a Montessori focus, the positives and negatives of Lebanon Elementary School as is and other ideas or additional feedback. Groups were given three minutes at each easel to give feedback before rotating to the next easel.
Feedback given on the easels included hands-on activities and high interest and popularity as positives for the Montessori style, but negatives included the need for additional teacher training and a lack of guidance for elementary students.
Positives for the environment focus included the space and setting of the school being great for the style and it’s pertinent focus while the negatives included fears about how literacy and the district’s core curriculum would fit into the school and how would the school make sure technologies are kept up to date.
Positives of Lebanon Elementary included its rural environment and its ability to be flexible as well as its strong community focus while negatives included a need for improved technology and the school being left behind with improvements compared to other district schools.
Some of the additional feedback and ideas included having a creative focus as well as having an environment focus and combining the two focuses with the idea of stewardship.
After all feedback was given, Schug held a quick Q&A for any additional comments or concerns. When asked when the committee would choice an concept Schug said they are hoping to have the concept prepped and selected by Jan. 8.
“The hope is that’s when we nail it down and that’s the role of the team,” Schug said.
The plan committee is a 17-person group of district administrators, staff members and Lebanon community members, who are charged with completing a plan for Lebanon Elementary to build on its strengths as a unique learning environment within the district so it may be a contributor to the growth of the district. During the course of a few months, the committee will gather input and feedback from parents, staff and community members, synthesize research, determine budget and staffing implications for each option, frame both short and long-term recommendations for the Board of Education, among other duties.
The committee is composed of Schug, Director of Educational Services Dave Vitale, Lebanon and Lincoln Supervisory Dean Kayla Wendt, Douglas Principal Emily Lessner, Elementary Director of Teaching and Learning Jenny Borst, Director of Business Services Brittany Altendorf, School Board member Fred Jandt, School Board member Fran Milburn, Lebanon Teaching Leader Mark Searing, Lebanon Paraprofessional Donna Parys, Lebanon parents Dave and Ricky Smith, Lebanon parent Nate Wegner, Lebanon parent Rachel Scott, Lebanon parent Lara Koellen, Lebanon parent Hannah Timmel, Lebanon community member Ben Tietz and Lebanon community member Brad Vickroy.
On Feb. 6 at 5:30 p.m. at Lebanon Elementary, the committee will review its draft plan and to receive feedback and input. The final plan will go before the Board of Education during its meeting Feb. 24, when the next steps of the school will be determined.
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