Welcome Back!
by Carl Carlson
August 13, 2009
The summer has come and gone and it's that time again - Back To School! There have been numerous changes at Putnam County Junior High over the summer. It will be like each student will be entering the building for the first time.
We have four new staff members joining our team. James Barnett will be the new physical education teacher and also will coach the 8th grade boys and girls basketball teams. Stacie Jermenc will be the 6th grade special education teacher. Lori Miller will be teaching 6th and 7th grade math. Lastly, William Mezger will be teaching 7th grade special education in the morning and then teaching high school special education in the afternoon. I would like to welcome them to our team. We were very fortunate to get the great mix of experience and talent.
As many already know, the fifth grade moved to the elementary building in Hennepin and the preschool has moved into the new primary building in Granville. This has allowed us to move some classrooms around to utilize the space now available. I would like to provide a few examples. Band is no longer on the stage. Chorus is no longer meeting in the cafeteria. These two activities will meet in their own classroom where the preschool students used to attend. The stage in the gym will soon have some fitness and universal style weight equipment that can be used by students and staff. The equipment is in terrific condition and is compliments of the high school as they received newer equipment through a generous donation. There will be a room that is dedicated to art and the teacher will not have to haul materials between classes on a cart. With the arrangement of classrooms, we relocated the faculty workroom, school social worker, custodial office, assessment coordinator, and can now provide the athletic director an office to use two days a week. The building will be receiving new siding early into the school year. The company is currently siding the high school and the junior high will be receiving the same product. I want to thank the custodial staff for all their work to get things ready to roll - the building looks great!
There were many hours put in this summer by a committee of teachers to plan out new VIP curriculums. A great deal of time was spent tweaking the master schedule to maximize the use of personnel and provide the best curriculum possible. Students will take their exploratory course in the afternoon. Also, within that time frame we have developed a guided study hall to help students address specific issues based on performance and test data. Lastly, grade level teachers will be able to meet daily for a thirty minute team planning time. This will allow for better communication amongst the staff in such things as planning when tests/quizzes might fall, developing cross-curricular lessons, and developing lessons to meet the needs of all students. It is truly an exciting component added into the day.
A few other projects are in the initial planning stages. I would like to organize all the Swaney memorabilia within the school into one area that could be accessible to public viewing. A suggestion was perhaps in the media center. We are awaiting approval for constructing a garage package between the baseball and softball field to provide storage for athletic equipment, lawn movers, and many other items that could stand to be taken out of the year-round elements to extend the life of the products.
I invite parents, alumni, community members and anyone interests to visit the Swaney Campus. Our Open House date has been set for Thursday, September 3rd from 6:00-7:45. There is a home baseball and softball game that night against El Paso-Gridley. The PC Booster Club is looking at possibly being here to sell PC spirit gear. I encourage everyone to come support the two teams and have the opportunity to tour the building. If you would like to call the office please dial 1-815-882-2800 and enter option 3.
This should be an excellent year and everyone at PCJH can't wait to get started.
Yours in education,
Carl B. Carlson
