SYRACUSE — Anonymous donors recently established the Rebecca Linnemeier Student Success Fund at the Kosciusko County Community Foundation in honor of Linnemeier’s many years of service to Wawasee Schools. This fund will provide support to the Wawasee Community School Corp, specifically in the areas of social and emotional learning for the students. Linnemeier is the …read more.

SYRACUSE — What used to be the Veterans of Foreign Wars post at 307 W. Chicago St. in Syracuse will in just a couple of months be transformed into a place where valuable, in demand skills can be learned. In November, the VFW donated the building, originally built in 1966 according to county property records, …read more.

SYRACUSE — Those who will be fourth, fifth and sixth grade students during the upcoming 2017-18 school year and who returned their 1:1 device from last year may pick up their device for the next school year from 3 to 7 p.m. each Wednesday evening in July at Wawasee High School. Students must be accompanied …read more.

SYRACUSE — Online registration opens at noon Tuesday, July 18, for the Wawasee Community School Corp. This is for those students who were in a Wawasee school at the end of the 2016-17 school year and are returning. Registration for new students and those who need to come in for online access is the following: …read more.

SYRACUSE — Wawasee Community School Corp. announced plans to participate in the summer food service program. Free meals will be made available to all children 18 years of age and under and to persons over 18 years who are enrolled in a state-approved educational program for the mentally or physically disabled.

SYRACUSE — Among the many reports public school corporations are involved in each year is the annual performance report. The 2016 version for the Wawasee Community School Corp. was recently released by the Indiana Department of Education and is published in its full form in this edition of The Mail-Journal.

SYRACUSE — Every five years, the Wawasee Community School Corp. goes through an accreditation process where a team visits and thoroughly examines the school district. The school corporation is preparing for a visit from AdvancED next week for the accreditation process.

SYRACUSE — Wawasee Community School Corp. was one of 32 school districts statewide to be awarded a 2017 digital learning grant by the Indiana Department of Education’s Office of eLearning. This grant supports school corporations in providing professional development, developing content and expectations, creating avenues for parent and student communication, as well as purchasing devices.

SYRACUSE — Representatives from the public libraries of Milford, North Webster and Syracuse, Wawasee Community School Corp. libraries and the PTO organizations of each of the three elementary schools gathered to help promote an upcoming community event.

SYRACUSE — From the start, it was noted the middle school meeting held Monday evening, Feb. 27, in the lecture room of Wawasee Middle School was more about seeking input and suggestions to make Wawasee’s two middle schools even better. Rebecca Linnemeier, school board president, said “we are not here to close a middle school.”

MILFORD — During a public meeting Monday, Feb. 20, at the Milford School cafeteria, there were questions about just how many people are concerned there are inequalities between the two middle schools in the Wawasee Community School Corp.

MILFORD — If isn’t broke don’t fix it and we want the middle school to stay in Milford. Such was the loud and clear message given at a public meeting Monday evening, Feb. 20, in the Milford School cafeteria.

SYRACUSE — Syracuse-Turkey Creek Fire Department responded to a fire alarm Monday afternoon, Feb. 20, at Wawasee High School.

SYRACUSE — Each year the Indiana Department of Education assigns letter grades to public schools in the state. For the most part, the grades assigned are based on ISTEP+ results and growth.

SYRACUSE — In response to the visit by a team brought in by the Wawasee school board last year, a meeting will be held at each of the two middle schools in the Wawasee Community School Corp.

SYRACUSE — Registration began Monday, Jan. 9, for spring 2017 continuing education classes offered by the Wawasee Community School Corp.

SYRACUSE — Some Wawasee Community School Corp. teachers are receiving performance grants from the Indiana Department of Education.

SYRACUSE — Wawasee Community School Corp. announced it is one of 433 school districts in the U.S. and Canada being honored by the College Board with placement on the seventh annual AP district honor roll.

SYRACUSE — A few years ago, the Wawasee Community School Corp. entered into a partnership with Syracuse Family Medicine in order to try to control medical costs for the school corporation and also to provide more direct access and better choices for school corporation employees. This is the sixth year for the partnership.

SYRACUSE — Indiana Department of Education released spring 2016 ISTEP+ results Thursday, Nov. 17. It was the second year of a new state assessment for grades three to eight based on Indiana’s more rigorous college and career ready standards. A new baseline was established for ISTEP+ in spring 2015.

SYRACUSE — Just like a house, school buildings need attention and renovations. In an effort to keep up with building needs, the Wawasee Community School Corp. is moving forward with more construction or renovation projects.

