Hintz Gives 'State of the Corporation' for Warsaw Schools
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
The mission statement reads: “Our mission is to inspire and equip all students to continously acquire and apply knowledge and skills while pursuing their dreams and enriching the lives of others.”
“I’m so proud of how our staff, how our community, how our students have embraced our mission. There’s not a day that goes by that we don’t hear something connected to the 27 words in that mission statement,” Hintz said.
He said he feels Warsaw is an “A” school district and “that is the expectation. I believe that it’s difficult for us to settle for anything less. So very proud of the high expectations of the school corporation and the hard work that it takes on the part of so many including our students to achieve the ‘A.’”
Warsaw is becoming a more diverse school corporation, he said. WCS has 1,217 English learners out of a student body of about 7,200. “We now have 27 countries that are represented in Warsaw,” he noted.
Last Friday, he said, the data on Warsaw’s Annual Measurable Achievement Objectives came in. “Once again, for the fourth consecutive year, we have met all four parts of this as far as the performance of our students being able to work toward proficiency in the English language,” he said.
It’s not only what happens in the classrooms that make the school corporation “tick,” he said. He recognized the Food and Nutrition Services and the Transportation departments.
WCS has 90 employees districtwide in Food and Nutrition. More than 1 million meals are served annually, with 1,163,365 served in 2012-13.
Staff training so far has totaled 1,432 hours this year. Forty-nine Food and Nutrition Services employees are now Serve Safe Food Safety certified, he said, “which is far above the Indiana requirement per school.”
“We have a large number of students in our school corporation that are served two meals a day. Participate in our breakfast program, participate in our school lunch program. And I think of the impact of this fabulous department on achieving that end,” Hintz said.
Without the transportation department, Hintz said, “We couldn’t get all these children to school each and every day.”
There are 89 Transportation staff members in the system. They drive 220 routes per day. The bus fleet includes 72 school buses and five mini buses. On average, 886,184 miles are driven each school year.
“There again, bus drivers play a huge role in helping us achieve the end,” Hintz commented.
He quickly reviewed the four strategies of the WCS strategic plan.
Strategy 1 is to build collaborative relationships with the community. Some of WCS’s Partners in Education include Teachers Credit Union, United Way, local law enforcement, Wagon Wheel Theatre and the orthopedic companies.
Strategy 2 is “supplement core standards with additional district standards to align all offered courses and programs with our mission and strategic objectives.”
“Our students and staff are on a mission to continue to really support our students in how they pursue their dreams, how they want to pursue and then the whole business of giving back to others,” Hintz said.
Strategy 3 is “about transparent communication, staff development and marketing,” he said.
“We believe we’ve done a really good job, we continue to do a really good job in this area,” Hintz said.
The fourth strategy focuses on technology in the corporation.
WCS’s leadership theme this year is “Excelling Today ... Dreaming for Tomorrow.”
“I’m proud of the fact of everyone’s work in achieving that ‘A’ status for the second consecutive year,” Hintz said. “We are educating 215 students who do not live in our school district. We’ve expanded our Early Learning Center at Leesburg Elementary School. We’ve been named a Riley Foundation Miracle School Corporation for a second consecutive year.”
He said he couldn’t tell the board how proud he was of Assistant Superintendent David Hoffert and his team in development of the STEM Bus. It’s due to hit the assembly line Friday.
He listed the money WCS has been able to receive from the Indiana Department of Education, Dekko, OrthoWorx and other organizations, which totaled almost $1.4 million.
Hintz spoke about the importance of the Professional Learning Communities and how they serve as a vehicle to move the mission forward. Each year, WCS sends educators to the Work Institute in Lincolnshire, Ill., which helps strengthen the school system, he said.
WCS student enrollment has been increasing every year since 2010-11, when it was 6,830 students. That jumped to 6,945 in 2011-12; 7,077 in 2012-13; and 7,255 in 2013-14.
“That is a chart moving in the right direction and we’re very proud we’re attracting students to our school corporation,” Hintz said.
For 2013-14, Hintz pointed out that WCS attracted 86 students from Tippecanoe Valley; 43 from Wawasee; 76 from Whitko; and 26 from other school corporations.
He also noted that 503 students transfer within the school district.
“Competition is the name of the game in this business of public school education today. And I think we are providing exceptional choices for families that want to send their children to our system,” he said.
