White Salmon Schools

Inservices

From the Superintendent

We have a very talented staff throughout the district; and to keep our staff current with the state's Essential Academic Learning Requirements (EALR's), inservice time is necessary.

The inservice time this year has been utilized by each of the buildings in various ways. In some instances we have combined for a K-12 staff inservice, and in others the time has been spent in building-specific workshops. For example, on our October 25 inservice, our K-6 staff met to discuss "FOSS" Science Kits while staff from grades 7-12 discussed reading and science. The January 10 inservice was devoted to technology Whitson staff had training relating to their Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Grant while the 5-12 staff also discussed technology relating to their specific building. The inservice held on February 7 was a district curriculum review where we gathered as an entire staff (K-12) to review our progress in all curriculum areas.

These inservice days are invaluable to our staff. As we begin to put our calendar together for the 2001-2002 school year, we are looking at other inservice options. We will be discussing options such as having fewer inservice days but longer in duration. For example, one possibility may have our district only having six inservice days rather than the nine we currently have. Of these six days, three could be 12:05 release times while the other three days remain as 1:30 release times. In this scenario our contact time with students remains the same but our staff has three inservice days with more time to delve in depth into a particular topic. This is only one of many possibilities as we look at next year's calendar.

The most important thing to remember, however, is that this time is critical to the teaching and learning process. A strong staff is the best way to a strong curriculum.

Please sign our guestbook

Efforts are made to ensure the information on this page is complete, current, and accurate. However, changes in programs and policies do occur. Questions about specific information on this site should be directed to the district office or to the appropriate school. Original materials on this page copyright White Salmon Valley School District, and may not be duplicated without permission. Please contact the webmaster for permissions, or with questions, problems, or suggestions regarding this page.