Learning Matters

Next to safety, teaching and learning is the top priority for the North Marion School District. We are committed to research-based best practices for all elements of the teaching and learning cycle, meeting students where they are in their learning, and basing instruction on student needs, interests, and abilities.

We are excited about this final Teaching and Learning newsletter for this year and look forward to continuing this communication next year.

On May 8, 2023, the North Marion School Board approved our Academic Calendar for the 2023-2024 school year. The calendar has been posted, and be viewed on the NMSD Home Page. This year, based on feedback from our community and staff, some changes have been made to the calendar. Below we provide some details on those changes, and how they may impact our students and families.

Please note that the calendar was updated on 5/31/2023 to reflect a change in the observation of Veterans Day. The previously sent calendar was incorrect. Corrected calendars will read Updated 5/31/2023.

Here are a few things to note about this year's calendar

-We will no longer be holding late start mornings on Wednesday. Schools will start at the same time Monday through Friday on school days.

-We will hold Professional Learning time for staff on Wednesday afternoons. Because of this, students will have a shorter day on Wednesdays, and be released early. For an overview of the start and end times for next year, click here.

-The week of November 20-24, there will be no school for students – providing families with an extended Thanksgiving Holiday Break.

We appreciate the feedback and guidance we received on this calendar, as well as the thoughtful discussion that was had by the school board. We look forward to implementing this calendar next year and watching for the impact it can have on our schools and students.

Beginning in November, members of the North Marion School District Math Task Force have been diligently working to identify math materials for the 2023-2024 school year.

This team developed a comprehensive rubric, aligned to the state rubric, and piloted a variety of materials, in order to find resources that could best meet the needs of our students. We are excited by the materials they have selected and look forward to seeing the impact they will back on math education in our district.

On May 8, 2023, at the NMSD meeting of the Board of Directors, the following Math Instructional materials were approved for use beginning the 2023-2024 School year:

• For North Marion Intermediate School - HMH - Into Math
  

• For North Marion Middle School - Amplify Math

• For North Marion High School - Carnegie Learning

• North Marion Primary School was granted permission to complete its adoption process during the 2023-2024 school year. Because of this, I-Ready Math will continue to be used next year.

We are excited to begin using these materials and look forward to providing our community updates on our progress.

This spring, the North Marion School District as been tasked with selecting several amazing leaders to add to our building and district leadership team. Below is some information about the incredible leaders that will be joining our team!

This Spring we conducted a search for our new Primary School Principal. We were looking for an educator who had both experience and passion for our youngest learners to serve as NMPS Principal. We were fortunate enough to find Dr. Kimberly Jordan and selected her to serve as the principal beginning in the fall of 2023. Kimberly is currently an Elementary School Principal with the Albany School District. She brings with her a passion for education, a commitment to serving our youngest learners, and a personality that is warm, and caring.

Kimberly has spent 22 years in public education and has taught first through fifth grades. She has held many roles, including Classroom teacher, ELD coordinator, Special Education teacher, and Spanish Immersion teacher before becoming a principal. She is a fluent Spanish speaker and has a deep understanding of language learning, and supporting our multicultural community. She is a seasoned traveler and has lived in Chile and Japan.

We are excited about the experience and expertise Dr. Jordan will bring to the Primary school, and can only anticipate the impact she will make on our students and staff.

After an extensive, search, we are pleased to announce that Dr. Stacy Erickson has been selected to lead NMMS as its new principal!

Stacy brings with her 28 years of experience in education. Prior to her 4 years of administrative experience as an associate principal at Oregon City High School, Stacy taught social studies, served as a librarian and an academic success coordinator, and was a professional development leader for her previous district. She also presented her research on “Relationship between Professional Development and Teacher Turnover” in Chicago at the American Education Research Association conference.

Stacy received her degrees from BYU, Lewis and Clark, and her doctorate at the University of Oregon. She brings great energy and enthusiasm and supports and understands the work of teachers and the importance of collaboration. She is very excited to meet the rest of the middle school staff and noted that “the interview team really inspired her!”

The district completed two additional hiring processes this spring to fill the Vice Principal positions at the Primary/Intermediate School and Middle School. After a comprehensive search and interview process, the hiring teams offered permanent positions to Micheal Cutter (Primary/Intermediate) and Joe Jensen (High School) to continue in the roles they had served in this year. Lindsay Androy Koberstein will also continue in her role as VP at the Middle School.

North Marion was selected to be featured in the statewide "Promise of Oregon" campaign, sponsored by the Oregon School Board Association. Here are a few photos of our selected students.

Desiree Kiesel - Director of Teaching and Learning

Email: desiree.kiesel@nmarion.k12.or.us
Website: https://www.nmarion.k12.or.us/district/page/teaching-and-learning-1
Location: 20256 Grim Road Northeast, Aurora, OR, USA
Phone: 503-678-7100