Dear North Butler Students, Parents, and Community Members,

Welcome Back 

On behalf of the staff at North Butler Jr./Sr. High, I’m happy to welcome you to the 2018-2019 school year.  We are looking forward to a productive partnership to ensure the children in our community achieve their highest potential and are future ready Bearcats.

I am grateful for and look forward to the opportunity to be able to continue serving the school and community at North Butler Jr./Sr. High as the secondary principal.  It has been a privilege to live in this community and to work with this dedicated and passionate educational team for the past sixteen years. 

As I think about the upcoming school year, I’m excited about this next chapter we are about to write. We will remain steadfast to the commitments we’ve made to our community to prepare students for future success.  We will work together to create a positive learning environment that promotes high achievement, responsible citizenship, and success for all. 

In order to prepare students for future success, we’ve made plans to improve some of our current programs and provide additional innovative learning opportunities.  This year, we’ve added a curriculum director to focus on ensuring a guaranteed and viable curriculum for our students.  We’ve also added some new courses:

1. 7th-8th Grades: We’ve added computer applications, digital citizenship, and wellness.
2. High School: We’ve added a required semester of chemistry.  We are also able to add the following elective courses: Iowa BIG North, Astronomy, and Mythology.

We are also excited about the building projects that are in progress.  These projects include:

• Paving the student parking lot and adding security cameras and a stop sign
• Replacing the dilapidated storage shed by the football practice fields with a new workspace for Iowa BIG North
• Building the industrial technology education addition.

Welcome New Faculty: 

• We’re fortunate to have Mrs. Angie Holzer joining the team at North Butler Jr./Sr. High this year. Mrs. Holzer will be teaching Spanish.  
• We’re also welcoming Mr. Frank Kisley to the team. Mr. Kisley has coached wrestling at North Butler for several years and will be teaching ag courses and Iowa BIG North. 
• We’re also excited to welcome Ms. Brittany Quigley.  Ms. Quigley will teach special education at North Butler Jr./Sr. High. 
• We also welcome Mrs. Beth Endelman to a new role at North Butler Jr./Sr. High building.  Mrs. Endelman will be adding curriculum director and School Administration Manager (SAM) duties to her current position. 
•  

Back-To-School Events at North Butler Jr./Sr. High

We cordially invite you to the following events: 

7th Grade Orientation

The orientation for incoming 7th grade students and parents will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on  Monday, August 20.  We encourage all incoming 7th grade students and parents to attend.

7-12 Open House

The North Butler Jr./Sr. High Back-To-School Open House will be held on Monday, August 20 from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. for all 7th-12th grade students and parents.  This is a wonderful opportunity for students and parents to meet the teachers, find lockers, and bring in school supplies. 

9th Grade Orientation (Optional)

The orientation for incoming 9th grade students and parents will be held from 6:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on  Tuesday, August 21.  We encourage all incoming 9th grade students and parents to attend.

All signs point to another incredible year in Bearcat Country.  I value your dedication to excellence in education, and I look forward to working with you and your children.

Sincerely,

Heather Holm

North Butler Jr./Sr. High Principal

Hello from North Butler Elementary School,

As we count down the days to the start of school, I want to wish you a fun and safe few more days of summer, and update you on some back to school information from North Butler Elementary.

To facilitate the transition back to school family conferences for students in preschool through grade six will be offered on Monday, August 20th. This is a time for students and families to meet teachers, visit classrooms, find lockers, and bring in school supplies. Individual conference times for students in morning preschool through grade six, will be offered from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM. Individual conference times for students in M/TH or T/F preschool will be offered from 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM. Conference sign-up will be made available through a link on the school website or by contacting the elementary office (319-267-2212).

Classes for K-6 students will begin Thursday, August 23rd.  To commemorate this, a back to school flag raising ceremony will be held at 8:30 AM that day around the North Butler Elementary flag pole. (In the event of rain, the celebration will move to the gym.) Parents and community members are invited to attend. Coffee and doughnuts will be available for guests. 

Preschool will begin Monday, August 27th or Tuesday, August 28th, depending on children’s class assignments. During the week of August 20th, preschool teachers, Mrs. Roxanne Landers and Mrs. Heather Maakestad, will conduct home visits. This experience will offer children a chance to meet their teacher in their home setting.  Meanwhile, parents and teachers will have an opportunity to meet, talk and collaborate for the benefit of the child. Sign-up for home visits will be available during back to school conferences on August 20th or by contacting the elementary office. 

New Elementary Staff

• North Butler welcomes Amanda Eggerichs. She will be teaching sixth grade and coaching junior high girls basketball. She previously served as a 4^th and 5^th grade teacher for the Allamakee Community School District at Waterville Elementary School in Waterville, Iowa.
• Melissa Vorhes will be teaching first grade. Mrs. Vorhes and her husband Ray farm near Charles City. Their children Drew, Jake, and Aubrey attend North Butler Elementary.
• Jamie Osterbuhr, will move from teaching sixth grade teacher to teaching kindergarten.  She’ll also serve as assistant high school girls volleyball coach.
• Miss Steere will transfer from teaching fourth grade to third grade.
• Melissa Lindaman will move from teaching third grade into an instructional coach position. She will work one-on-one and in small groups with teachers. Together, they will focus on practical strategies for engaging students and improving their learning.
• Heather Maakestad will continue to teach morning preschool and will work as an At Risk teacher in the afternoons.

In 2018-2019 North Butler Elementary’s school improvement efforts will emphasize science and literacy learning. North Butler will also begin implementing PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports) and the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program.  This means staff and students will do things “The Bearcat Way” by following four expectations - Be Kind, Be Respectful, Be Responsible, and Be Safe. 

