Valpo School Board honors Northview Elementary
By Diane Kubiak Post-Tribune correspondent October 16, 2012 8:32PM
Updated: October 16, 2012 11:50PM
VALPARAISO — Kudos from the Valparaiso School board went out to Northview Elementary School staff, students and parents Tuesday night in recognition of the school’s National Blue Ribbon Award.
“You know, I’m an alumnus of this school,” said Mayor Jon Costas, who added jokingly that the three years he spent in sixth grade at Northview were the best years of his life.
The award goes to schools which not only have consistent high academic achievement, but also have closed the gap between students of different races, ethnicities and economic circumstances, said Superintendent Michael Berta.
Principal Loren Hershberger congratulated the Northview “family” for rallying around education in tough economic times. Although the school’s poverty rate doubled, its pass rate on the I-STEP tests went from the mid-80 percents to 95.2 percent, which made it the tenth highest of 1,500 reporting schools in Indiana in 2011.
In other business, the board approved the 2013-15 Capital Projects Plan. Chief Financial Officer Sharon Qualkenbush presented the plan which calls for expenditures of $7.8 million in 2013, $8 million in 2014 and $8.3 million in 2015.
Board President Mark Maassel said the board’s attendance at the Indiana School Board Association’s recent meeting resulted in many insights. “We need to spend some time on what it means to educate a 21st Century learner. Their world is so different from the one I grew up in,” he said.
The board also raised fieldhouse tennis rental prices at Thomas Jefferson Middle School. They will increase to $20 per hour on Tuesdays and Thursdays and $40 per hour on Sundays. The field house will be open from 7-10 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays and from 3-5 p.m. on Sundays.
The board also accepted the retirement of long-time building and grounds employee Joe Hickman effective Nov. 7. Hickman’s current position as director of that department will be posted as a vacancy.
