Dear River Bend Families and Staff
Each year I like to provide a quick summary of the new items that River Bend has added since the previous year. In this summary I include building and ground additions, staffing, curriculum, and other items that might be of interest. This year is not different from the past, the teachers, administrators, and the Board have been working hard planning and doing our best to help our schools and community improve.
New to Fulton Elementary School
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Staff- While all our other new items are important, they do not compare to the value of our staff. FES is excited to be welcoming the following to our family. Some of the staff are new to our family and some are moving to a new area within the building. Join me in welcoming Kearston Norman and Candi Kuehl to third grade, and Abbey Vandendooren to the special education department. Travis Hartman and Samantha Whitney will be moving out of the classroom to a special education position. Along with the new teachers, we are also welcoming paraprofessionals Jared Dickman, Kari Green, Teegan Germann, and Angela Lopez to the FES family. Making sure our spaces look amazing Carter Mulderink has been added to the custodial staff. We are excited to have a great staff to start the year.
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Four additional classrooms - Our enrollment has grown over the last few years and we have added staff to address the growth and with the addition of staff meant we gave up some of our important spaces. A decision to add four classrooms to Fulton Elementary School seemed like the best place. Some consideration was given to adding the classes to the middle school and move 5th grade to the middle school. Ultimately, the best impact for the cost and the space was to add the four classrooms to FES and move teachers to gain the classes that we lost. Along with the additional classrooms, we are able to add a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) room as we expand STEM instruction for all the grades. A dedicated STEM room will allow the district to better prepare students for STEM learning in the future. A conference room is also being added for building and district meetings. Bi-County Itinerant staff will also be able to conduct testing and host meetings in the conference room. A teacher work area is being added so that teachers have a shared space for supplies, equipment and a space to eat lunch. The two kindergarten classrooms will be remodeled and used for the conference room and the STEM room. Teachers are still in the process of shifting classrooms as the construction project comes to an end. We look forward to sharing the new spaces with our students and families. Thank you for being patient as the construction was completed.
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Additional 50 parking spaces- As many of you know parking at Fulton Elementary School was a premium and as we grew, it became impossible to find a space once the school day started. As we considered the needs at FES it became apparent that additional parking was needed. About 50 new parking spots will be added to the current parking lot. This will mean we may need to adjust the drop-off and pick-up schedule. Mr. Hoese and Mrs. Parsons will provide the necessary plans to keep our drop-off and pick-up safe.
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Safety boulders and bollards- After attending a school safety training, I spoke with Mr. Hoese, Mrs. Parsons, and the school board and asked that they consider adding an additional layer of safety around the building. Officer Leitzen and myself reviewed each of the building's structural protections against a moving vehicle. FHS and RBMS both have solid buildings or natural barriers that protect them. FES does not have the same structural safety as you approach the building. To add an extra layer of protection boulders will be used along the sidewalk and bollards will be placed in front of the entrance blacktop. The extra protective boulders and bollards will protect the students from moving vehicles.
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Swing set and Gaga pit location- As we evaluated the impact of the construction project, the old swing sets needed to be moved. We could have recycled the swing sets, but felt that the students would enjoy new swings. Two sets of eight swings will be added to replace the old swings and provide a better/safer swing set for the students. The gaga pit had to be relocated as well and thankfully, we were able to save the structure and will be moving so that students can enjoy using the pit during recess.
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Social Studies Curriculum- Kindergarten through second grade will be using a new social studies curriculum called Social Studies Weekly. The curriculum is organized thematically to the strands of civics/government, geography, economics, and history. A periodic format along with online learning will provide a robust social studies experience. Students will complete interactive hands-on activities that are spiraled and scaffolded for each grade level. The curriculum also supports and aligns with English Language Arts standards.
