What Does School Refusal Look Like? A Mental Health Story
Becca is from all accounts a very normal elementary school student who loves school. She is not what comes to mind when you think of mental health. In fact, she comes from a stable, middle-class family that has avoided many of the risk factors that are often associated with mental health. Her mom, Annie, has a specialist in education degree and her dad Andy works at the university in IT security. They have open lines of communication, promote Becca’s self-esteem, and are cognizant to help equip all three of their children for their future.
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School Resource Officers
Thanks to our fantastic partnership with the Ames Police Department, we are excited to announce the addition of Officer Don Johnsen as a second school resource officer (SRO) within the District. Officer Johnsen will join Officer Nick Schieffer who has served as the only SRO for the past 5 years. Both officers will collaborate with District and building administrators throughout the year with the primary goal of school safety.
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Ames High Construction Update and Safety (August 2019)
Construction Safety As the school year rapidly approaches, we want to remind everyone that we are entering this school year with different conditions than in past years with an active construction site on school grounds and in close proximity to the current high school. Ames High is always active with students, parents, and the community attending numerous events throughout the week. Safety is a primary focus of ours and we want to remind everyone to be cautious around the adjacent construction site. Here are a few key reminders: Be aware of increased traffic along Ridgewood Avenue associated with construction activities including cross traffic at the two construction entrances. Obey all construction warning signs, including pedestrian, bicycle, and vehicle. There will be time periods where detours will be necessary to perform the required work. Respect the limits of construction – no students, faculty, athletes, parents, and visitors should enter the construction site without authorization from Story Construction and the Ames Community School District. Anyone authorized to be in the construction site will be escorted by Story Construction. We will continue to work to minimize any disruption to school activities and to communicate any known issues ahead of time to keep the parents and the community informed.
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New Director of Equity and Director of Technology
The Ames Community School District is excited to announce Dr. Anthony Jones as the new Director of Equity, a position new to the District, and Patrick Donovan as Director of Technology. Both are new to their respected positions but have had successful careers within the Ames District.
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Girl Up: United Nations Teen Advisor
This summer, Ames High senior Ganna Omar attended the 2019 Girl Up Leadership Summit in Washington D.C. as a United Nations Foundation, Girl Up Teen Advisor. The annual conference hosts “passionate youth advocates from around the world,” in an “enriching, cross-cultural experience that aims to empower, educate, and activate the potential of young changemakers.” Girl Up was founded by the United Nations Foundation in 2010, and continues to work across a global community of partners to achieve gender equality worldwide. Omar has led the Ames High Girl Up chapter for the past year where their work has focused on raising awareness, lobbying elected officials, and fundraising.
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Enrich, Empower, Excel Summer School
Summer programming looked a little different this year but provided many of the great courses that families were accustomed to. Two programs within the district (ELP Super Summer and ALP summer school) and two community partners (YSS and United Way of Story County) joined together to create the Enrich, Empower, Excel summer program. Dr. Anthony Jones, Director of Equity and administrator in charge of the summer program said, “The reasons the programs joined together were to ensure all students have equal access to rich learning opportunities and to enhance the academic enrichment provided to all students.”
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New Logo and Brand Standards
In April 2018, the Ames community overwhelming approved a bond referendum for a new high school. With the design of the new Ames High School underway, now was a prime opportunity to assess the “Ames High” brand. Through our evaluation of the brand, we quickly realized that Ames High brand had no brand standards or proper file formats associated with it. Brand standards are a set of guidelines for the colors, graphic elements, logo specifications, and fonts that comprise a brand. In essence, they are the glue that holds a brand together. Without those, it is difficult to regulate how our brand is used and we often see the inconsistent application and an overall diminished brand. For example, a walk-through of Ames High showed three different secondary mascot logos being used in a variety of ways. Through our evaluation, we also quickly realized that our elementary schools, as well as Ames Middle School, would benefit from a solid identity.
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New Fellows Elementary Principal
We are pleased to announce Lana LaSalle as the new principal of Fellows Elementary School starting in the 2019-2020 school year. LaSalle has served as an elementary principal in the Bettendorf Community School District since 2012 and has vast knowledge in the areas of math and literacy curriculum. She has also been instrumental in providing professional development opportunities for staff in her district.
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Phases of Construction
On June 3, members of the school board and district administrative staff took a moment to celebrate years of design at the official “groundbreaking ceremony” for the next Ames High School. Just over a year since the Ames community approved a bond referendum for the building, the moment marked the end of design and the beginning of what will be a 3-year construction project to build the next Ames High School.
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The Ames High Experience
The high school experience is one that lasts with us forever. It is a formidable time in many of our lives where the experiences push us to become who we are. Values become established, personalities take hold, and it is a time when we contemplate our future and what we could become. There is no question that each high school experience is different, but the overall process remains the same: students gather together, they learn, and then they leave and make the world a better place. In Ames, our purpose is to empower every individual to reach their full personal and educational potential.
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