We Are Stronger Together

Volunteering in the classroom is not always something parents can do. Luckily, it isn’t the only way to foster your child’s education. According to the National Education Association (NEA), here are four tips for what parents can do outside the classroom to help their child succeed.

1. Create a home environment that encourages learning and schoolwork. Establish a daily routine of mealtimes with time for homework, chores, and bedtime.
2. Reinforce learning at home and show your child the skills they’re learning are applicable to everyday life. For example, if your child is learning about measuring, bake with them in the kitchen and bring that skill to life.
3. Let your child see you reading, writing, using math and technology.
4. Read all information that comes from school (emails, flyers, etc.) to stay on top of what your child is learning.

With the upcoming referendums, I thought I would just explain the difference between a bond and a levy. For more information about the HS Bond, HS Building Reserve Levy, and ELEM Building Reserve levy, please go to our website (www.glendiveschools.com). Thanks!

What is the difference between a levy and a bond?

The easiest way to think about it is that Levies are for Learning and Bonds are for Buildings.

LEVIES = LEARNING Environment

(Library Books, Curriculum, Staffing, Building Operation & Maintenance and Needed Improvements, etc.)

BONDS = BUILDINGS - Major Construction

(New Buildings, Major Renovations, etc.)

Levy - a ballot measure asking voters to agree to a property tax to collect a set dollar amount for a specific number of years. They are used for operational costs and capital improvements. Local levies bridge the gap between state funding and the true costs of operating a school district. There are many different types of levies. Some examples include: General Fund, Building Reserve, Transportation, Tuition, Technology, etc.

Replacement Levy - a levy asking voters to replace an existing levy that is scheduled to expire.

Bond - It is like a mortgage for the schools, except instead of borrowing from a bank, the district finances the cost of long-term projects through the municipal bond market. When placed before voters, the school district is asking for the authority to sell bonds and then pay the principal and interest on those bonds using money collected from property taxes. Bond proceeds are used to purchase or construct new buildings, renovate and modernize existing buildings, add or upgrade infrastructure systems, and purchase additional equipment. Bonds are used to finance the projects because the payments to the investors are made over a period of 12-30 years thus spreading the costs of the projects over a long period of time which reduces the annual impact on property taxes.

Over the past few months, quite a lot has happened at DCHS! December brought the end the of the first semester as well as a lot of events. 11 DCHS students went to the All Northwest Choir Festival in Bellevue, WA. The students had a great time and were excited to meet peers from the northwest with so much talent. Mrs. Svenvold continues to lead the best choir program in Montana! FCCLA held their first movie night as the club is trying to recruit new students. FFA had their District Contests in Miles City and will be sending 12 students to Great Falls from March 20th - 25th! Great job Mrs. Hoagland and her kids! Our DCHS Juniors are also gearing up for the ACT so please encourage them on!

We would like to welcome our new Social Studies student teacher Marissa Herbaugh!

Our WMS Demons have kicked off the second semester of the school year. SHOUT OUT to the WMS staff and students who have adapted to the need to relocate our Cafeteria to our Activities Room due to a pipe freezing and breaking in our kitchen over the winter break. It takes a team effort to adjust to change and to do so as smoothly as possible.

WMS staff and students are excited about school resuming and academic schedule changes. With the start of the new year, our 7th/8th-grade boys’ basketball teams have enthusiastically kicked off their season. Recently, it was approved for 6th-graders to join our WMS Track Team. We are excited to offer this opportunity for our 6th-graders.

The second semester of the school year brings various state testing to schools. Students need to have a good night's sleep, breakfast, and parent/guardian encouragement to do their best to ensure students are able to perform their best. Thank you for your support!

The winter months were fast and furious at Lincoln Elementary. We had a lot of great activities going on, from the Christmas program to visits from various clubs from WMS and DCHS. Our students love interacting with the older students. Those students from WMS and DCHS are awesome when they come and visit LES. It is nice to have those students as role models for our Lincoln students.

We faced some challenges with the weather but our students and staff took it in stride and kept on rolling. I can't say enough good things about the staff and students at LES. We have great educators that challenge our students and our students step up to those challenges.

With the end of the 2nd quarter we had 60 students recognized with Bug Awards. These awards are for those students who earned Straight A's or brought up grades in any of their class subjects and did not have grades go down in any class subject. Everyone at LES is proud of these students.

We have been celebrating I Love to Read Month all February long! It takes a lot of work to put it all on, so we are incredibly thankful for Mrs. Geiger and the team of teachers who helped to make the month happen! The following pictures are of Officer Tessa Hopper, Deputy Brett Patterson, and K-9 Shelly who visited Mrs. Mayer’s class to read a book about K-9 officers for I Love to Read Month! A huge thank you goes out to them for taking the time to connect with our students!

We held our February parent teacher conferences and utilized the time to connect with the parents of our amazing students. At Jefferson, we completed 236 conferences in total. These are such a great opportunity to discuss growth our students have made and areas in which they can still grow. We love getting to celebrate our students with the people who love them most!