SYRACUSE — Wawasee Community School Corp. is participating in the national Speak Up Survey again this year. The Speak Up research project polls K-12 students, parents and educators about the role of technology for learning in and out of school and represents the largest collection of authentic, unfiltered stakeholder voices on digital learning.

SYRACUSE — A total of five candidates are seeking two at-large seats in the Nov. 8 election for the school board of the Wawasee Community School Corp.

SYRACUSE — Less than a year from now, barring any major obstacles, students and staff will fill a brand new elementary school in Syracuse. Work is progressing well and even ahead of schedule at the new Syracuse Elementary School on Kern Road, projected to be ready for the start of the 2017-18 school year.

SYRACUSE — Wawasee students can voluntarily enter a poster contest in conjunction with National School Bus Safety Week, Oct. 17-21.

SYRACUSE — Pending ratification by the Wawasee Community Educators Association, the Wawasee school board approved a contract agreement with teachers and administrators during a special board meeting Thursday evening, Sept. 22, in Syracuse.

SYRACUSE — Friday, Sept. 16, began the process for public schools to report enrollment numbers to the Indiana Department of Education. It is officially known as ADM, or average daily membership.

SYRACUSE – Wednesday, Aug. 10, is the opening day for staff of the Wawasee Community School Corp. They met at Wawasee Middle School in the morning for breakfast, an introduction of new teachers, remarks by Dr. Tom Edington (Wawasee superintendent), a welcome from Angele Lortie, president of the Wawasee Community Educators Association and a presentation by Pat Coy of United Way.

SYRACUSE — Each year, school buses are thoroughly inspected by a trooper of the Indiana State Police. For the Wawasee Community School Corp., the annual inspection is usually during the summer break.

SYRACUSE — Roll out for the 1:1 initiative computer devices for Wawasee Community School Corp. students will begin Monday, Aug. 8. Due to construction at Wawasee High School, dates and times were changed.

SYRACUSE — Roll out for the 1:1 initiative computer devices for Wawasee Community School Corp. students will begin Thursday, Aug. 4.

SYRACUSE — Eighty hours out of an already tight summer schedule for school students is a significant amount of time. But that is what the roughly 16 Wawasee Community School Corp. students attending the summer VEX Robotics Competition Camp have chosen to do.

SYRACUSE — Longtime Wawasee school board member George Gilbert said he will be resigning effective with the next regular monthly meeting of the board July 12. The intended resignation was announced at the regular monthly meeting of the school board Tuesday evening, June 14, in Syracuse.

SYRACUSE — During a very brief special Wawasee school board meeting late Tuesday afternoon, June 7, in Syracuse, the board approved the resignation letter submitted by Mike Schmidt, principal of Wawasee High School. Schmidt’s resignation will be effective June 30.

SYRACUSE – Syracuse Police Chief Jim Layne confirmed today, Tuesday, May 17, no police investigation has been started on Mike Schmidt, Wawasee High School principal, who was placed on administrative leave last week by the Wawasee Community School Corp.

SYRACUSE — Very few details are available concerning Mike Schmidt, principal of Wawasee High School, being placed on administrative leave (see Wawasee High School Principal Placed On Leave).

SYRACUSE — Mike Schmidt, principal of Wawasee High School, has been placed on administrative leave pending resolution of an issue, according to a brief statement issued by the Wawasee Community School Corp. today, Thursday, May 12.

SYRACUSE — As the 2015-16 school year winds down, this is the time of the year when personnel changes can be numerous as teachers and-or administrators resign or retire. During the regular monthly meeting of the Wawasee school board Tuesday, May 10, in Syracuse the board approved several personnel changes.

SYRACUSE — During the regular monthly meeting of the Wawasee school board Tuesday evening, April 19, in Syracuse, Jon Everingham was hired as the new varsity boys basketball head coach for Wawasee High School.

SYRACUSE — Dave VanLue, technology director for the Wawasee Community School Corp., said he will probably relax a little when all of the computers for the 1:1 initiative arrive, have been inventoried and then distributed.

SYRACUSE — Wawasee Community School Corp. will participate in the summer food service program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

SYRACUSE — School safety and security have become in more recent years a “front burner” type of issue due to shooting incidents and threats. Safety and security are updated as needed.

SYRACUSE — Proposed changes to high school diploma requirements are pending before the state board of education. During the regular monthly meeting of the school board for the Wawasee Community School Corp. Tuesday evening, Oct. 13, in Syracuse, the board heard a report from Joy Goshert, director of instruction and curriculum.

SYRACUSE — During the regular monthly meeting Tuesday, Oct. 13, of the school board for the Wawasee Community School Corp., among the agenda items will be consideration of the renewal of the contract for Dr. Tom Edington, superintendent.

