Bogatin is currently an administrator at Lebanon High School. He has worked in the Lebanon School District for seven years and was the principal of Green Acres Elementary School for six years before going to the high school.

Prior to living in Lebanon, Bogatin was principal of a private K-8 school in Lake Oswego. He has five years of teaching experience at elementary schools in Chandler, Ariz. and Beaverton.

A 1995 graduate of the University of Northern Iowa with a bachelor of arts in elementary education, Bogatin also has a master's degree in education administration.

Superintendent Tarzian reported the district was lucky to have had several strong candidates express interest in the assistant superintendent position.

"Kevin impressed the interview committee with his deep understanding of how to address the learning needs of children who excel in their achievement, as well as those who are struggling to learn key concepts," she said. "He has practical experience across the K-12 continuum and will bring to the position enthusiasm, new ideas, and a strong work ethic."

Among the top prizes was a $5,500 renewable University of Oregon scholarship given to sophomore Heide Wade for her study of "Washing Effects on the Bacterial Contamination of Alfalfa Sprouts." Two other sophomores, Maddie Hamlin and Ellen Yin, earned an all-expense paid trip to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in San Jose, Calif. in May for their project "BPA Levels in Store Receipts."

A total of 70 CV students made presentations at the regional contest which is affiliated with the Northwest Science Exposition System (NWSES), a consortium of student science, math, and engineering project competitions administered by The Center for Science Education at Portland State University.

NWSES events draw students from throughout Oregon to compete in 17 categories encompassing all the scientific disciplines, engineering, computer science and mathematics. The mission of the NWSES is to develop scientific talent and promote science literacy by providing a structure and a venue for presenting high quality student research.

The following is a complete list of award winners:

Army Award for Science & Engineering Excellence - Lipi Gupta, "Study of Drought Effects on Transpiration and Carbon Uptake in Ponderosa Pine"

Army Outstanding High School Project - Heidi Wade, "Washing Effects on the Bacterial Contamination of Alfalfa Sprouts"

U.S. Air Force Outstanding Project - Ben Brook and Brennan King, "Piezoelectric Energy Recycling in Electric Automobiles"

N.O.A.A. Taking the Pulse of the Planet Award - Leith Huddleston and Kelli King, "Conversion of Sound Energy into Electrical Energy"

Award for Excellence in Scientific Research in Environmental Health - Maddie Hamlin and Ellen Yin, "BPA Levels in Store Receipts"

U.S. Regional Stockholm Junior Water Prize -- Maddie Hamlin and Ellen Yin, "BPA Levels in Store Receipts"

Outstanding Research in Psychology - Michael Perlin, Andy Vincent-Hill and Nick Vincent-Hill, "The Effect of Age on Ultimatum Bargaining Behavior"

I-SWEEP Finalists - Bryce Johnson and John Shotton, "A Less Toxic Desiccant"

Sixteen students also will move on to compete at the Intel Northwest Science Expo on April 2 at Portland State. They include Perlin, Andy and Nick Vincent-Hill, Hamlin, Yin, Brook, King, Gupta and Wade, plus the following:

Stephanie Cleland and Erynne van Zee, "Effects of Solar and High Temperature-Treated Water Stored in PET, PC and BPA-Free Bottles on Allium Cepa Root Growth"

Leon Su and Danning Yao, "Optimal Ethanol Production from Waste Fruit"

Rachel White, "Using Computer Simulation to Identify Weaknesses in Problem-Solving Strategies"

Katie Bryan and Kara Doescher, "Experimental Study of the Effects of Increasing Acidic Levels on Juga Snails"

CV science teachers Adam Kirsch and Ryan Kanter were the students' mentoring teachers.

Team members are eighth graders Ian Dickson, Joe Kim, Thomas Kneeland and Eric Qian; seventh graders Carson Denison, Michael Hunter, Steve Neiman and Craig Still; and sixth graders James Santich and Yang Yan. The Chess Cougars are coached by parent volunteer Lisa Still with help from Tom Denison and Ellissa Parnon.

