Kansas.com: Education

Obamas choose elite school for daughters

RICHARD LEIBY — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 01:38 CST

Continuing a tradition among Washington's power elite, President-elect Barack Obama and his wife have decided to send their kids to Sidwell Friends School. Michelle Obama confirmed Friday that Malia and Sasha, the incoming first daughters, will enroll at the pricey private school when the family moves into the White House in January.

Although Michelle Obama has said that public schools were under consideration and consulted with District of Columbia school officials, the decision narrowed this week after she and the girls visited Sidwell and the private Georgetown Day School. Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, visited classes and met with students while their mother talked with administration officials and parents.

Sidwell has long been described by some as the Harvard of Washington's private schools. Its tuition runs as high as $29,442 a year.

Three granddaughters of Vice President-elect Joe Biden attend the school.

Malia had told her parents she wanted to attend Sidwell because of her friendship with one of the Biden grandchildren, according to sources familiar with the decision.

Regents to appeal cuts, may raise costs

JEANNINE KORANDA — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 06:25 CST

State universities plan to appeal some proposed budget cuts, but they also are suggesting that students pay more to live and eat on campus.

The Kansas Board of Regents voted Thursday to accept most of the 3 percent budget cut proposed by the governor's staff for this year, but to challenge a possible 4 percent cut for fiscal 2010, which starts July 1. The cuts to be appealed include money for aviation, pharmacy and medical training in Wichita.

Regents also discussed plans to increase the cost of food and housing an average of nearly $300 annually. Some worried that it isn't a good time because many families face financial struggles of their own.

"At this point, I have a real discomfort with what we are doing, given the time we're in," said regent Gary Sherrer.

Students at Wichita State University would pay $6,060 for food and housing next year, up $200 from this year. That is the smallest proposed increase.

WuShock turns 60

BECCY TANNER — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 06:47 CST

WU IS NOT THE RETIRING TYPE

Sixty years ago, an unusual mascot was born amid student stress and deadlines. To hear Wilbur Elsea tell it, a monster political science test was looming. He needed to find a date to a dance. And there was this art contest.

He was a 22-year-old art major. He had to do well.

The contest? Create a design that showed the spirit of what was then called Wichita University.

Elsea thought it should reflect the area's history of farming and wheat, given that the university's sports teams were called the Shockers. And it should be scary.

Chinese student enrollment hits record levels

LORI YOUNT — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 06:40 CST

Fei Li first learned of Wichita State University from a friend of a friend when she was considering leaving China to study at an American university. She was told the people in Wichita are "very nice."

"He said it's not like New York. It's suitable for study here," Li said.

Li, who enrolled three months ago and is earning a master's degree in economics, is one of 132 Chinese students at WSU this fall.

The number of Chinese students at WSU has more than quadrupled in the past two years, up from 28 in the fall of 2006.

Nationally, Chinese students are enrolling in U.S. universities in record numbers, encouraged by aggressive recruiting combined with China's booming economy and growing middle class.

Superintendent: Move fast on tech ed

LORI YOUNT — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 05:58 CST

Wichita district officials need to move very quickly to decide the focus of a $10 million technology magnet program, the district's interim superintendent said Monday.

Martin Libhart told school board members he hopes to organize a summit on secondary career and technical education early next year.

Libhart said the district would gather ideas from local businesses and members of the community before choosing the theme of the new high school magnet program, funded by the new $370 million bond issue.

The record-setting bond issue, passed Nov. 4, reserves $17 million for career and technical education programs. That amount includes $1 million each for programs at the district's seven comprehensive high schools and $10 million to establish a new technical education magnet program.

Libhart told school board members at a workshop meeting Monday that talks about enhancing the district's current technical education programs need to start as soon as possible.

SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 01:40 CST

Wichitans honored by University of Kansas

Students from high schools in Wichita were named Kansas Honor Scholars by the University of Kansas Alumni Association and KU Endowment on Nov. 3 at a reception in Wichita.

Honorees are those who rank in the top 10 percent of their high school senior classes regardless of classes taken, occupational plans or higher-education goals. Each student received an American Heritage Dictionary in hardcover and CD versions.

Bishop Carroll -- Christine Barragree, Alissa Berger, Christina Brummett, Garett Burns, Tyler Darland, Nathan Feldkamp, Stephanie Grogran, Emily Hendricks, Andrew Hoffman, Nicholas Johansen, Joslynn Lubbers, Benjamin Meether, Ashley Moellinger, Anh H. Nguyen, Anh N. Nguyen, Marie Osterhaus, Kelly Reynaga, Chelsea Ridder, Joshua Rohleder, Andrea Sander, Lucas Schippers, Sarah Scrafford, Rachel Stanley, Gretchen Strathe and Joseph Stuever.

Wichita Collegiate School -- Varoon Bashyakarla, Alex Chung, Mary Lloyd-Davies, Kerri Peterson and Hanna Robertson.

