Almost Time for School to Start

  Another school year is almost here. We are looking forward to the return of our students on August 18^th. We will have a full day of school with 2:00 and 2:10 dismissals in the JSHS and Elementary School.  I am looking forward to a second year and continued change.  Our district may be small is size but in 2014-2015, I am making decisions based on the idea that V.I.T. is a place where Education is a BIG Deal. We have continued to add to the quality of the educational environment. With new key staff members, increased technology opportunities, and the implementation of Study Island for 2014-2015, this year will build on the idea that every student’s education is a BIG deal.  

    We have several new staff members for the 2014-2015 school year.  Our new Junior High-High School Principal, Ms. Tracey Korsmeyer, has been an outstanding educator in this district for many years.  Her classroom leadership will carry-over to how she leads her staff and students through the coming year. We are excited to have a veteran member of our staff takeover the leadership role after the retirement of longtime principal, Mr. Phil Snowden. We also have a new dean of students at the Elementary School. Mr. Matt Klaska earned his Masters' in Educational Administration and has been given an opportunity to gain experience working with the administrative team for this school year. Mrs. Melinda Treadway is our new math teacher for the HS. Ms. Kylee Palmer is our new HS English teacher. Mr. Joel Wade is our new HS science teacher. Mr. David Mueller is our new part-time JH/HS math teacher. Mrs. Kristy Boggs is teaching one hour of HS horticulture. Mr. Dave Wilson is teaching JH/HS P.E. Ms. Courtney Richardson is our new Pre-K through 6^th grade Speech teacher. Mr. Aaron Bucher is our new Technology Director and is teaching one computer class at the HS.  Ms. Gina Tilton is our new assistant cook at the Elementary School. Mrs. Kris Lascelles is our newest bus driver.

   In addition to staff additions, we have added more laptops for students, we have increased our WIFI areas for staff, students, and community members, Study Island has been implemented for the next three years, Fiber-optic internet has been installed by Mid-Century for the upcoming school year, and we have a new webpage for the district. Our new webpage is www.vit2.org. 

   Our custodial staff has both buildings ready for our students to return.  The first day of school is always my favorite day of the year. As always, we are open to visits from students, parents, and community members regarding our schools. If you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to call or stop-in to discuss them.  

Have a Great Day,

Mr. Mike Curry

Fiber Install

Outside my window this morning! Usually a piece of equipment like this backhoe is not what one likes to see out of the office window. Today, it is a welcomed sight. Mid-Century is installing Fiber to the district. This install will greatly increase our internet capabilities. Mid-Century has been an outstanding partner in this project. The crew here today has worked fast this morning to trench and bore before the rain hits. As we get closer to turning on our Fiber access, I will share more information.
Have a Great Day!

IASA Presentation

Good day, today I am out of the district making a presentation at the IASA New Superintendents Conference. Our presentation focuses on what we have learned after year one.

School Improvement Planning

On Tuesday July 29, our elementary school improvement team met to discuss our improvement plan for 2014-15 and 2015-16. We started working through a series of prompts designed to find positive areas and areas in need of improvement. We will be meeting several times during the first semester to determine how to continue to offer a great education to our students. Looking for ways to improve as a team will assist us in implementing school-wide strategies for Common Core, preparing our students for HS, and providing citizenship skills for their future success. The team included Mr. Curry, Ms. Becker, Mrs. VanTine, Ms. Wenndt, Mr. Klaska, Ms. Korsmeyer, Mrs. Jansen, Mrs. Hampton, and Mr. Schmersahl.

Sent from my iPhone

VIT and MDH

What a long week. We finally moved into a home in Ipava. Lots of moving and cleaning from our rental. Tiring is the best way to describe moving. After getting into our new place, my sister and mother came to visit on Saturday. My mother was looking around on her own and fell and broke her hip. Scary and stressful times. I have to admit, we had great rescue service from Ipava. Then after her surgery, we have had great nursing and caregiver experiences at MDH in Macomb. There are several VIT grads and community members who work at MDH. We have had two nurses and two other employees who work there with VIT ties. Everyone has been great. She will be going home on Wednesday, but she has had a very good experience at MDH and with Ipava Rescue. Thank you to everyone who has made this stressful event a little more tolerable for her.

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Registration for 2014-2015

REMINDER - VIT Registration will be held on July 16th at both buildings from 7:00-11:30 and 12:30-6:30PM.

2014-2015

As I have started my second year at VIT, I thought it was a good time to share a few changes for this coming school year.  1. We have a new principal in place at the Junior-Senior High School. Mr. Snowden has retired after many years at VIT. His efforts have been greatly appreciated. After several applicants were screened by a committee of staff members. Four candidates were presented to the Board for an interview. After four interviews with four outstanding applicants, Tracey Korsmeyer was selected to be the next principal. Ms. Korsmeyer has taught at VIT for several years and has the support of the staff to lead the school in its efforts to continually provide quality educational opportunities to the students. She has been at work this summer making plans for the start of the year. She will be on hand all day at registration. 2. The district has employed two new teachers for 2014-2015. Mrs. Melinda Treadway and Ms. Kylee Palmer have been selected by Ms. Korsmeyer and her interview team to take over HS math and HS English respectively. I will have a special introductory blog for each later this summer. 3. The district, with a great deal of assistance from P.T.O., has purchased a software package from Study Island. Study Island is an online educational tool that we are looking to use a great deal in 2014-2015. For more information, you can check-out www.studyisland.com . 4. Both buildings are now total wireless environments. The number of laptops and tablets will continue to increase. Students can bring their own devices to school for use in academic settings. Parents can access our network while they are here for ball games or other school sponsored events. In order to make this system run as smooth as possible, we have employed Mr. Aaron Bucher as a full-time district technology leader.  Mr. Bucher will also teach one hour of a technology/computer course to our students in HS. 5. We are very close to starting a horticulture class for 2014-2015. upon approval, we will have the class 1st hour everyday. The class will be taught by a professor from Spoon River College. We will have a new greenhouse and garden on site. 6. Mr. Wilson has moved to the JSHS to serve as the P.E. teacher and Mr. Matt Klaska will now serve as the Dean of Students at the elementary school.  7. REMINDER that registration will take place all day on July 16th. I am looking forward to seeing as many parents and students as possible on July 16th. Stay tuned - there will be more blogs coming as we approach a new school year.