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Third through fifth grade students will be using Savvas Social Studies curriculum. The Savvas curriculum is an inquiry-based social studies curriculum utilizing the C3 social studies standards. C3 standards combine College, Career, and Civic life to promote and strengthen social studies instruction by building critical thinking, enhance the rigor of social studies curriculum, apply problem solving skills and encourage students to become engaged citizens. Both in class and online resources will be used with the new curriculum.
New to River Bend Middle School
- Staff- We are excited that Shelby Rolston will be joining RBMS and teaching 7th grade math. Mrs. Stone will be moving to the district math coach position. We are excited to have Mrs. Rolston join the RBMS family.
- Conference Room- A much needed conference room space will be added to the middle school this year. The conference room will be located in the 8th grade wing. A closet space and a small section of one of the rooms will be used to create the conference room. Meetings at RBMS have always had to be conducted in the library, a teacher’s room, or the office. RBMS is excited about their dedicated meeting room.
New to Fulton High School
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Staff- Fulton High School will be welcoming both new staff and staff that have transitioned to new positions. Ray Borgman will be joining Mr. Parsons as the new assistant principal and athletic director. Mr. Borgman is a Fulton graduate and excited to be coming back to his hometown to help lead the Steamers. Sam Howard will be moving back to Illinois to teach biology and natural science courses. Sam has worked for Northeast the last several years and we are excited that he joined our Steamer team. Zach Osborn will be teaching 9th and 10th grade math classes. Zach has subbed for us for a while and coaches swimming in Morrison. We are hopeful that he can connect students to swimming opportunities through a swim-cooperative. Our media publication and extra curricular event production will be led by Sydney Schutte. Ms. Schutte will also be covering art throughout the first quarter at the MS and HS. Jennifer Smith will be joining FHS as a paraprofessional. The FHS cafeteria will be welcoming Shane Malone and Shauna Manon will join the evening custodial crew. We are excited to have the new staff at FHS and look forward to their years as a Steamer.
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Weight Room Expansion- Thanks to a very generous donation from the Eric Ottens Memorial Foundation to upgrade the weight room with some new equipment, the district determined that it would remodel the space to make room for the new equipment. The basement hallway was removed to add extra space as well as closets adjacent to the hall. The new spaces will be used to add assault bikes, treadmills and other cardio equipment. An ice bath and training/recovery room will be added to provide additional space for personal care of our athletes. The District and athletic staff are very grateful to the Eric Ottens Foundation for the donation to purchase the extra equipment.
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Culinary Arts Room Upgrade- With the addition of our FFA agriculture programming Mrs. Meurs found grant money to upgrade the kitchen space to make it a fully commercial kitchen. This means that the FFA and culinary students can offer additional food items when catering events. They will also be able to consider different catering events. In addition to the catering, the students will be able to obtain kitchen/food handling preparation certifications.
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Additional FFA Program- We have had a very robust construction classroom program lead by Mr. Jason Snyder. He worked with the state FFA coordinators to become certified to offer his programs through FFA. This means students will have an expanded selection for FFA programming related to various construction fields. We are very grateful for Mr. Snyder’s support of this program and the opportunity it brings the students.
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Transitional Work Studies Coordinator- Jen Pepper will be moving out of the science department to head up the work studies program full time. Ms. Pepper will be overseeing and expanding upon the work study program for seniors. Community Involvement was started by Mr. Luker and has provided seniors with an exceptional opportunity to learn about careers that interest them while in high school. Ms. Pepper will be expanding upon the program Mr. Luker started and providing new and additional work study programming. FHS is excited to see this program grow and provide students with great learning opportunities connected to career interests.
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Classroom Furniture- With the movement of several teachers, some of the classrooms at FHS will be getting new furniture. Three years ago the district committed to new furniture throughout the district with these additional rooms getting new furniture and our upgrades will be complete.
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Education Pathway Dual Credit- Fulton High School already offers in-person dual credit taught by our staff in chemistry, 10 hours, Statistics, 3 hours, welding up to 6 hours, and will be adding an education pathway course for students who want to become teachers and want to take a college preparatory class. If your son or daughter wants to become teachers please encourage them to enroll in this opportunity.