SCHOOL CALENDAR

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 01:40 CST

High school

Goddard High School Madrigals, 6 p.m. Thursday, NewMarket Square, 2441 N. Maize Road. Free.

Metro-Boulevard chili cook-off, 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 751 George Washington Blvd. Students, parents and staff take chili recipes for others to sample and judge.

Districtwide

Wrap It Up Holiday Market and Poinsettia Sale, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Dec. 4, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 5, Wichita Collegiate School, 9115 E. 13th St. Clothing, jewelry, home decor, gourmet food, poinsettias. Drawings for gift certificates. Free admission. Information, 316-371-1118.

Exploration Place exhibit lets visitors experience a weak tornado

LORI YOUNT — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 02:41 CST

Mulvane Grade School students had a hair-raising experience at Exploration Place on Friday when they stepped into the museum's new tornado simulator.

"I thought it would lift me up off the ground because it was going really fast," fifth-grader Keonte Emerson said.

The tornado simulator produces winds up to 79 mph -- about the strength of an EF1 tornado -- and is equipped with a camera to capture the moment.

"It's a weaker tornado," said Traci Kallhoff, Exploration Place's head of education. "It's like walking on a windy Kansas day... without the danger of debris."

Wichita educator gets $25,000 award

BECCY TANNER — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 01:39 CST

It's a 'whole bunch of money'

Assistant principal Vanessa Martinez trembled as she stood in front of the students and staff at Horace Mann Dual Language Magnet on Thursday morning.

She had just won, as one student put it, "a whole bunch of money."

Twenty-five thousand dollars, in fact, to spend any way she wants.

Alongside her stood Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and Jane Foley, who oversees the selection and notification of the national Milken Educator Awards.

Wichita may feel the deepest cuts in college funding

RON SYLVESTER — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 05:56 CST

When the Kansas Board of Regents meets next week, it will face the daunting task of how to slash an estimated $114.4 million from the state's colleges and universities over the next two years.

Some of the biggest cuts could come in Wichita, where Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' budget office this week proposed cutting funding for aviation infrastructure, and pharmacy and medical training programs.

As the national economy spirals into recession, the state anticipates a budget shortfall that could leave agencies fighting for every dollar in coming months.

The suggested cuts are bigger, and needed faster, than anyone expected, throwing the routine annual budget procedure into crisis mode.

"You know we were a little bit of an island of prosperity here," said Jill Docking, a financial planner in Wichita who serves on the Board of Regents. "The coasts have been dealing with this longer than we have."

Earhart Elementary students move into new school building

SUZANNE PEREZ TOBIAS — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 05:57 CST

"Bye, library!" shouted the kindergartners in Jan McLaughlin's class.

Carrying books, backpacks, pencil boxes and glue sticks, they waved at each landmark as they passed through Earhart Environmental Magnet Elementary.

"Bye, bathrooms!" they said.

"Bye, office!"

"Bye, hallways!"

Grade school weighs aviation focus

LORI YOUNT — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 01:40 CST

Mueller Elementary School may be the first elementary in the Wichita school district to develop a program dedicated to encouraging students to learn engineering skills -- and to ultimately help quench the local aircraft industry's thirst for qualified workers.

Mueller administrators pitched an aerospace and engineering magnet program to the school board Monday, hoping the plan could start next year. Board members will need to publicly review the proposal once more before they can vote on it.

The catalyst for turning Mueller into a magnet program was the end of busing for integration, school officials said. Until this school year, white students selected through the district's annual birthday lottery were bused to Mueller.

"We wanted to draw people back to the area," Mueller principal Anne Clemens said. "And here we are in the air capital of America."

Board member Betty Arnold said she thought the plan moved toward those goals.

SCHOOL CALENDAR

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 01:40 CST

Elementary school

Earhart Environmental Magnet moving day parade to the new Earhart building, 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, 4401 N. Arkansas.

High school

Wichita Collegiate School dinner theater production of "Once Upon a Mattress" with dessert auction, 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 9115 E. 13th St. Show 7:30 p.m. Cost $20; $15 for children 11 and younger. Call 316-634-0433.

Districtwide

Wichitans complete Cosmosphere camps

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 01:40 CST

Six Wichita elementary students have graduated from five-day commuter camps at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center

Graduates of Investigate Space, Operation Lunar Base are Laeten Rice, son of Shawn and Cassie Kline; Cole Thornton, son of Brian and Susan Thornton; Noah Santry, son of Aaron and Kristi Santry; and Skyler Sprecker, son of Tim and Janet Sprecker.

Graduates of Investigate Space, Solar System are Kline and Hays Koegeboehn, sons of Gary and Lucy Koegeboehn.

