Tuesday, December 30, 2014

AP District Honor Roll

The School District of Belleville recently earned a place on the 5th Annual Advanced Placement® Honor Roll. This year’s honor roll includes just 547 school districts in the United States and Canada. These districts increased access to AP courses for more students, while maintaining or improving the rate at which their students earned scores of 3 or higher on AP exams.

Belleville was one of only 27 school districts in the state to earn a place on the honor roll. Locally, the Madison Metropolitan School District, Oregon School District, and the Verona Area School District joined the School District of Belleville on the Advanced Placement Honor Roll. Lodi was the only other Capitol Conference school district to appear on the list.

For more information and for a list of the schools on the list visit: http://professionals.collegeboard.com/k-12/awards/ap-district-honor-roll

Holiday Jazz Tour

The High School Jazz Band and Vocal Jazz group toured numerous sites on Friday, December 19, performing at schools, a retirement home, and the Dane County Airport. The Band also performed holiday tunes at the home boys' basketball game against Lodi that same night.








Middle School Activities in December

Pastries with Parents

On Friday, December 19, the Middle School staff invited parents and students to join them in the MS Commons for coffee, juice, and cookies. The students had helped to decorate holiday cookies during their RtI period in the days leading up to this event. About 40 students and parents joined us at some point that morning.

7th Grade Political Convention

Mr. Swenson's and Mr. Gentilli's 7th grade Social Studies classes held a political convention on Monday, December 22.  Student moderators and representatives led their peers from the auditorium stage, but all students, even those in the audience, participated in the process.  The teachers and students later reviewed and suggested methods to improve the convention in the future.

Middle School GeoBee

The Middle School Geography Bee was held in the high school auditorium on Tuesday, December 9.  The photo below shows 8th grader Gary Salmela approaching the microphone to answer the first question of the competition.  Gary eventually went on to win this year's event. 
The Middle School Spelling Bee will also be held in the auditorium on Wednesday, January 14, at 1:30pm (with a snow make-up date  on January 21 if necessary).

Middle and High School Band and Choir Concerts

On Thursday, December 11, the Middle School Band and Choir held a combined concert. Having attended my own middle school daughter's Band concert a week later and comparing the two, I was so impressed and proud of our 7th and 8th grade students. Although Mr. Schrank did a wonderful job filling in, it was great to see Mrs. Krueger back in action! The singing of the middle school boys and the choreography at the end of the Choir's performance brought smiles to those in attendance.


The High School Band and Choir held their own combined concert on Tuesday, December 16. The Jazz Band sounded terrific, but I have to admit that my favorite song was the Halloween piece "Hocus Pocus."

Monday, December 29, 2014

Business Marketing Field Trip (December 9)

On December 9, Belleville High School's Business Marketing class took a field trip to the Nitty Gritty and the Kohl Center.  The students were provided with an interactive experience that allowed them to ask questions directly to the owner of the Nitty Gritty and to walk through what a "game day" experience is like at the Kohl Center.  Each student was able to take away a deeper understanding of the world of Marketing.

FBLA Field Trip (Submitted 12-8 by Claire Butters)

Recently Belleville's FBLA Chapter took a trip to Chicago.  On our expedition, we learned a lot about entrepreneurship and how the business owners changed their approach during the holidays.

While exploring the Magnificent Mile, we took note of how the prices tend to be higher in larger cities than in smaller cities.  It was explained to us that it is a chain:
  • A larger city means a larger population.
  • With a larger population, you will have more people shopping.
  • With higher rates of business, there will be more competition to have stores established.
The stores that are on Michigan Avenue have to pay high rent to keep their spot.  This is why many stores have such high prices; they are the ones who can afford to be on Michigan Avenue.  

The students were able to complete their holiday shopping and enjoy a slice of deep dish Chicago-style pizza.

Students of the Month for November

The Student-of-the-Month luncheon was held on Monday, December 8.  Teachers from each department in the Middle and High Schools nominated 13 total students.  Students received a certificate, movie passes donated by Marcus Theaters, and their photo in the Post Messenger Recorder.
Seated (Left to right): Amanda Sorenson, Brandi Long, Lisa Bakken, Mariah Hustad, Amber Kolste, Sophia Grady, and Erin Kittleson
Standing (Left to right):  Celia Carr, Lauren Severson, Grace Pryzbl, Tim Jelle, Jackson Richter, and Hannah Matteson

Welcome to the Principal's Blog

We all have access to so much information at once that it can be hard to sort through it.  In an effort to be more timely in my communication with both parents and students, I have transitioned from a monthly newsletter to this blog.  My hope is that the principal’s blog will provide news and information “as it happens,” rather than a summary of events from prior weeks.