Malta School Board hears of class activities, grade changes and summer

The Malta School District held their regular board meeting on May 14 and received tons of information from the principals of the three schools including field trips, award ceremony announcements and a future change of grading policy. The last day of school for most students is Thursday, May 29, and the Malta High School graduation is going to be held on Sunday, May 25.

Malta Junior High School Report

During the committee reports, Malta Middle School Principal Shawn Bleth informed the school board that the last day of school for the eighth grade is Wednesday, May 28, while the lower grades end the following day. On that day, there will also be the middle school luncheon at 11:15 a.m. followed by the certification and awards program at 1 p.m. The last day of school for the sixth and seventh grade will be the following day, May 29.

Mr. Bleth said that the theme for the middle school luncheon will have an All-American theme, featuring chicken fried steak as the main course.

Mr. Bleth informed the school board that since their last meeting the middle school had competed and excelled at the Academic Olympics. Eighth grader student Bella Mackey placed second out of all the students from different schools at the competition.

“It was a good overall performance by all of our students,” Mr. Bleth said. “A good job by them and their advisor, Shyla Clausen. She did a nice job with those kids as well.”

Mr. Bleth informed the board of the fifth grade meeting which was recently held at the middle school. The meeting is hosted as a way of getting next year’s sixth grade class – and their parents – ready for the transition of changing schools next year, adding that Mrs. Buechler’s class won a pizza party for having the most parents show to the event.

Malta Elementary School Report

Malta Elementary School Principal Theodore Schye told the school board that the enrollment of the school is 220. He said that he wasn’t yet sure of the kindergarten enrollment, but felt safe in saying that it would be at least 32 new students.

“That can change as August rolls around,” he added, “but I think there will be somewhere between 32 to 35 (students).”

He told the board that earlier in the day the fifth grade class traveled to Glasgow for the Pie Sponsored bowling trip.

“I didn’t think I’d like bowling,” fifth grade student Sophia Hebert said earlier in the week. “But I had a great time.”

Hebert said she scored a 12 in the first game she bowled, but stepped it up a bit in later rounds (and yes, there is a relation to this story’s author.)

On Thursday, May 15, the first grade class participated in a train trip to Glasgow. Mr. Schye said that the program is a good educational experience for the students as many of them will not have many chances to ride a train and that often the train’s conductor will talk to the children and give a tour.

On the following day, the second grade class went to the Great Plains Dinosaur Museum for a field trip as a follow-up to the dinosaur museum that was recently held by the second grade classes at the school.

On Wednesday, May 21, the elementary school will hold the Cafeteria Awards for students who have gone the entire school year with good behavior while in the cafeteria. Mr. Schye said that almost 98-percent of the school’s student body qualified for the award and were rewarded with a snack.

On Thursday, May 22, the Chocolate Sales Award Assembly will be held. Mr. Schye said that he wasn’t sure exactly how much money was raised during the sale, but added that all the money will go toward purchasing Google Chrome Books for the school.

On Tuesday, May 27, the elementary school will be holding their Accelerated Reader and Presidential Awards Ceremony starting at 8:30 a.m.

“That is what we have coming up,” Mr. Schye said. “School is winding down and we are already doing preparation for next year.”

Malta High School Report

Malta High School Principal and Activities Director Scott King informed the school board that the summer custodial schedule at the school will include dusting down and painting of the industrial shop, carpet cleaning in all three hallways and the band room and that other items are under consideration. He said that there also needs to be some refurbishment work done at Mustang Field, adding that runways, throw pits and pole vault area are at the top of that list.

Mr. King told the board of the grade changes that will go into effect. He said that all regular classes at the school will be weighed on a four-point scale while the advanced placement classes will be weighed on a five-point scale.

“In order to allow our students the best opportunity to react to that,” Mr. King said, “that will begin with the graduating class of 2016. So those kids are sophomores right now. We thought we were going to do it right away, but really we would be handicapping those students who weren’t planning on taking AP classes.”

Mr. King also told the board that there will be some changes to the school’s honor roll. He said that students will need to maintain a B average, with no grade below a B-, in order to be placed on the roll. He also said that beginning with the class of 2016, the Top 10 honors for the graduating class will be narrowed down to the Top Eight.

Mr. King said that he has also received requests from senior students requesting to take all their tests and check out of school before Memorial Day. Mr. King said that all such requests have been denied as the end of semester tests are scheduled for the Tuesday and Wednesday after the holiday.

Graduation for the Malta High School will be on Sunday, May 25, at 2 p.m.