Parent-Teacher-Student CONFERENCES are coming SOON!

All students at East and West Elementary please make sure you have your conference scheduled with your classroom teacher.  Stop in and say hi to me too!

K-6 Conference Schedule:

Thursday, October 5th- 3:30pm-7:45pm

Tuesday, October 10th- 1:30pm-7:45pm

Brain Teaser

Problem of the Month

Here is the problem of the month from Noetic Math:

WELCOME BACK!

West Elementary staff, students and the community
 celebrate the "Vernie" Mustang outside
 to commemorate his  volunteer work here
 at the Independence Community School District

Students, staff and families...welcome back for the 2017-18 school year!  This is the second year that I will be working with the kids of Independence and West Elementary staff.  This year I will also be working with the students and staff of East Elementary.  

My official capacity will be the ELP instructor for grades K-6.  It will be an exciting year filled with many memories, challenges, some failures and many, many successes!

WELCOME BACK!!!

Top Noetic Math Students

Over 60 students at West Elementary received instruction on problem solving strategies in preparation for the Noetic Math Challenges.  Each score is submitted and compared to students across the country.  Three students at West Elementary received the top honor of National Honor Roll, meaning they were in the top 10% of all scores across the country.  Students were given grade level problems as well as problems a year or two above their grade level.  It is a great challenge for the kids and really stretches their thinking and problem solving skills.  Here are the top placing students in each grade, as well as the National Honor Roll students, CONGRATUALTIONS kids!

STEMi Trailer visits the Independence Schools

This past week has been a busy week around the campus of the Junior/Senior High.  The STEMi trailer from Hawkeye Community College was parked so kids could experience the many aspects of STEM (Science/ Technology/ Engineering/ Math).  During the 4.5 days, over 425 students were able to visit and experience a virtual world inside the trailer.  Students ranging from 4th grade through Seniors made trip during their class time to learn a variety of subjects.  A great experience for all involved!

State Math BEE

Four 6th Grade students from West Elementary participated in the State Math Bee after qualifying at the Regional Event a couple weeks ago.  These four students showed their Mustang Pride and placed 4th overall in the state.  This is an amazing feat considering there was over 100 teams from all over the state that competed.  Congratulations to the team and especially Sydney Schwartz that placed 9th overall in the state.  A big CONGRATULATIONS to these these students: Ceraphine Franck, Caitlyn Hoglan, Sydney Schwartz and Carter Straw!

6th Graders Participate in Eastern Iowa Math Bee

Thirteen sixth grade students made the trip to Cedar Falls this week to compete in the annual AEA267 Math Bee.  This competition had 35 teams competing and over 140 individual students from schools all over the state.  Each of the four West Elementary teams did well representing Independence, and the team of Caitlyn, Cerephine, Carter and Sydney placed 7th overall, while Sydney placed 10th in the individual competition.  These 4 students have earned the right to compete in the state Math Bee competition in a couple weeks to represent Independence.  This is quite an accomplishment and we are very proud of all the students who competed and were challenged with math problems all morning long.  Great job KIDS!!!