Sisters School Board snapshot

The monthly meeting of the Sisters School District board of directors took place on Wednesday, April 6, 2022 at Sisters Elementary School.

- A reception was held for Avanza award winners, which honored second language students who had worked hard and attained a level of proficiency in English literacy comparable to native English speakers. The district created the award locally to reward the hard work the students have undertaken to become English proficient. (A full story on the program will appear in next week’s Nugget.)

- Also prior to the official start of the meeting, Bela Chladek, a junior at Sisters High School (SHS) was honored for the individual title in alpine skiing that he won earlier this winter.

- Rodney Cooper appeared as the lone citizen with community comments and recounted the story of his being asked to leave the previous board meeting due to failure to wear a mask. He asked the question: “Can you explain how a public school meeting can be invite only?” Note: Like many meetings in the past months, the meeting to which Cooper referred was open via Zoom for those citizens wishing to attend who were not presenting at the meeting.

- The budget and business report by Sherry Joseph indicated everything is in good shape.

Superintendent Curt Scholl’s report included:

- Continued progress with the design and development of the new Sisters Elementary School.

- Working with ODOT to iron out traffic flow for the new school, especially during pickup and drop-off times.

- The budget process for the 2022-23 school year will begin this month.

- Enrollment is up one student this month.

- The district website will be updated in the near future to be more accessible as an informational tool for the community.

- With a number of hires to make, Scholl plans to take part in the upcoming job fair to recruit.

- SHS Principal Steve Stancliff shared about professional development for staff based on recognizing assets that students bring to the table and how to capitalize on those. Continued work on building a community of learning, developing rapport with students, and enhancing partnerships.

- Principal Joan Warburg elaborated on the Avanza program and reflected on the success of career week at Sisters Elementary School.

- Sisters Middle School Principal Tim Roth, shared the work that art teacher Judy Fuentes is doing with a guest artist provided by the Sisters Folk Festival as an example of the kind of partnerships the school has with the community. Work done will be on display at the Sisters Art Works building.

He also said that students continue to adapt to being back in regular school, including regarding behavioral issues. Some students are working with Molly Pearring to help address bullying. Roth also expressed excitement about the ability to get parents back into the school as volunteers and plans for a “Spring Fling” after school one day this spring. Board members Edie Jones and Jeff Smith both said they look forward to also being back in the buildings as volunteers.

- Amy Johnson reported on behalf of special services and told the board about her presentation for the Oregon Transition Conference regarding the summer program model that is being used in Sisters. She said other districts were very enthusiastic about incorporating such programs in their districts.

- In other board business, Edie Jones was appointed as representative for the Sisters School District on the High Desert Education Service District. The board also accepted the resignations of Karen Williams, Tyler Cranor, Elisabeth Miller, and Elizabeth De Franco. The board also approved the hiring of Kelsey Jaeckel (SMS Counselor) and Hattie Tehan (SMS teacher).

The next school board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, May 4 at 6 p.m., and will be followed by a budget meeting.