Superintendent's Message for May 2019

May has arrived in Timberwolf Country.  We are getting prepared to send some of the pack out into the world.  We have forty-one seniors this year and they have worked hard to get to this point.  We look forward to their graduation ceremony on May 19th at 2:00 p.m. in the Activity Center.  There will also be a Baccalaureate Ceremony on May 12th at 4 p.m. in the High School auditorium.  Scholarship Night is on May 15th at 7 p.m. in the High School auditorium.

The Iowa Legislature ended their session last week and passed several new bills that have helped rural schools in Iowa.  They voted to extend the Whole Grade Sharing incentive for five more years.  This will allow Southwest Valley to pursue Reorganization and make our two packs become one powerful wolf pack!  This month both boards will pass board resolutions to begin year one of the reorganization process.  We will have opportunities for you to become a part of a committee or attend meetings to discuss the merger.  In October, on our count date we will know exactly how much supplementary funding we will receive from the state for reorganizing.  It will be close to $150,000 per year for Villisca and $230,000 for Corning.  This money will be received for the next six years.  We will use this money to ensure we have an adequate staff, our general fund is at state recommendations, and we are providing the best education for our students.  The Legislature also extended the one cent sales tax that helps purchase technology, transportation and can also be used for maintaining our buildings.  I would like to thank Tom Shipley on his outstanding work this session in the Senate and Tom Moore on his outstanding work in the House. 

On May 21st the Southwest Valley Schools will host the Director of the Iowa Department of Education, Dr. Ryan Wise.  He will be at our West campus in Villisca at 11:30 a.m. and will travel to the East campus in Corning around 1:30 p.m.  We are excited to have Dr. Wise in Timberwolf Country and look forward to showing off our Wolfpack!

The last day of school for the students in grades K-11 will be May 29th.  The last day will be a full day so we can meet the state requirements.  The last day for teachers will be June 4th.  The teachers will be participating in a service learning project in both communities that day to give back to the two wonderful communities that support the SWV Schools!

 As we close the book on the 2018-2019 school year, we will retire a few staff members that have been great educators for our wolf pack.  Pete Nett (30 years), Andrea Nett (29 years),  Sally Thompson (30 years), Denise Bradley (25 years), Karen Graf (32 years), Jack Hill (57 years driving a bus!), and Gary Ford (11 years).  That is 214 years of combined service from these fine people.  Thank you to all of them!

The summer will be busy here in Twolves Territory with baseball and softball.  We also have the old middle school in Corning being demolished and the start of the renovation at Enarson Elementary in Villisca.  We are already planning for next year and look forward to welcoming new members to the wolf pack!   Have a Great Summer!

It is a great time to be a Timberwolf! Come join in the excitement!

Chris Fenster, Superintendent