Category: Middle School (related)

Due to the unusually high number of weather related school cancellations we will be making several adjustments to our published school calendar for March, April, and May. The Department of Public Instruction requires specific hours of instruction annually for all public schools. In order to meet those requirements and continue working toward our district goals, we will be making the following changes:

March 1st will be a regular student day. This day had been designated for teacher professional development.
Early Release dates on March 13, April 3, May 1, and May 24 will now be full student days – not early release.

Teacher professional development time has been instrumental in moving us toward our district goals and efforts to fulfill our mission ensuring all students are learning at high levels. Academic benchmarks provide evidence that Oostburg students are realizing unprecedented achievement placing us alongside the top schools in our state when considering ACT composite scores – the primary measure connected to our academic goals.

We believe that teacher professional development time provided through early release days and inservice continues to be a primary factor in our success. During these days teachers meet vertically across grade levels, refining our curriculum through very intentional collaboration. Designing rigorous and relevant learning experiences for students is enhanced when teachers work together across grade levels to examine student work. Due to the changes, the teaching staff will continue their collaborative work outside of the scheduled professional development time

As critical as our collaborative learning time has been, this winter has presented challenges which have resulted in an unusually high number of missed student contact days. We appreciate your understanding as we address this missed time. We hope this is an unusual winter. We also appreciate the flexibility from our teaching staff as they adjust their schedules in the months ahead so their collaborative work can continue outside of the time originally scheduled.

Kevin Bruggink