schools
december19
2019
17
School Board Report
At the December 12, 2019 School
Board Meeting:
Principal Reports – High School/Mid-
dle School Principal Nate Underwood
provided a written report which updated
the Board on school activities. He also
told the Board that a proposal to change
the District policy on how many years
students in high school are taught Hu-
man Sexuality should consider the avail-
ability of funding and staff to teach it.
Currently Human Sexuality is taught
during all three years of middle school,
but only taught during the freshman year
of high school. The Board will discuss
the issue at their January meeting.
District Vice Principal Rachel
Wilcoxen provided the Board with a re-
port on referrals for problem behavior.
Elementary Principal Michelle
Eagleson provided a written report, and
told the Board that the attendance rate at
VES was 94% for November. Eagleson
told the Board several teachers recently
attended training sessions that focused
on effective instruction, creating an ac-
tion plan for early learning, and vocabu-
lary and reading comprehension.
Instructional Hours Report – Superin-
tendent Aaron Miller reported that stu-
dents at the elementary level are well
above the required instructional hours,
but Mist School students are just barely
over the minimum because of time spent
during transportation to and from the
school.
Superintendent Report – Superinten-
dent Aaron Miller provided a timeline
for the District’s process to apply for
and qualify to receive funding through
the Student Success Act. The process
includes community engagement and
focus groups, which have already begun
and will continue in January through
March of 2020. The District will need
to finalize a plan and application which
must be approved by the Board in March.
Miller said he is working with
the Clatskanie and Rainier School Dis-
tricts on a plan to hire a regional Men-
tal Health Coordinator, who would be
shared by the Districts and work with
current councilors and oversee Trau-
ma-Informed Care work with students.
Miller told the Board that he
did not handle the extension of the
transportation contract with Curl’s Bus
Service correctly. He said a represen-
tative from Curl’s will share a proposal
with the Board at the January meeting.
Miller provided an update on
Bond Projects and told the Board the
Metal Shop is nearing completion, al-
though change orders have increased
the costs for electrical installation. He
said art teacher Kaitlin Carr-Kiprotich
is working with architects on the de-
sign for the new art room, and said the
project should be ready to go out to bid
in January.
Vernonia School Board Meetings are held on the second
Thursday of each month. The next meeting is scheduled for
Thursday, January 9 at 6:00 pm in the Schools Library.
Spencer Health and Wellness Report
– Sherry Ford, Director of Columbia
Health Services which provides public
health services for Columbia County,
provided a report on the Spencer Health
and Wellness Clinic, a School-Based
Health Center that operates at the Ver-
nonia Schools facility. The clinic of-
fers primary care services. Ford updated
the Board on current staff at the clinic,
which provides physical health services
two days a week, and provided an update
on mental health services which are pro-
vided by Columbia Community Mental
Health two days a week. Ford reported
that total visits to the clinic have in-
creased from 158 in 2017-18 to 593 in
2018-19.
Board Accepts Resignation – The
Board voted to accept the resignation of
5 th grade teacher Dancia Sammons, ef-
fective December 6, 2019. Sammons
was a first year teacher with the District.
No reason was given for the resignation.
Superintendent Aaron Miller said a sub-
stitute is currently teaching the class and
he hopes to hire a permanent replace-
ment as soon as possible.
2019 VHS Fall Sports Awards
Volleyball
2A Girls All State Awards
1 st Team: Jordan Walters
2 nd Team: Brooklynn Walters
2A All State Tournament Team
1 st Team: Jordan Walters
Northwest League Awards
1 st Team: Jordan Walters, Senior
1 st Team: Brooklynn Walters, Sophomore
2 nd Team: Jessica Butcher, Senior
2 nd Team: Nita Cook, Sophomore
Team Awards
MVP: Jordan Walters
Most Inspirational: Isabelle Coleman
Most Improved: Kortnie Adams
Football
Northwest League Awards
2 nd Team Linebacker:
Cutter Barklow, Senior
2 nd Team Running back:
Calvin Clapshaw, Senior
Honorable Mention (HM) Running back:
Elijah Thompson
HM Wide Receiver: Gunnar Harral
HM Defensive Line: Dustin Carreon
HM Linebacker: Camren Depue
HM Kicker: Leonardo Corbetta
HM Return: Calvin Clapshaw
Team Awards
Inspirational: Shayne Lardy, Tyron
Clapshaw, Wyatt Jones, Hunter Nordahl
Most Improved: Manuel Lezama
Cross Country
Northwest League Awards
1 st Team (3 rd place) & 1 st Team All District
(5 th place): Sadie Gump
1 st Team (7 th place): Jenna Handegard
2 nd Team (8 th place): Kale Sullivan
Team Awards
MVP Female: Sadie Gump
Female Most Improved: Chloe Guiberson
MVP Male: Kale Sullivan
Male Most Improved: Max Anderson
Leadership: Nick Costley
Vernonia Students of the Month
November 2019
Elementary School
Kamille Manning (K),
Sylis Attenberger (K),
Sawyer DeWitt (1 st ),
Leilani Borst (1 st ),
Abbey Thorn (3 rd ),
Sawyer Beattie (2 nd )
Middle School
These three students are being
recognized for showing Caring
during the past month.
Jesse White, 8 th grade
Angelica Amaro-Rojas, 7 th grade
Marissa Naeve, 6 th grade
Kale Sullivan
Grade 12
Kale is the Student Body President, Vice
President of the Vernonia National Honor
Society, and was Homecoming King this year.
He is a three sport athlete who competed in
cross country this fall, is currently playing
basketball, and plans to take part in track and
field in the spring. Kale says he's unsure
about his plans for next year, but may pursue
a career in a trade.
Sponsored by State Representative Brad Witt