By By RANDI K. PICKLEY / Niles Daily Star
NILES - Cindy Wickham, principal of the Northside Child Development Center, accepted a plaque Monday evening in recognition of the school's recent accreditation with the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Northside has worked toward the accreditation process for the past two and a half years. The process involved improvements based on a self-study done by staff and parents at the school. This past January, validators from the NAEYC spent two full days at the school evaluating the program at length through classroom observation and the examination of data and records.
Out of thousands of programs in the state of Michigan, only 213 have met the requirements for this accreditation.
The Board of Education for the Niles Community Schools recognized Northside, as well as presenting additional awards.
A special surprise award was presented to Jerry French by DECA, a club for students interested in the field of marketing, recognizing him as the largest contributor to the Muscular Dystrophy Association during its recent fund drive.
Richard Klemm, Director of the Adult and Community Education Program, who was recognized as Administrator of the Year for the State of Michigan by the Office of Adult Education in the Department of Labor and Economic Growth, was presented with a plaque honoring his service to the field of adult education. Klemm received the award on May 10 while attending the Adult Education Technical Workshop in Grand Rapids.
Betty Perkins, who recently announced her retirement from her position as principal of Niles High School, introduced the students who attended the 2005 National Leadership Conference of Business Professionals of America in Annaheim, Calif. on April 22-26.
The Ballard Elementary School PTO presented the Niles Community Schools with $5,000 towards the purchase of computers for classroom use. The donation will cover approximately 12 new computers.
The Eastside Elementary School PTO donated $6,000 toward a climbing wall for the playground. A horizontal, rather than vertical, wall with hand and footholds, the RockBlock stands approximately six feet high and is surrounded by a bed of woodchips.
The Board also accepted a donation of $100 from Margaret Peterson, who was thanked by Steve Gruver, Niles High School Band Director, on behalf of the high school bands. The donation will be applied to their 2006 Florida Band Trip Fund and will help to aid a student in covering the costs of the trip.
It was announced that Michele Asmus, a Niles High School graduate who is currently the interim assistant principal at the Howard-Ellis Elementary School, was offered an administrative contract for the assistant principalship at that school.
The Board approved changes to Ring Lardner's student handbook which dealt with revisions to the daily schedule, core classes, hall passes, and the dress code.
Also on the agenda was a required second reading of the board policy revisions. The first reading was reviewed and approved by the Board.
A motion was passed to set both the annual budget hearing and the Truth-in-Taxation hearing for June 6 at 5:30 p.m. at Westside Administrative services Center.
The budget hearing will review the 2005-2006 General, Debt Fund, and School Service Budgets.
The Board discussed and approved joining the Michigan School Business Officers organization which will allow the use of a controlled spending card.
Similar to a debit card, the controlled spending card will limit the spending amount, place of use, and which items may be purchased, and will reduce the amount of paperwork since purchase orders will no longer be needed.
A report stated that enrollment at the end of April was down, gaining 11 students at the elementary level, but dropping by 21 students at the secondary level, leaving the total district's enrollment change at negative 10.