A number of other Corvallis students also qualified to play as individuals in the state tournament by winning or coming in second at the regional tournament. Calvin Parnon, a former freshman at Crescent Valley High School who is now homeschooled, and Cheldelin sixth grader Yang Yan both finished second at the state tournament. Leo Sun, a second grader at Hoover Elementary School finished in third place.

Other students who competed at the state tournament were: fourth graders John Ornes and Foster Kirsch of Mountain View and Maxwell Sun from Hoover; and seventh grader Carson Denison of Cheldelin.

The annual event, sponsored by Woodstock's Pizza Parlor and the Corvallis Public Schools Foundation, is the primary fundraiser for the foundation's Mini-Grants for Education Excellence program. Twice each year, the CPSF awards grants of up to $1,000 to educators throughout the district for program costs, equipment, or supplies.

This year's event raised nearly $20,000 including donations of services and prizes. Among the many race volunteers were members of the both high schools' honor societies, the Crescent Valley track team, school board members and Kiwanis Club members.

Traveling trophies are awarded each year to the school with the highest percentage of its student body participating in the race. Prizes are also awarded by Strands.com to the fastest student from each school.

Jefferson Elementary School took the top prize among elementary schools, with Hoover Elementary a close second and Mountain View in third place. CPSF director Fred Kane reported there were runners from every elementary school this year.

In the competition between middle schools, Linus Pauling beat Cheldelin for the traveling trophy by 0.1 percentage point of their student body participating. Both Corvallis High School and Crescent Valley High School doubled their participation rates this year, but CHS won the trophy with 0.5 percent more students running or volunteering.

The winning 509J Employee Team this year also came from CHS. Team members Robert Blackman, Dan Kammerzelt, Matt King and Matt McDonough posted a combined time of 94:08 in the 5K race, nearly 7 minutes faster than the second place team from Adams Elementary. Employee teams from the district office, Lincoln School, Jefferson Elementary and Mountain View Elementary also participated.

The following students received prizes for being the quickest runners from their school in their age/gender category:

Adams Elementary: Sam Mutschler-Aldine, Anna Moore, Manya Mustschler-Aldine, Jackson Tegan, and Isabel Scholz

Franklin School: Ayla Arnold

Garfield Elementary: Mateo MuroDougherty, Emma Cienchanowski, and Peter Holt

Hoover Elementary: Brendan Herb, Abbee Kuhlman, Claire Benning, Sean Alder, Ellery Shearman, and Katelyn Stevens

Jefferson Elementary: Ethan Main, Cheryl Coats, Zachary Warnock, Malia Allen, Alexi Ebersole, and Cameron Montagne

Lincoln School: Fallon Cochran, Cassandra Arredondo, Sofia Garner, and Marina Arredondo

Mountain View Elementary: Jasper Polluck, Cora Canning, Thomas Hobbs, Mikayla Campbell, and Taylor Perkins

Wilson Elementary: Eva Buford

Cheldelin Middle School: Logan Olbrich, Jennifer Pinard, and Ryan Alder

Linus Pauling Middle School: Connor Garrett, Levi Ebersole, Gloria Goni-McAteer, Kevin Tegan, and Ashley Scholz

Corvallis High School: Scott Howard and Danelle Finnen

Crescent Valley High School: Audrey Wheatcroft

The school district's administrative offices and the Corvallis Public Schools Foundation also will be closed to the public during this time. The central office will reopen for business on March 29 according to its regular hours, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Franklin "Blue" team, made up primarily of eighth grade students, won first place. The team participated in 23 hands-on science experiments and demonstrations during the contest. They took first place in 10 events and second place in five events.

As a result of their win, the Blue team gains an automatic invitation to attend the National Science Olympiad competition hosted by the University of Illinois (Champaign) on May 21-22.