NBE School Hours

K-6: 8:20 a.m. - 3:05 p.m. (Wed. 8:20 a.m. - 2:05 p.m.)

Morning Four-year-old Preschool: 8:00 a.m. - noon (M-F)

Full Day Four-year-old Preschool: 8:00 a.m. - 3:05 p.m M/Th or T/F

Breakfast is available from 7:45 a.m.- 8:15 a.m. daily 

Daily Schedule

7:45 AM  Students enter building for breakfast or walk and talk. (*There is no supervision before 7:45 AM)

7:45 AM - 8:15 AM Breakfast 

8:20 AM Tardy bell rings

11:00 AM -12:30 PM Lunch is served- classroom times vary.

3:00 PM Greene bus students dismissed

3:10 PM Students being picked up dismissed

3:15 PM Walkers dismissed

3:20 PM Allison bus students dismissed

Six Day Cycle 

Students in Transitional Kindergarten through grade six operate on a six-day cycle instead of a Monday through Friday schedule.  Our days are known as Day 1, Day  2,… Day 6.  Through this system, whenever days of school are cancelled because of inclement weather, staff in-service, or holidays, the students do not miss their special subjects because the number days move to the next day school is in session. 

I look forward to our partnership in ensuring a productive and fun educational experience for our students. My door is always open and I welcome your input. Thanks for your help in making it great to be a bearcat!

Respectfully,

Laura Tracy

North Butler Elementary Principal 

North Butler Schools, “Your Destination for Education”, would like to welcome our new staff, students and community members to our school community and welcome all of our returning staff and patrons to the 2018-19 school year. It seems as though summer goes faster each year!

It is hard to believe that I am already beginning my fifth year at North Butler Community Schools! Seems like just yesterday we moved here! This year will bring some new challenges for me personally as I begin my first full year as a shared superintendent. It is also bringing some great things to me professionally as we are bringing some new programs and changes to North Butler that have been in the planning stages for a couple of years.

First, we have add new programs at North Butler Jr./Sr. High: vocational agriculture and Iowa BIG North. Both of these programs and Mr. Kisley’s expertise will bring great opportunities to our students! 

We will also begin our first full year as partners with Snap-On Tools and the National Coalition of Certification Centers to bring certification to our students in the areas of torque, precision measurement, and multimeters. I can’t express our gratitude to our local partners: Allison Farmers Feed and Grain, Cooper Motors, Wedeking Electric, and American Tool and Engineering enough for their assistance in getting this program up and running. 

There will also be an class devoted to design and manufacture based around the CNC milling machine that was donated by American Tool and Engineering. They have donated the machine, design software, time and materials to training Mr. Brown and our students in the use of this machine. 

With these additions, I believe that we now have the strongest vocational program in the area. North Butler is the first school in the state to have a stand alone program with Snap-On and NC3 and the first school in the country to certify junior high students in precision measurement.

I would also invite you to drive by and take a look at the shop expansion project for the vocational programs. The addition is scheduled to be completed prior to the start of the school year, and Modern Builders are making great progress on getting this to come together. I greatly appreciate the fine work that Schroeder Concrete has done and the input that Dan Schroeder has given in helping to ensure that we do things the best way possible. 

I look forward to seeing everyone again and cannot wait for the school year to start!

It’s Great to Be a Bearcat!!

Joel Foster, Superintendent

Becoming a substitute teacher could be one of the most rewarding decisions of your life! It's a great way to make a positive difference for children and youth while supporting your community school. 

Substitute Authorization Requirements

A substitute authorization may be issued by the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners to an individual who:

• Has successfully completed all of the requirements of the approved course "Substitute Authorization: Fostering Student Learning as a Substitute," including two hours of classroom observation after completion of the face-to-face class (form provided at the class)
• Has at least one of the following: 1) a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution OR 2) completed an approved paraeducator certification program and holds a paraeducator certificate
• Has attained a minimum age of 21 years
• Has successfully completed an Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation background check
• Has successfully completed a national criminal history background check

If you hold a bachelor's degree: Receiving a substitute authorization will allow an individual who holds a bachelor's degree to substitute in grades PK-12 for no more than five consecutive days and no more than 10 days in a 30-day period in one job assignment for a regularly assigned teacher who is absent, except in the driver’s education classroom. A school district administrator may file a written request with the board for an extension of the 10-day limit in one job assignment on the basis of documented need and benefit to the instructional program. The licensure committee will review the request and provide a written decision either approving or denying the request.

If you hold a paraeducator certificate: Receiving a substitute authorization will authorize an individual who holds a paraeducator certificate without a bachelor’s degree to substitute ONLY in the special education classroom in which the individual paraeducator is employed for no more than five consecutive days and no more than 10 days in a 30-day period.

Substitute Authorization: Fostering Student Learning as a Substitute

Course Information

This 20-hour course is designed to meet the requirements for the substitute authorization program. This course addresses the four components required by the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners.

• Classroom Management: Participants will develop an understanding of individual and group motivation and behavior that will enable them to create a learning environment that encourages positive social interaction, active engagement in learning and self motivation.
• Strategies for Learning: Participants will develop skills to use a variety of learning strategies that encourage student development of critical thinking, problem solving and performance skills.
• Diversity: Participants will develop an understanding of how students differ in their approaches to learning, will be able to create learning opportunities that are equitable and are adaptable to diverse learners and will develop an understanding of diversity within the classroom.
• Ethics: Participants will develop an understanding of how to foster relationships with parents, school colleagues and organizations in the larger community to support student learning and development and become aware of the Board's Rules of Professional Practice and Code of Ethics.

Many AEAs offer the Substitute Authorization courses.  Consider visiting the BOEE website for a list of AEAs offering the course.