D91 Employee Newsletter 04.03.26

This fall, many of you took the time to share your feedback on our proposed mission statement: Empowering learners. Developing leaders. Creating a legacy of excellence. Thank you! Your input made a difference.

One message came through loud and clear: our mission needed to more fully reflect the importance of citizenship. I am grateful for the feedback we received from our D91 community, especially our families. We shared your input with the Idaho Falls School Board, and they agreed.

Because of your feedback, we made a meaningful revision.

I am excited to share that the Board has officially approved our new mission statement:
Empowering learners to be critical thinkers, confident leaders, and engaged citizens.

This statement is stronger because of you. It reflects who we are as a community and what we want for our students, not just in school, but in life.

Looking ahead, we will begin work on updating our district logo to align with our new direction. We are planning a full rollout of both the mission statement and new logo this fall. I am eager and excited to share that work with you.

Thank you again for taking time to provide input and share your perspective. Your input helped shape a mission that will represent our community, guide our work, and support students. It’s an exciting time to be part of D91!

- Karla LaOrange, Superintendent

The results are in—and the response from our families has been outstanding!

Last month, the district launched a survey to gauge parent interest in a Spanish Dual Language program for kindergarten and first grade students. I am excited to share that the response was overwhelmingly positive.

More than 700 parents participated in the survey, and the level of interest was clear:

• 78% of respondents indicated they are very interested in a kindergarten Spanish Dual Language program
• 80% indicated they are very interested in a first grade program

We also heard a strong message from families that there is significant interest in this opportunity, even if it requires transportation to another school.

Thank you to those who supported and encouraged family participation in the survey. This kind of engagement helps ensure we are building programs that reflect the needs and priorities of our community.

Based on the results, the district will begin determining the most appropriate location for the Dual Language kindergarten and first grade programs. We are also exploring the possibility of offering the program at more than one school to meet the high level of interest.

In the coming weeks, we will continue planning and will share additional details, including staffing considerations and enrollment processes.

We are eager and excited to finalize the details and offer the Spanish Dual Language to our families!

Skyline High School has made an incredible gain in its 2025 graduation rate, and we couldn’t be more excited!

The Skyline graduation rate increased from 76.1% to 79.2%, a 3.2% jump in just one year! That is a significant accomplishment and a direct reflection of the hard work, commitment, and support happening every day at Skyline High School.

This kind of growth doesn’t happen by chance. It is the result of dedicated administrators, teachers, and staff working alongside students who are committed to their future.

I hope you will join me in giving the entire Skyline community a well-deserved round of applause.

There are fantastic things happening at Skyline High School, and this is just one example of the great work our schools do every day to support our students’ success!

• April: ISAT testing begins
• Saturday, April 4: Skyline Big Band Jazz Dance
• April 10-11: Alice in Wonderland Jr. (Longfellow Drama Club)
• April 25: United For Families resource fair

This Saturday, Skyline High School’s jazz band will combine forces with the Jazz House Big Band for their annual big band dance! Attendees can enjoy live jazz, dancing, and a silent auction and raffle. Purchase tickets at the Skyline front office, at the door, or at skylineband.ludus.com.

📅 Saturday, April 4
🕗 7:00 PM
📍 The Waterfront | 1220 Event Center Dr
🎫 $12 individual / $20 couple

Don't miss the excitement of Alice in Wonderland Jr. presented by the Longfellow Elementary School Drama Club! Witness the hard work of our amazing students next week at the Compass Academy Auditorium.

💙April 10: 5 pm and 7 pm
💜 April 11: 2 pm and 7 pm

📍Compass Academy

Performances are free to the public, but donations are welcomed!

Based on feedback we received from parents, students, and staff, an April make-up testing opportunity will be provided for students who were unable to take the SAT on March 20.

Please note that this make-up session is only for students who did not participate in the initial SAT administration. More detailed information regarding testing logistics, including the specific date and time in April, will be shared by each school.