The Franklin "White" team, comprised of sixth grade students, won the third place trophy. Of their 23 events, the White team place first in one event, second in two events, and third in five events.

Members of the Franklin Blue team are: Annie Edge, Maysa Shakibnia, Preksha Naik, Eli Allen, Manju Bangalore, Patrick Corrigan, Tyger Liner, Mary Marshall, Grant Merola, Aaron Ojeda, Julia Rosell, Owen Wettengel, Joseph Potts, Andrey Kornilovich and Gabriel Kulp.

The Franklin White team members are: Natalie Amodei, Jessica Bolden, Jennifer Conner, Jonathan Haberman, Georgia Juell, Joe Kim, Mohammed Shakibnia, Joseph Shin, Marc Wettengel, Andrew Woods and Spencer Nelson.

Both teams are coached by retired Franklin science teacher Nancy Meitle.

Team members competed against 60 other robotics teams from high schools throughout Oregon and Washington, plus a few from California, Idaho and Hawaii. This year's "Breakaway" challenge was to build a robot able to score points against other teams' robots in a collaborative soccer game on a 27x54-foot indoor soccer field.

CHS team members include Aaron Franks, Blaine O'Bannan, Dana Gonzales, Emily Smith, Forrest Bice, Griffin Alberti, Jeff Traver, Joseph Kleinhenz, Kahlie Haney, Matthew Petersen, Michael Skarda, Rachel Moore, Scott Card, Shannon Williams and Spencer Ayers-Hale.

Ben Stewart, Tom Kimerling, Al Baily, Manley Thompson, Alisha Foster, Nicholas Stevens, Lee Pilgrim, Floyd Moore and John Lanz serve as coaches and mentors of the team.

The teens must raise about $21,000 over the next several weeks for their trip to Atlanta. Donations to the CHS team may be sent to the Corvallis Public Schools Foundation, 1555 S.W. 35th St., Corvallis, OR 97333 or by going to the CPSF Web site -- click on the "Donate Now" button and indicate that the donation is for the CHS robotics team.

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics is a nonprofit organization that motivates young people to pursue education and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math.

Interested care providers can get a Request for Proposal (RFP) packet from the district office, 1555 S.W. 35th St., or by downloading it here. RFPs must be returned in a sealed envelope to the district office by 5 p.m., April 15; contract awards will be announced on April 20.

The district will host an information meeting to answer any questions potential partners might have about the RFP process and program guidelines on March 10 at 4 p.m. in the district office board room.

School officials have consulted with early childhood specialists to help identify the philosophy, learning experiences and program components that would be considered in weighing RFP submissions. The district is looking for providers that would offer non-religious, quality services consistent with educational appropriate practices and would provide scholarships to children from low-income families.

The Corvallis School Board voted in early February to end the district's all-day, tuition-based kindergarten enrichment program once school is out in June. District officials made a commitment at that time to work with local child care providers to provide high-quality alternatives for those families affected by the decision.

All questions and RFP responses should be directed to Student Services director Kathleen Walker at 757-5752 or Kathleen.walker@corvallis.k12.or.us.

A new Guiding Team for Instructional Time (GTIT) committee met for the first time Jan. 14 and will meet regularly through November.

Committee members are researching the schedules of distinguished, high-achieving high schools throughout the country to see how they might be used in Corvallis. They also will gather input from high school staff, students and parents to produce two to three options for a common schedule at both high schools which would most benefit student learning.

For years, the district has heard regularly from parents, students and staff who are dissatisfied with long gaps in instruction and 90-minute teaching blocks in some subjects. An open block during which students are not required to be in class has also caused concern. In addition, the early start time for students is at odds with research about teenage sleep patterns.

Another reason to reevaluate how high school students are taught is recent increases in the number of students living in poverty at the same time that more stringent graduation requirements have heightened concern about students who need extra time and help to graduate.