At the elementary level, he noted all eight schools offered full-day kindergarten. Warsaw is in its first year implementing the Leesburg Early Learning Center and an additional class at Claypool Early Learning Center. The school district also is in its first year implementation of Benchmark Literacy, and has revised its elementary science curriculum to focus on STEM education. It’s strengthening the selection process for students taking sixth-grade pre-algebra, and continuing to develop and implement its standard-based report cards. Chess and robotics clubs also are popular at the elementaries.
Students at the two middle schools can explore world languages, while an increased number of robotics teams are involved in competition. The middle schools have “Dream Councils” and monthly world language clubs. Success coaches help students on their path to graduation. For 2015-16, the middle schools are investigating new master schedules. A biology prep course has been added, and for 2014-15 a biology for high school credit has been added.
Hintz displayed the many new courses for Warsaw Community High School and Warsaw Area Career Center being offered each year. Some of those courses include astronomy, JROTC, Chinese IV, German I and film production.
He showed how WCS is doing well and improving in ISTEP+, End of Course Assessments, graduation rates, Advanced Placement tests, SAT and ACT.
At the Jan. 21 public work session, Hintz presented the long-range facilities plan. Last night, he reviewed that, noting the four projects WCS is focusing on include a new Lincoln Elementary, renovated Washington Elementary and Edgewood Middle School and renovations and additions to WCHS and WACC. He said he expects the cost to be less than the initial $110 million Kovert Hawkins projected, but facility improvements would require tax increases for the community. A possible referendum on the building project may happen in May 2015.
“With a recommendation to the board and the board making a decision to move forward with a referendum, it’s really giving the community the opportunity to vote up or down on whether they support the projects or not. We know that this really is a big initiative for us and I’m proud of the board and proud of our team for the investment of time so far to this point, knowing that we are going to continue to move forward with the possiblity that can be down the road,” Hintz stated.
In highlighting 2013-14, he noted he was very proud of WCS’ safety measures.
He also said, “We believe that we have an excellent handle on the Affordable Care Act. (Chief Financial Officer) Kevin (Scott) has done a fabulous job of getting to the point where we can implement when it’s time to implement and it’s not going to break the bank.”[[In-content Ad]]
The mission statement reads: “Our mission is to inspire and equip all students to continously acquire and apply knowledge and skills while pursuing their dreams and enriching the lives of others.”
“I’m so proud of how our staff, how our community, how our students have embraced our mission. There’s not a day that goes by that we don’t hear something connected to the 27 words in that mission statement,” Hintz said.
He said he feels Warsaw is an “A” school district and “that is the expectation. I believe that it’s difficult for us to settle for anything less. So very proud of the high expectations of the school corporation and the hard work that it takes on the part of so many including our students to achieve the ‘A.’”
Warsaw is becoming a more diverse school corporation, he said. WCS has 1,217 English learners out of a student body of about 7,200. “We now have 27 countries that are represented in Warsaw,” he noted.
Last Friday, he said, the data on Warsaw’s Annual Measurable Achievement Objectives came in. “Once again, for the fourth consecutive year, we have met all four parts of this as far as the performance of our students being able to work toward proficiency in the English language,” he said.
It’s not only what happens in the classrooms that make the school corporation “tick,” he said. He recognized the Food and Nutrition Services and the Transportation departments.
WCS has 90 employees districtwide in Food and Nutrition. More than 1 million meals are served annually, with 1,163,365 served in 2012-13.
Staff training so far has totaled 1,432 hours this year. Forty-nine Food and Nutrition Services employees are now Serve Safe Food Safety certified, he said, “which is far above the Indiana requirement per school.”
“We have a large number of students in our school corporation that are served two meals a day. Participate in our breakfast program, participate in our school lunch program. And I think of the impact of this fabulous department on achieving that end,” Hintz said.
Without the transportation department, Hintz said, “We couldn’t get all these children to school each and every day.”
There are 89 Transportation staff members in the system. They drive 220 routes per day. The bus fleet includes 72 school buses and five mini buses. On average, 886,184 miles are driven each school year.
“There again, bus drivers play a huge role in helping us achieve the end,” Hintz commented.
He quickly reviewed the four strategies of the WCS strategic plan.
Strategy 1 is to build collaborative relationships with the community. Some of WCS’s Partners in Education include Teachers Credit Union, United Way, local law enforcement, Wagon Wheel Theatre and the orthopedic companies.