Anderson Elementary announces All-Stars

Anderson Elementary School All-Stars for the week of Oct. 20-24: Vanessa Gutierrez, LaTrell King, Kiara Ochoa, Timothy Henriques, Oscar Gomez, Haniyah Temple, Litzy Perez, Christopher Limones, Wjaunmecus Bowen, Grant Scrivner, Santiago Ramos, Rayne Buendia, Aubrie Hazelton, Courtney Avery, Edgar Perez, Chipper Cotton, Tyrone Gracey, Ale Niblock, Carlos Ruiz, Nikki Guest, Victor Ayala, John Jimenez, Savannah Rhoades, Dalton Swope, Gilbria Ramirez, Sha'Jla Ross and Brodie Powers.

Wichita superintendent search gears up with focus group blitz

LORI YOUNT — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 05:51 CST

The search for a permanent superintendent of Wichita schools will intensify this week with a three-day blitz of focus groups.

At the forums, community members can tell a search firm hired by the school board what they want to see in the district's next superintendent.

In addition to hosting five public forums from Wednesday to Friday, company representatives also will hold invitation-only focus groups with about a dozen civic and business organizations.

"We kind of want a wide range of ideas," said school board president Lynn Rogers. "It's an opportunity for everyone in community to put all their thoughts together."

Information gathered at the forums will be used in establishing the school board's criteria to select a superintendent.

SUPERINTENDENT SEARCH FORUMS

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 01:38 CST

If you go

What: Public forums where residents can tell a search firm what criteria for new superintendent should be.

Where: North High School, 1437 N. Rochester;

Gordon Parks Academy, 2201 E. 25th St.

When: North High: Community forum, 6 p.m. Wednesday; parent forum, 6 p.m. Thursday; student forum, 6 p.m. Thursday. Gordon Parks: Forum for parents/ community and separate Spanish-speaking forum, 10 a.m. Friday

NFL athletes urge students to be active

JEFFREY LUTZ — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 05:36 CST

Dave Saunders wanted some soccer goals. He got so much more. The Jardine Middle School principal had been talking with Wichita school district athletic director Bill Faflick about getting some pipes to make soccer goals because so many students at Jardine play the sport.

So when the NFL Network contacted the district about which schools could use some help, Jardine was one of the first mentioned.

Friday, former NFL stars Rod Woodson and Will Shields were at Jardine as part of the NFL's Keep Gym In School program.

The NFL Network, Kansas City Chiefs and Cox Communications teamed up to donate $55,000 worth of exercise equipment to Jardine. Woodson and Shields hosted a pep rally and some football-themed exercises.

"We had thought about trying to get some portable (goals), but those get beat up and broken so easily," Saunders said. "We were just trying to figure out some way of scraping up a couple thousand dollars to get some goals just so we could have some more activity out there."

Rice County passes bond for new school

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 01:41 CST

Sterling will get a new grade school after voters in the Rice County School District narrowly approved a $20.4 million bond issue Tuesday.

Unofficial results showed the bond issue passed 658 to 620. An additional 31 provisional ballots remain to be counted in Rice County, and two remain in Reno County, where a portion of the school district lies.

"I'm still hesitant to pop the cork yet," said Sterling Grade School principal Brennan Riffel said Wednesday. "Assuming it holds true, we're very excited about the possibility of a new grade school."

The plan also calls for an addition to the high school, including new classrooms, auditorium and commons area, along with other renovations.

Superintendent Fred Dierksen said he received several calls of support Wednesday and a couple of calls from people who said they had voted against the bond issue.

Coming upgrades from bond thrill staff, students

SUZANNE PEREZ TOBIAS AND LORI YOUNT — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 01:41 CST

It seems odd for a fifth-grade teacher to look forward to rain, which traps antsy students inside. But the first downpour outside a brand new classroom -- and the prospect of kids not having to tromp through mud whenever they need a drink or bathroom break -- is precisely what Sara Batchelder thought about this week.

Batchelder teaches in a portable classroom outside Seltzer Elementary School. A bond issue Wichita voters approved Tuesday will mean new classrooms, restrooms and a storm shelter for Seltzer -- and no more having to cross the large puddle teachers call "Lake Seltzer."

"It's amazing how much teaching time you lose just going back and forth," Batchelder said recently, as she led students from the portable to the main building. "It's not easy."

While nearly every Wichita public school will get something out of the $370 million bond issue, several will see major improvements or expansions or be completely rebuilt.

Relief from crowding

WHAT'S NEXT?

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 02:40 CST

If the vote is certified, the bond issue will pay for dozens of projects, including about $140 million for six new schools in the high-growth northeast and southeast areas of the district, $61 million in athletics upgrades and $17 million in technical education programs.

District officials also plan to build 275 new classrooms. The new construction will allow them to add 60 storm shelters, partially paid for with grants from FEMA.

The district will start selling bonds early next year. As with the 2000 bond issue, school officials said they plan to release bonds in several phases.

Meanwhile, the district will hire a bond consultant to coordinate projects and create a timeline.

School board members have already approved the formation of a bond oversight committee, which will monitor the progress of bond projects and flag potential problems. The board will begin selecting members in the coming weeks.