Additionally, a growing body of research shows that teachers need more time to collaborate in Professional Learning Communities to improve student learning and to close the achievement gap for students in minority groups. The committee has been asked to ensure that the proposed new schedule include weekly collaboration opportunities for teachers and time for enrichment or intervention activities for students on a daily basis.

The committee will present its recommendation(s) to the school board in December. The new schedule will be implemented in 2011-2012.

The committee is made up of seven representatives from each high school including two teachers, one classified employee, one counselor, one student and one parent. High school principals Dawn Granger and Cherie Stroud and human resources director Jennifer Duvall also serve on the committee along with consultant Denise Trepanier and project manager Sally McAfee, the district's high school curriculum coordinator.

Updates on the work of the GTIT committee will be posted soon on the district Web page.

On Monday, parents are invited to eat breakfast with their student for $1. Tuesday is Fun Puzzle Day where students will receive a puzzle along with their food.

All students can eat breakfast for free on Wednesday, and on Thursday, children will receive a free bookmark. "Roll Back Prices Day" will conclude the week -- breakfast will only cost 75 cents on Friday.

The Food Services department reports that research has shown that students who eat breakfast learn better than those who do not. Breakfast is served daily in Corvallis schools for a price of $1 for elementary students and $1.50 for middle and high school students.

Students who participate in the federal Free and Reduced-Price Meal program receive free or reduced-price breakfasts throughout the school year. For information about eligibility guidelines, call Marv Newcombe at 757-5903.

To see what the Corvallis district is serving for breakfast and lunch in March, click here.

"Thanks for all you do in support of students to make the Corvallis School District a great place to learn," assistant superintendent Jeanne Holmes said in a message to the district's 348 classified employees. "We appreciate your hard work and commitment to our schools!"

Students will hear guest speakers from a variety of career areas, participate in mock interviews, and will be able to talk to business and non-profit professionals who will set up tables throughout the venues. These activities help 509j high school students meet some of their Career Education graduation requirements.

The Corvallis School District has partnered with the OSU College of Business - Austin Entrepreneurship Program to host this year's event which runs from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

"This is a great opportunity for students to network with local employers and learn what business people expect from job applicants, including how to dress during a job interview. They also will receive critiques of their resumés and interviewing advice," said Greg Ivers of the Oregon Employment Department. Ivers is a member of the convention steering committee and has visited Crescent Valley and Corvallis High schools to help students prepare for next week's event.

"Students need to hear this first hand from real life business people," Ivers said.

School officials are helping students register for sessions, update their resumés, prepare for mock interviews, and learn how to dress for success. Community members also still have an opportunity to get involved in a variety of ways. The greatest need is to have more adults serve as mock interviewers. Interested volunteers can register at the career convention Web site at www.hscareerconvention.org.

For more information, contact the high school Career Learning Specialists Tony Vandermeer (CVHS) at 541-757-5813 or Donna Keim (CHS) at 541-757-5799.

Winter break in the proposed calendar would be Dec. 20 through Jan. 2 and spring break would be March 21-25, the same as Oregon State University. The last day of school for students would be June 16, 2011.

The school board will vote on the proposed calendar at its April 5 meeting.

In December and January, the calendar committee asked parents and staff what they thought of beginning school before Labor Day. The majority of input preferred a start date after Labor Day. The committee also looked at future years' calendars and discovered that in the fall of 2012, Labor Day comes at the beginning of the month again.

School starts on Wednesday in order to allow staff time to prepare for their students including open house activities at the elementary level, ninth grade orientation, last-minute student registration and transition meetings on Tuesday, Sept. 7.

The proposed calendar includes 2.5 snow make-up days and a new, "pilot" schedule for fall grading days and parent-teacher conferences. Concerns over two-day instruction weeks led the committee to propose a Thursday/Friday/Monday schedule (Oct. 28-29 and Nov. 1) at the elementary and middle grade levels. High school conference days would still take place on Thursday and Friday, Oct. 28-29.

