Yea, MPS teachers!

It is that very happy time of year -- when MPS staff members are rewarded for good ideas and dedication with a bit of money to help implement the good ideas. These EXCEL grants are for up to $750 each. This is the eighth year of the program.

The grants are made possible through employee contributions through the annual Employee Combined Giving Campaign and through contributions made in memory of Ann Shansky, who was an elementary teacher in MPS for 34 years. Ms. Shansky was an advocate of early childhood education and dedicated her life's work to education and development of children.

This year 48 projects are being funded. Sixty-two teachers involved in the projects will be honored at a reception to be held Monday, Dec. 8, from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. The award presentations are scheduled for 4 p.m. in the MPS Donald J. O'Connell Memorial Auditorium, 5225 W. Vliet Street.

And we here at the massively-staffed Blogging MPS will highlight one or two winning projects each day. Today's debut winners:

Wheatley, Lee merger advances

The School Board's Innovation/School Reform Committee unanimously backed the proposal to house the new academic program at Wheatley.

Wheatley, Lee merger to be discussed

The potential merger of Wheatley and Lee elementary schools will be considered at tomorrow evening's Innovation / School Reform Committee meeting.

The move was requested by school principals James Dawson and Edith Bivens.

Enrollment at Lee, 921 W. Meineck Ave. has dropped from 489 in 2001 to 259 this year, according to the Board item outlining the possible merger. Enrollment at Wheatley, 2442 N. 20th St., dropped from 590 to 183 over the same time period. Almost 83% of the students who live in the two schools' respective attendance areas and who are associated with MPS do not attend their neighborhood school, according to the Board document.

"As a result of continued declining enrollments, the FY10 projected allocations for these schools will not supply enough resources for adequate educational programs," according to the Board item. "The principals began to discuss the possibility of a merger to consolidate enrollment, generate additional revenue, and provide specialist and supportive services to students. The preliminary FY10 projected enrollment for the merged school will be 428 students."

Plans call for the new school, which will be housed at Wheatley, to be a K-8 school with a Head Start program.

Six principals become 10-year master educators

Six MPS principals earned 10-year Wisconsin Master Educator Licenses this year, according to the State Department of Public Instruction.

They are Kathy Bonds, Custer High School; Sallie Brown, Wisconsin Conservatory of Lifelong Learning; Raymond Collie, Thoreau Elementary; Thyra Handford, River Trail Elementary; Linda Roundtree, Metcalfe Elementary (currently at Roosevelt School of the Arts); and Mary Zimmerman, Goodrich Elementary.

The principals were part of the Wisconsin Urban Schools Leadership Project, funded with a grant from the Wallace Foundation. The principals that earned their master licenses developed portfolios that showed mastery of state educator standards, according to a School Board report explaining the accomplishment. It takes one to two years to complete the portfolio, which includes work samples, evidence of exemplary practice and other information.

Go, Thoreau!

Thoreau Elementary School was the November winner of the monthly MPS Excellence in Education Award due to its identification by The President’s Challenge — Physical Activity and Fitness Awards Program as a Physical Activity and Fitness Demonstration Center.

According to the School Board item honoring Thoreau:

Due to exceptionally high standards, this accomplishment is extremely difficult to achieve. Thoreau is the only school in the district — and only the second school in the state of Wisconsin — to have achieved thisgreat honor.

Thoreau is located at 7878 N 60th St.

The video of the presentation is below.

The planned re-opening of Andrew Douglas Middle School will be the topic of a community meeting to be held at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday night (Nov. 25) at the school, 3620 N. 18th St.

The building will house the Milwaukee Education Center middle school, Downtown Institute of Arts and Letters (D.I.A.L.) High School and WORK Institute High School. The schools will be able to expand at the Douglas site.

The School Board already has approved re-opening the school.

At the community meeting, MPS representatives will discuss the Board decision and representatives from the schools will present information about the programs they offer. There also will be time for questions and a tour of the school for interested participants.

If you have questions about the meeting, please contact please call the MPS Department of Administrative Accountability at 475-8016.

Revenue-generating idea: charge for electric plug-ins

The Van Buren School District in Belleville, Mich. is charging staff members who plug in coffee pots or refrigerators or microwaves for electricity useage, according to the Detroit News.

The school board has decided to assess fees for teachers who want to use microwaves, mini-fridges or other small appliances in their classrooms. Costs will range from $13 for a microwave to $32 for a coffee pot and $182 for a mini-fridge.

Van Buren is not alone. A few other districts fighting tight budgets also charge for plugging into school outlets.

Officials of the 6,300-student district think they can bring in about $15,000 through the charges, a (very) small step toward filling a $2 million budget hole.