For the first time in five years, teachers within the Wawasee Community School Corp. will be getting a pay raise. During a special meeting of the Wawasee school board Tuesday evening, Sept. 22, in Syracuse the board approved a 3.5 percent increase to the base salary for teachers.

Friday, Sept. 18th, was the first day for public schools in Indiana to begin submitting enrollment reports to the Indiana Department of Education in the process known as average daily membership, or ADM. Wawasee’s preliminary numbers show an overall increase compared to the same time last year.

A legislative study committee will convene in October to find answers to a problem Indiana is facing with a shortage of newly licensed teachers. But ask Dr. Tom Edington, superintendent of the Wawasee Community School Corp., and other administrators, and they likely already know what the committee will find.

To borrow a phrase used by George Gilbert of the Wawasee school board, it was only the first day of school and there was already a student learning report.

Wawasee Community School Corp. welcomed 18 new teachers and staff for the 2015-16 school year during orientation the week of Aug. 3.

CSX Railroad crossing closures at Bishop Road and East Wawasee Drive near Syracuse will affect bus routes at least for a couple of days for the Wawasee Community School Corp.

Online registration that was to begin at noon Tuesday, July 28, for the Wawasee Community School Corp. has been delayed until 8 a.m. Wednesday, July 29.

Other agenda items considered by the Wawasee school board during its regular monthly meeting Tuesday, June 9, in Syracuse included: • Dr. Tom Edington, superintendent of the Wawasee Community School Corp., noted the high school building trades projects for the next two school years will be a joint effort between Wawasee and Fairfield, with help …read more.

There wasn’t enough money left to finish last year’s summer capital projects fund list, so the Wawasee Community School Corp. is doing a little catchup this year. Summer construction and-or renovation projects are done each year throughout the school corporation using CPF money, which is but a piece of the annual budget. This year, most …read more.

Wawasee High School held its 47th annual commencement exercises at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 6, in its gymnasium — and for the first time, it was air-conditioned. To a full gym, 213 students heard their names called by Assistant Principal Vince Beasley prior to them crossing the platform to receive their diplomas from Principal Mike …read more.

Do Wawasee Community School Corp. employees like their work and do they have intentions of staying employed by the school corporation? Those questions and more were dealt with in a staff survey known as the Well-Being at Work research report. During Tuesday evening’s regular monthly meeting of the Wawasee School Board in Syracuse, the board …read more.

According to a projected timeline, a new Syracuse Elementary School will open by the fall of 2017. When that occurs, it will leave a nearly 100,000 square-foot facility empty of students. During a public meeting held late Monday afternoon in the lecture room of Wawasee High School, suggestions were offered on how the current Syracuse …read more.

School administrators deal with multiple data reports throughout a school year that are submitted to the Indiana Department of Education. Much of the data from those reports is compiled into the annual performance report for a school district. Those performance reports were released publicly March 18 by IDOE. The public can access a three-year trend …read more.

Wawasee Community School Corp. will be hosting an informational meeting and discussion regarding the future use of the present Syracuse Elementary School facility. The meeting will be held from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 30, in the lecture room at Wawasee High School, Syracuse. For more information, call the school corporation at (574) …read more.

Wawasee Community School Corp. is asking for feedback regarding the corporation calendar. Input regarding the calendar has not been sought from stakeholders for several years. The 2015-16 corporation calendar has already been adopted and is similar to corporation calendars the past few years. Work will begin on the 2016-17 calendar in the fall and input …read more.

When school letter grades are issued by the Indiana Department of Education, school administrators have let it be known frequently they don’t feel the letter grading system is fair and consistent. So beginning with the last school year, the Wawasee Community School Corp. began putting together its own letter grades. During Tuesday evening’s regular monthly …read more.

Several Wawasee Community School Corp. string orchestra students participated in the Indiana State School Music Association’s district solo and ensemble contest Saturday at Goshen Middle School. From Milford Middle School, eighth-grader Gabrielle Fiscus received a silver medal for her violin solo. Receiving gold medals for their violin solos were sixth-grader Emma Berger and eighth-graders Kaitlin …read more.

On Thursday, the state announced the awarding of $30 million to more than 1,300 schools to reward high-performing teachers in the first such distribution of teacher performance grants. But because the Wawasee Community School Corp. does not have its new teacher pay system in place, it was not eligible to receive any of the state funding. …read more.

The Indiana Department of Education has released the 2013-2014 A-F accountability grades after embargoing the scores last month. The data was released publicly after approval by the Indiana State Board of Education. Corporation-wide A-F accountability grades and grade point averages (GPA) for area school corporations are as follows: Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation, C grade (no change …read more.