If the response is positive, the committee may propose similar Thursday through Monday schedules in the fall and spring in future years.

The most significant change proposed in next year's calendar by the calendar committee is designed to provide consistent collaboration opportunities for teachers as part of the district's focus on implementing Professional Learning Communities at every school in support of student learning. The committee has recommended trading two full staff development days during the school year for eight early-release days evenly dispersed throughout the school year.

Teachers would use these two-hour blocks of time to work together to clarify what students should be learning, develop common ways to measure students' learning, decide how to help students who are struggling and to plan how they can continue to challenge students who have already learned the material.

The early-release proposal increases the number of days students are in class over the year and it allows the district to continue serving breakfast and lunch to the nearly 35 percent of students who depend on these meals through the Free and Reduced Meal program. Teachers will be directed to use these early-release days solely for classroom instruction - not for field trips or other extra activities.

The district is working on identifying child care options for families who would need to arrange child care on the extra early release days, if the board approves the recommended calendar.

The calendar committee is made up of a teacher, classified staff member, two parents, three building administrators representing elementary and secondary levels and three district office staff.

Click here to see a copy of the proposed 2010-2011 school calendar.
Click here for a more in-depth explanation of the calendar committee's recommendations.

Students eligible for kindergarten must be 5 years old on or before Sept. 1. Parents will be asked to provide a copy of their child's record of immunizations, a birth certificate and proof of address when they go to register at their neighborhood school.

If you're not sure which neighborhood school is in your attendance boundary area, check out our online School Boundary Maps or call the district office at 757-5811.

The district's annual "Preschool to Kindergarten" community meeting is set for 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 4 in the Commons area at Linus Pauling Middle School. Early childhood specialists will be on hand to share with parents how to prepare their child to be successful in kindergarten and to answer their questions.

Each elementary school also will host an open house for parents during the second week of March from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday. Mountain View's open house is set for March 9. Adams, Garfield, Hoover, Jefferson and Lincoln will host parents on March 10. Franklin K-8 and Wilson will hold their open houses on March 11.

The district has established specific school boundary areas, but families may request a transfer to a school outside their attendance zone. Such requests for students entering kindergarten in the fall of 2010 may be submitted through the district's Web site between April 1 and May 14.

Franklin is the district's only non-boundary K-8 school and offers the Core Knowledge curriculum. Lincoln and Garfield elementary schools are magnet schools for English Language Learners whose first language is not English. These two schools also offer dual-immersion Spanish/English programs starting in kindergarten.

Due to enrollment caps, kindergarten transfer requests for 2010-2011 are unlikely to be granted to Jefferson, Wilson and Hoover elementary schools. Seats are available, however, at Adams, Franklin, Garfield, Lincoln and Mountain View schools.

If there are more requests than there is space at any school, a lottery will be held to determine who will be accepted. Priority is given, however, to applicants with older siblings who are already attending the preferred school.

For more information, call 757-5811 or click here.

A number of concerns have surfaced recently regarding the stability of the middle level program, including issues with enrollment, curriculum and staffing. Enrollment levels have fallen short of the number of students needed to sustain the program and after careful study and consultation with Lincoln's principal and middle level teachers, a proposal to discontinue the program at the end of this school year was developed.

Tarzian and assistant superintendent Jeanne Holmes have already met twice with Lincoln parents to explain the rationale behind the recommendation and to discuss what options are available to students who had planned to attend sixth grade and those who would have been in the seventh and eighth grades at Lincoln next year.

Another meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25 in the Lincoln School library to allow parents and students to talk to the principals from Franklin K-8 School and Cheldelin and Linus Pauling middle schools.

Public testimony about the recommendation will be allowed at Monday's meeting and at the March 8 school board meeting when board members are expected to make a final decision.

The board also will hear from the district's technology department and Calendar Committee.