Spring testing begins this week! Whether your students are preparing for ISATs, the ACT, or finals, you can help them do their best by encouraging a good night’s sleep, a balanced breakfast, and discussing best test practices.

Before spring break, the students at Temple View showed off their skills at Community STEM Night! From robotics and early coding to biology and engineering, there was something for every curious student.

Early exposure to STEM builds up the next generation of scientists, engineers, and mathematicians. At Temple View, hands-on learning takes place every day, in every grade. It’s never too early to plant STEM seeds!

Thanks to the INL, BYU-I, and our other community partners for all their help in supporting our young learners!

D91 celebrated America 250 in style last month at the annual Patriotic Program!💖🤍💙

This program is a highlight of our district that teaches important civic lessons alongside musical skills. Special thanks to Jennifer Korenke-Stanger and all the elementary music paraprofessionals who helped our 5th graders prepare for this performance. We are grateful for you!

We also want to give a shoutout to Jense Yde and Harlee Baysinger, 5th graders who drew the program covers, and the talented students in Art Club at Skyline and IFHS, who teamed up to create the beautiful banners that decorated the bleachers. Their artwork brought American icons to life!

🎵 Listen to a snippet of "My Shot" here.

📸 See more pictures from the performance here.

89,264 minutes of reading in 4 weeks — now that’s something to celebrate!

Students in Emily Greene’s 3rd grade class at Temple View logged this impressive achievement in just four weeks in the ReadBowl IX challenge, earning them the victory as Idaho state champions!🏆

The ReadBowl is a national reading challenge from former NFL player Malcolm Mitchell. Students tracked at-home and in-school reading minutes over four weeks before submitting their totals. Ms. Greene’s class read an average of 5,364 minutes per student!

Last month, as we were reading "The Wild Robot," the kindergarten students at Fox Hollow got involved by making their own robot! Students practiced their writing skills by labeling the parts of "Junkasaurus Rex" and answering get-to-know-you questions from the robot's perspective. Great work, Foxes!

Tringle Witt, a math facilitator at Compass Academy, was a lead speaker at the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics conference in New Orleans in March! She presented on problem-based math, which embodies NCTM's Mathematical Practices for Teachers.

"Lots of love from the math community on Compass Problem Based math and what we are doing with it!" Witt said. "I was invited to submit a write up of the dartboard problem for publication and even got to meet the president of the NCTM! I took away a number of great ideas and can't wait to share."

Kelcee Christensen was honored in March on Feel Good Friday! Her work in the DAC program at Taylorview and with the IFHS track team changes the lives of our students every single day. Congratulations, Kelcee! We're so glad to have you in D91.🧡

The Compass Academic Decathlon team dominated at state this month, earning 55 out of the 99 available medals to win the state championship! 🏆

Decathletes study and compete in 10 disciplines: economics, literature, music, science, math, art, social science, speech, essay, and interview. The theme of study in each discipline changes from year to year, and students are not provided with calculators or reference materials — all the material has to come from their memory.

To win a competition, these students have to demonstrate specific knowledge across a wide range of topics. (Check out the D91 Facebook for some example questions!) Compass’ course integrations and project-based learning model help prepare the Lions for the demands of competition, and after graduation, the demands of college.

Academic rigor that builds college readiness — that’s Compass. Congrats, Lions!🎉

Congratulations to our Speech & Debate teams at IFHS and Skyline for an impressive few weeks at state debate and district speech!

