A special and brief meeting was held late Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 25, by the Wawasee school board in Syracuse for the main purpose of a budget hearing. The budget process continues to move forward and Tuesday’s meeting was a public hearing, though no public input was given.

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.

A special Wawasee school board meeting was held the evening of Tuesday, July 28, in Syracuse for the main purpose of a budget workshop and to start the formal budget process for 2016.

Just what the new Syracuse Elementary School will look like is becoming more clear. During the regular monthly meeting of the Wawasee school board Tuesday evening, June 9, in Syracuse, the board heard a brief update on the design phase of the building from Brian Bohlander, architect for Barton-Coe-Vilamaa. Bohlander said much progress has been …read more.

Several changes will be made to the athlete code of conduct at Wawasee High School, the Wawasee school board heard during its regular monthly meeting Tuesday in Syracuse. Steve Wiktorowski, athletic director at the high school, said the code, which is part of the student handbook, will essentially be rewritten since some of it was …read more.

Dina Coverstone stepped out of the classroom at the beginning of the school year and had what she termed as an eye opening and learning experience. Due to a generous financial gift from the Laudeman family, Coverstone became an instructional coach for teachers at Syracuse Elementary School. During Tuesday’s regular monthly meeting of the Wawasee …read more.

ISTEP+ has been plagued with difficulties especially the last few years and those difficulties are apparently not a thing of the past. During the regular monthly meeting of the Wawasee School Board Tuesday evening in Syracuse, the board heard a report from Joy Goshert, director of instruction and curriculum, about concerns with online ISTEP+ testing. …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.

Christmas can be a festive, fun and memorable time for some as they gather with family or friends. But for others, it can be a discouraging, depressing and even painful time. During Tuesday evening’s regular monthly meeting of the Wawasee school board in Syracuse, the first meeting of 2015, the board heard reports about what …read more.

Dr. Bob Cockburn, during his Stat of the Month report to the Wawasee school board Tuesday evening, talked briefly about Northwest Evaluation Association growth data. He compiled statistics showing how students performed from the fall of 2011 to the fall of 2012, the fall of 2012 to the fall of 2013 and the fall of …read more.

As part of the regular monthly meeting of the Wawasee school board Tuesday evening in Syracuse, a 1028 Hearing was held in conjunction with the new Syracuse Elementary School to be built off Kern Road. Such a hearing is required by state law for a project of this scope. Building a new Syracuse Elementary will …read more.

Under the state’s complicated letter grading system for public schools, a school can improve its grade from the previous year but still be required to submit an improvement plan because, for example, too many students showed a low growth rate. During the regular monthly meeting of the Wawasee school board Tuesday evening in Syracuse the …read more.

School bus routes can change literally from day to day due to family situations and other factors. A student may ride one bus for a few days to go to one parent’s house and then ride a different bus to the other parent or a grandparent. Trying to manage those routes and keep track of …read more.

Suicide is a topic some simply do not want to talk about, but considering a Wawasee High School student committed suicide just a couple of years ago and others attempted it, the topic does hit close to home. During Tuesday’s regular monthly Wawasee school board meeting in Syracuse, the board heard a presentation from Mary …read more.

Kim Nguyen, director of the Wawasee Area Career and Technical Cooperative, is passionate about the options available to students in the career and technical program and when given the chance, he shares his enthusiasm with others. During Tuesday’s regular monthly meeting of the Wawasee school board in Syracuse, he gave a detailed report to the …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.

During a special Wawasee school board meeting Tuesday evening, Jim Evans, director of finances for the Wawasee School Corporation, reminded the board of the five funds making up the budget. The special meeting was in part a budget work session and the board gave approval to advertise the 2015 budget, which is required by law. …read more.

It has been said today’s school aged students are too often “wrapped up in their own little worlds.” But if given the chance to prove otherwise, they can prove they do care about others and want to serve the community as the Wawasee school board heard during its regular monthly meeting Tuesday evening in Syracuse. …read more.

The school board for the Wawasee Community School Corp. earned an outstanding award as part of the certification awards program of the Indiana School Boards Association. If a majority of a board attains a minimum of level one recognition, which is obtained by accumulating points for various ISBA activities, the board is considered an outstanding …read more.

During the first regular monthly meeting of 2014, the Wawasee school board approved moving forward with a bond project for construction work at Wawasee High School. A 1028 hearing, required by state law since the project will cost more than $1 million, was held in conjunction with the meeting. Mike Schmidt, principal of WHS, gave …read more.

It has been made abundantly clear, more than once, that Wawasee administrators place much more value on Northwest Evaluation Association testing results than ISTEP+. Dr. Tom Edington, Wawasee Community School Corp., summed it up by saying, “We use NWEA results to help teachers teach better, but we give the ISTEP+ because of political reasons.” It …read more.

