Can you believe February break starts at the end of next week? It hardly seems possible that we passed our 100th day of school just last week. That leaves us with just over seventy days to prepare students for the next grade level. Our winter assessments show continued growth in reading, while our math progress continues to lag behind. In the coming months our staff will be evaluating what we can do to bolster student academic progress in the area of math.
We have been presented with a wonderful last minute opportunity to partner with the Missoula Children's Theater to put on a drama production in just one week. They bring the costumes, sets and directors and we provide the actors. We are hoping to offer both a daytime and evening performance to help with crowding in the gym. Stay tuned for more details!
On Tuesday morning the OUUSD administrative team was charged with cutting 1.9 million dollars from the proposed budget. This meant making difficult decisions resulted in cuts that have a direct impact on students. There just aren't enough pencils and paper to cut from the budget to make up that amount of money. The proposed cuts at Newbury include removing the prekindergarten program, reduction of one classroom teacher, two para professionals, one behavior interventionist and a seasonal custodian. School education formulas, loss of ADM and a lower CLA had a great impact on our per pupil average. The board is doing their best to stay below the $16,400 per pupil spending threshold. If you want to know more about the budget please attend an upcoming community forum or attend the March School Board meeting.
Please consider pledging a few dollars to our upcoming read a thon on Friday February 20th. Funds raised will help Newbury Elementary bring authors to our school next year.
The February Principal's Report found below.
Respectfully Submitted,
Loretta R. Cruz
Principal