New to the District
- Fulton Blended PreSchool additional Classes and staff- Two years ago the district was awarded the Preschool For All (PFA) grant. As a result of the grant, we had to reduce the number of students in the preschool program. The Board asked me if we could find a way to expand the preschool and add a room to prevent students from missing out on preschool. Last year, Mrs. Parsons headed up the district team to write for a preschool expansion grant. The district received the grant in FY 24, but needed to remodel the existing garage at the preschool so that it could become a room. Mrs. Parsons continued to lead the process of remodeling the room by working with the district architect and this summer an additional preschool room is being added to host students this fall. An additional 40 students will be able to slot into either an AM or PM preschool session thanks to the commitment of the Board and the hard work of Mrs. Parsons for writing and managing the PFA grants. Mrs. Dawna Kurtz will be switching from PK special education to general education for the new preschool class. Mrs. Aimee Marten is moving from FES special education to be the special education teacher for the preschool classes. The preschool team is excited about the new space and being able to serve an additional 40 students, allowing us to serve 80 three- & four-year olds each year!
- District Math Coach- The district has utilized the support of a district math coach for the last four years. The math coach works directly with the teachers in helping them deliver the best possible math instruction and content. Our former math coach, Brianna Kastelic resigned to begin caring for her new infant. She worked closely with our math teachers in trying to bring about a cohesive program PK-12th grade. The task of supporting so many diverse needs and understanding the standards at each grade level can be challenging; however, Mrs. Kastelic did so with great fidelity. We are excited to announce that Angie Stone, 7th grade math teacher will be filling the role of the math coach. Mrs. Stone brings her years of experience and understanding of both primary and secondary math to the position. She and the district are excited for her new role.
- Year 2 of Capturing Kids Heart- The entire district will continue to use the principles of Capturing Kids Hearts (CKH). The CKH principles guide the district's engagement and culture building with students, staff and families. Many of you are familiar with the CKH practices used during the 23-24 school year. Each of the buildings will continue to employ the strategies used last year and focus on deeper ways to connect to students, families and staff.
- Summer Enrichment- The opportunity for a week long in person enrichment program and a series of field trips have been a huge success for our students. ESSER III funds have covered a majority of the cost for the last three years. The ESSER funds are scheduled to end September, 2024. The District would like to continue offering the summer in-person week as well as the field trips. Our plan is to increase the cost slightly, seek grant funds from the River Bend Education Foundation, other grants, and cover the remaining costs within the District’s budget.
- School Messenger replaced Swift Reach as a mass messenger system- SwiftReach contacted the District to inform us that they would no longer be offering services. The District has arranged similar services with School Messenger so that we can continue providing regular and emergency communications via email, text, and phone messages.
- PowerSchool Updates- Over the last school year, the District staff, administrators, and a Board committee met to review and consider other School Information Systems (SIS). Our current SIS is PowerSchool. After careful consideration, the district will be continuing with PowerSchool, but has purchased some upgrades and feels the purchases and further training will improve communication and interaction with the SIS platform. >
- One particular improvement to highlight is the enhanced Parent Portal, known as MyPowerHub. This improvement will allow for enhanced communication between staff and parents and a more user friendly dashboard. If you already use the mobile Parent Portal, there is nothing you will need to do to receive this upgrade. Once the dashboard upgrade is complete, your app experience will change to reflect that.
The 24-25 School year will be exciting and bring many new opportunities for our students, staff and families. I am excited to be starting year eleven in this great District and continue to grow our Steamers. As the year begins, the District is also hoping to engage students, families and our staff in a strategic plan that will provide guidance and vision for our future. As plans are unfolded for the strategic plan, please consider responding to various surveys, or joining a focus group as they are determined.
Excited and grateful for another Steamer school year,
Darryl Hogue