Strategy 2 is “supplement core standards with additional district standards to align all offered courses and programs with our mission and strategic objectives.”
“Our students and staff are on a mission to continue to really support our students in how they pursue their dreams, how they want to pursue and then the whole business of giving back to others,” Hintz said.
Strategy 3 is “about transparent communication, staff development and marketing,” he said.
“We believe we’ve done a really good job, we continue to do a really good job in this area,” Hintz said.
The fourth strategy focuses on technology in the corporation.
WCS’s leadership theme this year is “Excelling Today ... Dreaming for Tomorrow.”
“I’m proud of the fact of everyone’s work in achieving that ‘A’ status for the second consecutive year,” Hintz said. “We are educating 215 students who do not live in our school district. We’ve expanded our Early Learning Center at Leesburg Elementary School. We’ve been named a Riley Foundation Miracle School Corporation for a second consecutive year.”
He said he couldn’t tell the board how proud he was of Assistant Superintendent David Hoffert and his team in development of the STEM Bus. It’s due to hit the assembly line Friday.
He listed the money WCS has been able to receive from the Indiana Department of Education, Dekko, OrthoWorx and other organizations, which totaled almost $1.4 million.
Hintz spoke about the importance of the Professional Learning Communities and how they serve as a vehicle to move the mission forward. Each year, WCS sends educators to the Work Institute in Lincolnshire, Ill., which helps strengthen the school system, he said.
WCS student enrollment has been increasing every year since 2010-11, when it was 6,830 students. That jumped to 6,945 in 2011-12; 7,077 in 2012-13; and 7,255 in 2013-14.
“That is a chart moving in the right direction and we’re very proud we’re attracting students to our school corporation,” Hintz said.
For 2013-14, Hintz pointed out that WCS attracted 86 students from Tippecanoe Valley; 43 from Wawasee; 76 from Whitko; and 26 from other school corporations.
He also noted that 503 students transfer within the school district.
“Competition is the name of the game in this business of public school education today. And I think we are providing exceptional choices for families that want to send their children to our system,” he said.
At the elementary level, he noted all eight schools offered full-day kindergarten. Warsaw is in its first year implementing the Leesburg Early Learning Center and an additional class at Claypool Early Learning Center. The school district also is in its first year implementation of Benchmark Literacy, and has revised its elementary science curriculum to focus on STEM education. It’s strengthening the selection process for students taking sixth-grade pre-algebra, and continuing to develop and implement its standard-based report cards. Chess and robotics clubs also are popular at the elementaries.
Students at the two middle schools can explore world languages, while an increased number of robotics teams are involved in competition. The middle schools have “Dream Councils” and monthly world language clubs. Success coaches help students on their path to graduation. For 2015-16, the middle schools are investigating new master schedules. A biology prep course has been added, and for 2014-15 a biology for high school credit has been added.
Hintz displayed the many new courses for Warsaw Community High School and Warsaw Area Career Center being offered each year. Some of those courses include astronomy, JROTC, Chinese IV, German I and film production.
He showed how WCS is doing well and improving in ISTEP+, End of Course Assessments, graduation rates, Advanced Placement tests, SAT and ACT.
At the Jan. 21 public work session, Hintz presented the long-range facilities plan. Last night, he reviewed that, noting the four projects WCS is focusing on include a new Lincoln Elementary, renovated Washington Elementary and Edgewood Middle School and renovations and additions to WCHS and WACC. He said he expects the cost to be less than the initial $110 million Kovert Hawkins projected, but facility improvements would require tax increases for the community. A possible referendum on the building project may happen in May 2015.
“With a recommendation to the board and the board making a decision to move forward with a referendum, it’s really giving the community the opportunity to vote up or down on whether they support the projects or not. We know that this really is a big initiative for us and I’m proud of the board and proud of our team for the investment of time so far to this point, knowing that we are going to continue to move forward with the possiblity that can be down the road,” Hintz stated.
In highlighting 2013-14, he noted he was very proud of WCS’ safety measures.
He also said, “We believe that we have an excellent handle on the Affordable Care Act. (Chief Financial Officer) Kevin (Scott) has done a fabulous job of getting to the point where we can implement when it’s time to implement and it’s not going to break the bank.”[[In-content Ad]]
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