After the regular school board meeting Tuesday in Syracuse, the board held a work session and heard a report from Dr. Tom Edington, superintendent of the Wawasee Community School Corp., about possible construction projects within the next year or two and several years later. During the regular meeting, the board approved purchasing land from the …read more.

A substantial financial gift from an anonymous Wawasee patron could literally benefit the Wawasee Community School Corp. for a period of 100 years. During a special meeting of the Wawasee school board Tuesday in Syracuse, the board voted to approve the gift. A business is being sold into a limited partnership to include the Wawasee …read more.

A decision has been made by administrators of the Wawasee Community School Corp. to build a new Syracuse Elementary School somewhere, but exactly where has not been finalized yet. Since November, discussions have been held with the Eagles organization in Syracuse and Sunday the local Eagles membership voted to approve selling 15 acres of Eagles …read more.

Friday, exactly one month since the start of the 2014-15 school year, was the first head count day for public schools in Indiana to begin submitting enrollment reports to the Indiana Department of Education. Wawasee’s preliminary numbers are showing a notable increase compared to the same time last year. As a corporation, the enrollment is …read more.

Recent decisions made by the Indiana State Board of Education appear to have minimal impact on Wawasee schools, at least for the foreseeable future. The state board voted to adopt rules to establish how K-12 teachers, staff and administrators obtain licenses or permits. A career specialist permit, a two-year renewable license for secondary level teachers, …read more.

The annual budget for the Wawasee Community School Corporation is closer to being formally adopted. As required by state law, the school board held a budget hearing late Tuesday afternoon in Syracuse. Jim Evans, director of finances for the school corporation, said the budget has been advertised in local newspapers. He gave a detailed explanation …read more.

A few years ago the Wawasee Community School Corp. implemented several energy saving measures and has been utilizing Indianapolis-based Performance Services to monitor energy costs. During Tuesday evening’s regular monthly meeting of the school board in Syracuse, the board heard a brief report on just how much money is being saved from Mike Lindsey of …read more.

When the online registration process for school is interrupted for an extended period of time, no matter when, it causes difficulties and inconveniences. Especially so when the problem occurs the day before school starts and on the first day of school too. Wawasee Community School Corp. experienced problems with online registration beginning Monday when the …read more.

  During the week of Aug. 4, new teachers and one guidance counselor went through the orientation process for the Wawasee Community School Corp. On Friday, they gathered for group photos as part of their day. In the top photo, in front from left, are Elizabeth Long, business, Wawasee High School; Joanne Reyes, Spanish, WHS; …read more.

Less than a week before the start of the 2014-15 academic year, there were still teachers, support personnel and also an assistant principal to be hired for the Wawasee Community School Corp. Wednesday, Aug. 6, for the second week in a row, a special Wawasee school board meeting was held in Syracuse. Several positions were …read more.

Spring 2014 ISTEP+ testing results were released to the media Monday. Results for the Wawasee Community School Corp. were encouraging, noted Joy Goshert, director of instruction and curriculum for the school corporation. As a corporation, Wawasee was above 70 percent passing English/language arts in grades five through eight and grades three and four exceeded 80 …read more.

Ben Lopez of Robert E. Crosby Inc., Fort Wayne, uses a jackhammer to tear down a wall in the radio studio area of Wawasee High School. The studio is being renovated this summer. When the hallways and classrooms in school buildings have no students in the summer months, construction workers are busy sawing, drilling, tearing …read more.

When the 2014-15 school year begins in August, the Wawasee Community School Corp. will be without a total of 384.5 years of teaching experience. A total of 12 teachers are retiring from the school corporation and most were present to be honored by the school board during its regular monthly meeting Tuesday evening in Syracuse. …read more.

Less than a month away will be the final day of the school year and that will mean the usual summer construction projects for schools in the Wawasee Community School Corp. This summer many of the projects will be at Wawasee High School and involve athletic facilities on the campus. During the regular monthly meeting …read more.

In the legal notices section of this week’s The Mail-Journal, readers are encouraged to view the 2013 annual performance report of the Wawasee Community School Corp. It is essentially a “snapshot” of the corporation and contains data pulled by the Indiana Department of Education obtained from multiple reports submitted to IDOE. An annual performance report …read more.

There is a noticeable increase in the emphasis being placed on hands-on, engaging learning in school classrooms. While traditional classroom lecturing still has value, it is less likely to engage students in the learning process. Within the Wawasee Community School Corp., one way hands-on learning has been implemented is through the Project Lead The Way …read more.

