Shared with the Corvallis School Board during the May 9, 2019 meeting
Teacher Appreciation Week
This is Teacher Appreciation Week and many activities are happening in all of our schools to recognize our teachers and acknowledge the work they do every day. We produced a video with the help of student narrators and shared with all staff earlier this week. Thank you to all CSD teachers for the work you do both in and outside the classroom. View the video HERE.
Assistant Superintendent Melissa Harder Introduced
Melissa Harder has been selected as the new Assistant Superintendent. She is currently the principal of Jefferson Elementary School and will begin her new duties effective July 1.
Melissa has more than two decades of educational experience, beginning as a high school U.S. History teacher in Phoenix, Arizona. She relocated to Corvallis with her family in 1998 and has been employed by the District since then. She was a social studies teacher at Crescent Valley High School for nearly a decade, Assistant Principal at CV for six years, and the principal at Jefferson Elementary for an additional six years. Her experience at both the elementary and secondary levels make her a great fit for this district-wide position.
Melissa is a visionary leader and has been successful in developing a clear vision for student success. Administrators rely on her perspective and knowledge when making difficult decisions. Melissa’s work in creating an inclusive school community that focused on providing behavior and academic support to improve outcomes for all students is one of her greatest contributions.
Ms. Harder is genuinely interested in advancing effective teaching practices in our District and is an effective collaborator and communicator. She is an action-oriented champion of the District’s equity work and believes that “the decisions we make in the lunchroom, the classroom, and at the district level should be based on truly knowing who our students are.” She effectively shares her knowledge of best practices in education and is a leader in fostering a collaborative culture among staff.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Secondary Education, Social Studies from Arizona State University, and a Master of Education in Curriculum Development and Instruction from Oregon State University. With her deep experience in the District and her strong relationships with students, staff, families, and the community, Melissa will be an outstanding addition to the executive leadership of the Corvallis School District.
The process to identify an interim principal for Jefferson Elementary will be announced later this month.
Job Hirings for the 2019-20 School Year
April and May are peak months in the school year for recruiting new staff for our district. Human Resources Department staff have attended regional job fairs at Southern and Western Oregon Universities, OSU, and the statewide job fair in Portland. We are proud that 98% of Corvallis School District employees say they are proud to work here.
Wilson Earns Wellness Award
Wilson Elementary was recently award the Oregon School Wellness Award. This is the seventh school in the Corvallis School District that has been recognized for their commitment to student and staff wellness with this award. Wilson Elementary will receive a $2,500 cash prize which will be presented on May 16, by the Oregon Department of education and the Oregon Dairy and Nutrition Council at the school’s annual Wildcat Wellness Fair on May 16 from 6 – 7:30 pm.
Programs that led to this award include the annual Wilson Wellness Fair featuring fitness and nutrition activities, teacher led training on the district’s new health curriculum, “The Great Body Shop”, evidence-based wellness information and home connection. Other schools that have received the award are Crescent Valley High School, Franklin K-8, and Garfield, Hoover, and Lincoln Elementary Schools.
Mental Health Awareness Month
May is Mental Health Awareness month. Earlier this week, we co-hosted the annual Mental Health Matters Community Resource Fair. The evening also included presentations about how stress and anxiety impact youth and suicide prevention and awareness training.
- Anyone can experience mental health problems and friends and family can make a difference in a person’s recovery process.
- The Youth Mental Health Coalition continues to play an important role in our district to raise awareness about youth mental health and resources for support.
Robotics Team Success
I’d like to congratulate students on our high school Robotics teams. At the qualification matches in March, CV Robotics (Team 995) won the Entrepreneurship Award at both competitions they attended.
CHS Robotics (Team 997) won the Gracious Professionalism Award, Engineering Inspiration Award. I’d like to share the text from the award presentation: “The Engineering Inspiration Award celebrates outstanding success in advancing respect and appreciation for engineering within a team’s community. Inspiring others to respect science and technology requires passion, knowledge and commitment: FIRST celebrates these qualities by presenting its Engineering Inspiration Award.Qualifying this team to compete for the Engineering Inspiration Award at District Championships. Congratulations, Team 997 Spartan Robotics. This team works cooperatively with their community and mentors (for) the future of STEM studies in their school system. The judges were impressed with this well-deserving team.”
Congratulations, to our students for their showing at the District Competition in Tacoma, Washington in early April.