Special Education

One of the biggest changes in recent years has been the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This federal law requires that all students with disabilities receive a free and appropriate education in the least restrictive environment. This means that students with disabilities are placed in general education classrooms as much as possible and receive additional support services to help them succeed. We continuously work towards ensuring that all students with disabilities have access to the resources and support they need to succeed.

Our District has been working hard to comply with IDEA and to provide all students with the support they need. We continue to recruit special education teachers and support staff in our schools.

We invite all parents and community members to contact us if you have any questions or concerns about special education in our school. We are committed to working together to ensure that all students have the opportunity to succeed.

Title I

Title I is a federal program that provides funding to schools with high concentrations of students from low-income families. The goal of Title I is to ensure that all children have the opportunity to receive a high-quality education, regardless of their socioeconomic background.

We are working to increase our communication with families. One of the ways we are doing this is through a quarterly newsletter for families. This newsletter can be found on the school district's website.

Upcoming important dates:

• March 8 - End of 3rd Quarter (DCHS)
  
• March 9-11 - State Basketball Tournaments in Bozeman
• March 13 - First Day spring sports practice
• March 22 - End of 3rd Quarter (K-8)
  
• March 28 - ACT for Juniors
• March 30 - DCHS Art Show
• March 31 - Kindergarten screening at Jefferson School
• April 5 - Early out
• April 6-10 - No School (Spring Break)
• April 13 - Child Find at DCHS
• April 21 - No School (HS District Music Festival)
• May 9 - HS Band Awards Concert
• May 16 - HS Choir Awards Concert
• May 21 Graduation
• May 23 - WMS Awards Concert
• May 25 - Last day of School

For the full School year Calendar please click here: GPS 2022-23 School Calendar

I am Ashlee Shaw, and I was born and raised in Savage, Mt. I have been married to my husband, Ben, for 14 years. We have two children, Braxton and Kaitlynn. I started subbing at Savage Public School when my son started preschool. I applied full time, at Savage, for a one-on-one aide paraprofessional in the resource room. I was a paraprofessional for 7 years in the resource room and decided to go back to college for my Elementary and Special Education degrees. When it came time for my student teaching portion, I reached out to Valerie Damron, and she assigned me to Jefferson Elementary School. I loved the new atmosphere and the wonderful staff at Jefferson and applied for a Special Education position. I was hired and started teaching in my own classroom in January.

My goal for my classroom is to help my students be successful while in my classroom and after they leave my room. I have a passion for Special Education and truly love my job. I love the challenges that it brings and finding how each student learns. I strive to help them find confidence in themselves and show them how to be successful. I am excited to have my own classroom and bring my passion and experience for special education to Jefferson.

I have always loved working in the school system. It is such a challenging but rewarding profession. I love when I finally figure out what a student needs to be successful and you see the excitement and joy radiating through them. That pushes me to work harder and find different ways to teach my students so they can all have that feeling of accomplishment.

Outside of teaching, I am always doing something with my family. Most of the time, we are traveling for our son’s sports. He is a freshman this year, and I love watching him and supporting him and his team. Our daughter is a Junior this year, and is busy with work and school. My family all lives in Savage, so we get together quite often and are always doing something outdoors, like BBQs, hunting, and fishing.

Make sure you download the GPS app so you can get up to date information on everything going on around the District.

DISTRICT

• Substitutes (teacher, para, cook, custodian, bus driver)

• Bus Aid
  

ADMINISTRATION

• None at this time

CERTIFIED TEACHERS

• SpEd Teacher

• DCHS Science Teacher

• DCHS Industrial Arts Teacher

• WMS Girls PE/Health Teacher

  
  

CLASSIFIED POSITIONS

• Paraprofessionals - Becoming a Paraprofessional

• Driver's Ed Teacher

• DCHS Part Time Custodian

• WMS Part Time Custodian

• LES Part Time Custodian

• Temporary Custodial Position

• WMS Part Time Cook

  
  

COACHING/ACTIVITY POSITIONS

• DCHS Head Volleyball Coach

• DCHS Assistant Volleyball Coach

• DCHS Assistant Tennis Coach

• WMS 8th Grade Volleyball Coach

• WMS 8th Grade Asst Volleyball Coach

• WMS 7th Grade Asst Volleyball Coach

The Board of Trustees of Glendive Public Schools conducts regular meetings in the Board Room of Dawson County High School on the second Monday of the month at 7:00 p.m., unless otherwise changed and noted. For more information, please visit our board meetings page at https://www.glendiveschools.com/page/board-meetings

SCHOOL BOARD

Michael Ziegler - Chair

David Steinbron - Vice Chair

Joel Basta - Member

Frank Ceane - Member

Beau Gibbs - Member

Jay Phalen - Member

Cole Smith - Member

Alex Rivas - Member

DCHS (Grades 9-12) Ph: 406-377-5265

WMS (Grades 6-8) Ph: 406-377-2356

LES (Grades 3-5) Ph: 406-377-2308

JES (Grades K-2) Ph: 406-377-4155

Email: gps@glendiveschools.org
Website: glendiveschools.com
Location: 900 N Merrill Ave, Glendive, MT 59330
Phone: (406)377-2555
Facebook: facebook.com/glendiveschools
Twitter: @glendiveschools