• Isaac Kingma, Lincoln-Douglas
• Brayton Keys and Abel Howe, Congress
• Katie Kingma, Yladio Ramirez, and Braelyn Summers, World Schools
• May Munday, Malia Whitehead, and Maksim Olsen, World Schools

TEAM: 2nd Place

• Olivia Rydalch and Nicole Hill, Public Forum
• Piper Street, Congress
• Thomas Morzenti, Program Oral Interpretation

TOP SPEAKER: Olivia Rydalch

Taylor Bradly, Jessica Cummings, Troy Curtis, Clara Davies, Juno Denton, Jatziry Flores, Antoni Gofryk, Leighton Granat, Lincoln Hale, Abel Howe, Rustin Johns, Brayton Keys, Isaac Kingma, Katie Kingma, May Munday, Maksim Olsen, Yladio Ramirez, Ezra Springer, Taylor Vogel

TEAM: 2nd Place

• Olivia Rydalch, Informative speaking & Program Oral Interpretation (district champion!)
• Tommy Morzenti, Program Oral Interp. & Retold Story (district champion!)
• Grace Gannon, Communications Analysis & Retold Story
• Kennedy Hansen, Humorous Interpretation & Radio Broadcast
• Piper Street, Communications Analysis (district champion!)
• Nicole Hill, Extemporaneous Speaking
• Lily Campbell, Original Oratory

ALTERNATES: Arlo Chauvin, Informative Speaking

TEAM: 3rd Place Sweepstakes

Bridget Huber, a student at IFHS, recently competed at the FCCLA State Leadership Conference. She earned 2nd Place Gold in Career Investigation, officially qualifying for the FCCLA National Leadership Conference this summer.

She was the only student from D91 who competed at the state leadership conference, and she is now the only student from our district who qualified for nationals this year. This is a huge accomplishment and a testament to the hard work and dedication that she put into researching and preparing for her project. Congratulations, Bridget!

Idaho Falls High School is pleased to announce Dustin Medellin as the new head football coach.

Dustin brings a winning culture and 18 years of experience as an assistant coach with him to this position. He most recently served as the Defensive Coordinator at Hillcrest High School. Over the last five seasons, his defenses contributed to a program that captured two conference championships and made three consecutive state championship appearances — culminating in a state title in 2024.

"We are excited to welcome Coach Medellin to Tiger Nation," said Principal Dallan Parker. "His passion for the game, dedication to student-athletes, and proven track record of success make him an outstanding fit for our school and community. We are confident in his ability to lead our football program forward."

Learn more about Coach Medellin here.

Take a walk through the IFHS art show with us!

Art students from Idaho Falls High School displayed their work from trimester 2 in the media center recently, and the gallery was so good, we’re bringing it to you! Watch the video here.

High school is for trying new things, and there’s no better place to see that in action than an art classroom. A wide variety of elective courses help students explore their interests and discover new passions for drawing, painting, pottery, digital art, printmaking and more.

In case you missed it, we counted down the week before Spring Break with 5 highlights from all over D91. Check out what makes our district the best place for your student to learn and grow👇

Dora Erickson is an elementary school on the east side of District 91. It serves 403 students K-6, who grow up to attend Taylorview and IFHS.

After eight years as principal at Longfellow Elementary, Principal Steve Andrew is in his first year at Dora Erickson. He holds a bachelor’s degree in secondary education and a master’s degree in educational leadership from ISU, as well as an Ed.S. from NNU. Steve’s favorite part about being a principal is the chance to build relationships with students, especially those who are working through challenging circumstances.

Steve and his wife, Jen, have four kids. They love to travel together, and they recently went to Atlanta to see a Braves game! In his free time, Mr. Andrew enjoys gardening, planting trees, and trying out new recipes in his smoker.

If you wake up a few minutes early, you might be lucky enough to catch a STEM Morning at Dora Erickson! In March, scientists from the INL helped students start their day by building little robots made out of toothbrushes, while others practiced coding with a robotic mouse. We love seeing our students engaged in learning!

See the rest of spotlight by checking out the Dora Erickson story highlight on our Instagram profile!

Every day in D91, there are amazing people whose hard work and positive attitude make our schools shine, from the cafeteria to the classroom, the ball fields to breakfast duty!

If you know someone who lifts others up, spreads positivity, or brings their best to every day, take a minute to nominate them for a High Five today! This is your chance to celebrate those everyday heroes who make D91 an incredible place to learn and work. Let’s keep the positivity going and recognize the people who make D91 truly exceptional!