Hoping to encourage more interest and participation in basketball at the middle school level, the Wawasee school board approved a pilot program that will cause some changes to seventh and eighth grade basketball. Approval was given during the regular monthly meeting of the school board Tuesday evening in Syracuse. Steve Wiktorowski, athletic director, said staff …read more.

The Wawasee Community School Corporation Board of Trustees held a special budget hearing on Tuesday in the Warrior room at Wawasee High School. The purpose of the meeting was to allow the public to discuss the 2014 budget. Up for review was the 2014 budget, the capital project fund and the bus replacement fund. No …read more.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Due to a reporting error, Dr. Tom Edington offered this clarification for the article: “(Board) Attorney David Cates filled in the board about possibilities for moving forward with the school resource officer pilot program at Milford School this fall,” explained Edington. “He is planning to work out further details with Milford town attorney …read more.

Not that there was really much doubt, but today’s elementary school students seem to engage in learning better through the use of touch screen computers. During the regular monthly meeting of the Wawasee school board Tuesday in Syracuse, the board heard a presentation on just how effective a pilot program for iPads was during the …read more.

It’s like coming home again for Susan Mishler. During the regular monthly meeting Tuesday of the Wawasee school board, Mishler was introduced as the new principal of Wawasee Middle School. She will replace Dennis Howland, who resigned effective at the end of the current academic year. Mishler lives at Camelot Lake near Milford with her …read more.

Local public libraries are working together with the Wawasee High School Library to help students and give them access to electronic resources. During the regular monthly meeting of the Wawasee school board Tuesday evening in Syracuse, the board heard a presentation from Gena Fowble, media specialist at WHS. Fowble said a collaboration effort between WHS …read more.

Lakes, watercraft and marinas are in abundance in the Wawasee area. Beginning with the 2013-14 academic year, students of Wawasee High School and other schools in the cooperative will have an opportunity to learn skills associated with marine trades. During Tuesday evening’s regular monthly meeting of the Wawasee Community School Corp. board of trustees, Kim …read more.

At North Webster Elementary School there are classes and then there is C.L.A.S.S. During Tuesday evening’s regular monthly meeting of the Wawasee school board in Syracuse, the first meeting in 2013, the board heard a presentation from a few North Webster Elementary teachers about Connecting Learning Assures Successful Students, or C.L.A.S.S. Mitch Willaman, fifth grade …read more.

There is an old saying of “What have you done for me lately?” It could possibly be applied to the Indiana Department of Education’s letter grading system for public schools statewide. During Tuesday’s regular monthly meeting of the Wawasee school board in Syracuse, the board heard a brief presentation from Bob Cockburn, data specialist for …read more.

There will be no new faces serving on the Wawasee Community School Corp. Board of Trustees. Incumbents Mike Wilson, the current board president, and George Gilbert were re-elected Tuesday. Wilson (District 1) received the most votes of any of the five candidates running with 3, 214 total. Gilbert (District 2) was second with 2,700. Two …read more.

Five candidates are seeking two at-large positions for Wawasee School Board. StaceyPageOnline.com asked each of the candidates to provide some basic information about themselves and respond to three questions. All but one candidate, District 2 incumbent George Gilbert, responded. Gilbert said he did not receive the questions in time. District 1 incumbent Michael “Mike” Wilson …read more.

When kids begin kindergarten, they aren’t all cut from the same mold. “They come to us at all stages of development,” said Diana Parker, Title I coordinator for the Wawasee Community School Corp. Parker, instrumental in writing a grant that was eventually awarded by the Dekko Foundation, gave a presentation to the Wawasee school board …read more.

Voters residing within the Wawasee Community School Corp. will have a choice in electing school board members in November. Candidates will be Mike Wilson and Brent Robinson, District 1 (Tippecanoe Township) and George Gilbert, District 2 (Turkey Creek Township). There are two seats up for election. Wilson and Gilbert are the incumbents. Several attempts to contact Robinson for …read more.

Late Tuesday afternoon, the Wawasee Community School Corp. Board of Trustees held a special meeting for a budget hearing. But, as has been the norm for several years, there was no public input on the budget and the board only spent a brief few minutes discussing it. Wawasee’s budget has been advertised in local newspapers …read more.

The two at-large seats on the Wawasee Community School Corp. Board of Trustees are up for election in November. Filing began July 25 and will close at noon Friday, Aug. 24. These seats are currently held by Mike Wilson, District 1 (Tippecanoe Township), and George Gilbert, District 2 (Turkey Creek Township). Both have filed for re-election. Any resident within …read more.

Not quite ready to make a decision, the Wawasee school board asked to table a request to install geothermal at Wawasee Middle School. Geothermal was among the agenda items discussed at the board’s regular monthly meeting Tuesday. Geothermal has been considered and discussed for several months. Clean renewable energy bonds through the federal stimulus funds …read more.