Chicago Fun...What About You?

Starting today I am in Chicago with educators across the nation discussing various political issues facing education and our students. We are working together to find some common ground. It should be interesting as we discuss the issues such as teacher performance to student achievement. Today we had a day off to explore Chicago. It was a joyous time to walk the streets to see the various people who are exploring. I had lunch at the top of the John Hancock Building with a fantastic view of the city. I hope all of you are doing some exciting things this summer and would love to hear what you are up to!

The Wilds...in Ohio...

These past few days my family and I went on a little 2 day trip to Zanesville, Ohio. I know you may be thinking, "Why Zanesville?" On the eastern side of Zanesville there is a wildlife conservation known as "The Wilds." It was amazing! We took an open air wildlife safari truck trip through the hundreds of acres of nature and pulled right up to some beautiful animals. We saw: Onegars (a type of donkey), Camels (one which walked right up to the truck and started rubbing himself on it to help him shed), Zebra, Rhino's, a Giraffe named Mickey (which we fed), and many more. I highly recommend if you have a day or two to travel to make your way up to Zanesville for this trip. It is just over 3 hours northeast (about an 1 hour east of Columbus). Here are some of my pictures of the trip...I hope everyone is doing some exciting things this summer.

New Changes...

As many of you have heard or read in newspapers, there will be some changes occurring for kindergarten and the school district next year. Kindergarten students will attend full-day, alternating days. This will mean your child will attend school on Monday, Wednesday, and alternating Fridays or Tuesday, Thursday, and alternating Fridays. Currently, the district is working on the calendar as children will need to be at school for a total of 88 days for the school year. In addition, the district is working on which days your child will come to school. This has not been finalized yet.

This will be a learning experience for everyone this year, but I am quite excited about the change as it will give us more instructional time with your child. In addition, it will give us time to not feel rushed with our learning at times in our half-day schedule. We know we will have to work with the children to build their stamina as they will be at school all day and will be eating lunch.

Once I receive more information regarding schedules, calendars, etc. I will forward the information on to you all. Check back later for more information...

Graduation...

A fun year of learning...

Happy Summer...

I hope everyone has had a great first week of summer. It sure has felt like summer with all the hot weather. We had a great year and I hope the kids have a fantastic time off of school, they sure deserve a break. Please continue to read and practice some math over the next few months. The Clermont County Public Library has a lot to offer during the summer and a lot of places around the city have FREE events. I would love to hear what you are doing! I will keep you posted of my summer adventures. My first adventure will be packing up my house and moving. Shannon and I found a house in Northern Kentucky and will be moving all of our stuff in July. Who knew how much you could hide away in ones house. I do have a lot of other things planned for the summer...such as laying out in the sun and reading some great books. Currently, I have read "Water for Elephants" and I am beginning "The Lincoln Lawyer." Enjoy the weekend...