Wawasee Community School Corp. recently entered into an agreement that will give its students and school counselors an added tool to ensure a healthy learning environment. Through a student assistance program with the Bowen Center, the school corporation ensures at least two free counseling sessions per student per year, but will also reap the benefits …read more.

Dr. Tom Edington, superintendent of Wawasee Community School Corp., posted the following statement on The Wawascene, the Web blog for the school corporation: “Winter has been especially harsh this year causing many delays and cancellations for Wawasee Community Schools. As it stands now, the last student day is Tuesday, June 3. “If the prolonged winter …read more.

Wanting a website more appealing and easier to use, and to more effectively communicate with the community, Wawasee Community School Corporation launched a revamped site the evening of Feb. 26. The new URL for the website is wawaseeschools.org, though it can still be accessed by typing in wawasee.k12.in.us. Dave Van Lue, director of technology for …read more.

Jenny is an elementary school student and her family lives in the Warsaw school district, but one parent works in the Wawasee district. Jenny’s grandparents live in the Wawasee district, so it would be more convenient to drop Jenny off before school and pick her up after school at the grandparents home. Before just a …read more.

Planned in roughly a month and a half, admittedly staff members were just not ready to deal with 19 at-risk students for six weeks during the summer. But by the time the six weeks was completed, the outlook and attitude had changed for the better. During the regular monthly meeting of the Wawasee school board …read more.

Milford School is another step closer to having a school resource officer in the building for a pilot program. During a special Wawasee school board meeting late Tuesday afternoon in Syracuse, the board approved unanimously entering into an agreement with the town of Milford to provide a resource officer for at least four hours each …read more.

Wawasee Community School Corporation will hold registration at all schools from noon to 7 p.m. on the following dates: Thursday, Aug. 1 — Milford Middle and Elementary, Syracuse Elementary and North Webster Elementary Monday, Aug. 5 — All Wawasee Schools Tuesday, Aug. 6 — Wawasee Middle School and Wawasee High School Thursday, Aug. 8 — …read more.

Deborah Jean Nelson, 53, of Syracuse, Ind., passed away at 8:35 a.m., Monday, July 1, 2013, at her residence.(Photo provided) Due to the passing of Deborah Nelson, teacher at Syracuse Elementary School, Bowen Center mental health therapists, local pastors and school staff members will be available to talk with anyone about Nelson’s passing from 3 …read more.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43y1-rBYXyU] Parents line up with their children at Bixler Park on Center Lake in Warsaw to receive a free, nutritional packed lunch provided by Warsaw Community Schools.(photo by Alyssa Richardson) Whoever said you cannot receive anything in life for free may not be entirely correct. Warsaw Community Schools, Wawasee Community School Corporation and Tippecanoe …read more.

The Wawasee Community School Corporation is participating in the Summer Food Service Program. Meals will be provided to all children (age 18 and under) without charge and are the same for all children regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability, and there will be no discrimination in the course of the meal …read more.

While Milford Town Council continues to discuss financing a full-time school resource officer at Milford School (See story), a group of concerned parents have started a petition to show the council there is support for such a petition. Alicia Ley has been circulating the petition and carries it with her to various events where parents …read more.

A recent controversial proposal to Senate Bill 1 that will require schools to employ an armed security person known as a “school protection officer” during school hours, has been solidified. The new amendments to the bill, which was softened in early April during a House Ways and Means Committee hearing, provides that public schools must …read more.

In less than a year, the massive, and sometimes controversial, federal health care legislation will take full effect. How it will specifically affect the Wawasee Community School Corp. is not fully known yet, but the school board did hear a presentation on what is known so far during its regular monthly meeting Tuesday evening in …read more.

Newtown, Conn., is nearly 800 miles away from the Wawasee school district, but Friday it seemed right next door. Wawasee teachers, administrators, students and staff, as well as parents of students, reacted with shock, sadness and broken hearts as more than 25 adults and students were killed in a shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary …read more.

Warsaw and Wawasee schools are currently offering online registration for students returning to school this fall while Tippecanoe Valley and Whitko school corporations announce registration days and times. Tippecanoe Valley Registration for any Tippecanoe Valley school will be held at each school from noon to 8 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, Aug. 1-2. High school …read more.

By TIM ASHLEY Staff Writer [email protected]  During a special meeting Tuesday afternoon in the Wawasee Middle School Natatorium area, the school board for the Wawasee Community School Corp. voted to use approximately $272,000 in emergency funds for roof repairs over the swimming pool in WMS. While the swimming pool area was undergoing renovation as part …read more.