February 21: The 7th Annual Capital High School Jazz Benefit Concert featuring Curtis Stigers at 7:00 p.m. in the Capital High Auditorium, 8055 W. Goddard, Boise. Tickets are $20 at the door. It is going to be a great concert!

February 26: Community Education Winter session of classes continue. Review the list of classes starting this week and enroll online. Hurry, classes fill quickly!

March 1: Boise Mayor Dave Bieter will visit Jefferson Elementary School from 9 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. to read to students as part of Read Across America.

March 2: Read Across America Day - a celebration of literacy with an all-day event scheduled to be held in the North Junior High School Library. Schedule follows:

Several North Jr. High students readers and writers will participate, as well. This is North's 2nd annual Read Across America Day celebration, with the goal of making this an annual event.

March 5: To celebrate Idaho Day, a number of schools in the Boise School District will hold special events/activities. For example, Lowell Elementary School will host a Hoedown from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. featuring live square dancing, square dance calling, music, food and fun! During its 2014 Session, the Idaho Legislature established an official Idaho Day to be observed each year on March 4th to commemorate the creation of Idaho by President Abraham Lincoln on that day in 1863. It will be the day when state and local agencies, historical societies, schools, Indian tribes, civic groups, chambers of commerce, clubs, the media, and Idaho citizens in general can celebrate and educate about Idaho, her culture, her history, her diversity, her beauty, her resources and her greatness. Learn more...

March 17: North Junior High School will host the first-ever Idaho Battle of the Books Tournament from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. This is a new and growing program across all of Idaho, started last year at North. This year's event will feature student teams from North, Riverglen, East and Fairmont junior high schools, competing in teams of 4 students each in a reading-based program that uses competition to encourage students to read more books! This is the second year of the program at North, but the first year at the other schools, and next year the plan is to add several West Ada schools, as well as schools from other parts of Idaho. Author Jennifer A. Nielsen will be the guest of honor. Rediscovered Books will be selling books that day (Nielsen will be signing), and Scotty's Hot Dog cart will available for those in attendance. 

March 23: End of third quarter - Early release K-6.

March 26 - 30: Spring break - No school K-12.

Pulitzer-Prize Winning Author Speaks to Capital High Students: Capital High School hosted American Novelist and Pulitzer-Prize Winning Author Colson Whitehead (pictured) on Tuesday, February 13, 2018. Whitehead met with students to discuss writing and his work The Underground Railroad, which a group of 25 students and teachers have been reading. The Underground Railroad tells the story of Cora, a teenage slave who seeks to escape a Georgia plantation. The discussion was student-led with four of Capital High's Writer's Guild students, Shelley Toussau, Bailey Arendt, Kensie Labree-Scarborough and Peyton Wagner. Whitehead's visit was arranged by Capital High School Language Arts Teacher Paula Uriarte. See video below.

The award-winning author was in Boise as part of The Cabin's Readings and Conversations. Whitehead's visit to Capital High School was sponsored by the John William Jackson Fund, University of Idaho, Boise State University and the Boise Public Library. 

Capital High Student Recognized: Ryan Hibbs (pictured), a junior at Capital High School, has been invited to participate in the National Hispanic Recognition Program. Ryan scored in the top 2.5% on the PSAT/NMSQT among all Hispanic and Latino test takers in our region.

Boise High Students Recognized: Baylie McCallister (pictured), a sophomore at Boise High School, has been selected to represent Boise, Idaho as a National Youth Correspondent to the 2018 Washington Journalism and Media Conference at George Mason University. McCallister joins a select group of students from all over the country for an intensive study of journalism and media. McCallister was chosen based on academic accomplishments and a demonstrated interest and excellence in journalism and media studies.

Boise High School Student Receives Award: Boise High Senior Lauren Tate (pictured) was selected to receive the  Rotary Club of Boise Outstanding Student Award. She was recognized during the Rotary Club of Boise's lunch meeting held on Thursday, February 15, 2018.  

Frank Church High School Student Receives Award: Frank Church High School Senior Josh Hemmert (pictured) was selected to receive the Rotary Club of Boise Outstanding Student Award. Josh was presented with the award during a Rotary luncheon held on December 7, 2017. Josh is pictured with his teacher, Jesse Bastian.

Roosevelt Students Succeed in Service Learning Project: This past December, Roosevelt Elementary School students (pictured) partnered with the Music and Memory Program to bring this program to the residents of Shaw Mountain of Cascadia. MUSIC & MEMORY® is a non-profit organization that brings personalized music into the lives of the elderly or infirm through digital music technology, vastly improving quality of life. Over the span of three weeks, Roosevelt students donated $2,267.99 in iTunes cards and cash, along with over 30 new/used iPods. On Friday, April 6th, Roosevelt will present represetnatives from Shaw Mountain with a check and equipment at a school-wide assembly beginning at 9 a.m. Local news media are invited to attend this check presentation.

Building a Robot: "The Hardest Fun You'll Ever Have": Boise School District's Team Tators (pictured) is one of five Treasure Valley robotics teams that competes in FIRST Robotics, an international high school robotics competition. Recently, Idaho Statesman's Katherine Jones spent some time with Team Tators and filed this video report.

Last year, Team Tators took home the third place trophy in the FIRST Robotics World Championships. This year, they are working hard toward their goal of taking home the first place trophy.

Team Tators will compete in the following upcoming regional events:

Timberline Debate Students Qualify for Nationals: Three Timberline High School students (pictured) recently qualified to compete in the National Speech and Debate Tournament to be held June 17-22, 2018 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The Tournament is hosted by the National Speech & Debate Association, which connects, supports and inspires a diverse community committed to empowering students through competitive speech and debate.

Boise School District Teams Up with Idaho Power and School Districts Throughout Idaho & Oregon to Save Energy: Your Boise School District is working to save energy. Throughout 2017, Boise School District was engaged in a Continous Energy Improvement (CEI) Cohort for Schools program through Idaho Power. The cohort brought together superintendents, principals, teachers and volunteers from school districts in Idaho and eastern Oregon to share knowledge on energy saving opportunities. Learn more in this month's Green Apple Bites e-publication.

The Flu and What You Can Do: This Winter 2018, Boise School District has had several confirmed cases of influenza. Influenza (also known as flu) is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses that infect the nose, throat, and lungs. Flu is different from a cold, and usually comes on suddenly. While flu illness can vary from mild to severe, individuals may need medical care because of the flu. Here's important information from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) provided as a public service to assist Boise District parents, students and staff members during this flu season. 

IASA, ISBA & IEA Opposed to Private School Vouchers: The three major education stakeholder groups in Idaho - the Idaho Association of School Administrators, Idaho School Boards Association and Idaho Education Association are on record opposing private school vouchers. In a recent editorial posted on Idaho Education News, the three groups are unanimous in their position that private school voucher legislation currently before the Idaho Legislature will negatively impact Idaho's public schools and the children they serve. Read more here...

Science Standards and Climate Change Issue Bring National News Media to Idaho & Boise School District: A national news crew from Education Week and the PBS NewsHour recently paid a visit to the Boise School District as part of their coverage of Idaho’s Science Standards and the current discussion in the Idaho Legislature about whether to include climate change in the standards. Correspondent Lisa Stark and Producer Dan Morris visited Roosevelt Elementary School and Fairmont Junior High School on Wednesday, January 31st. The news story that was produced aired during the PBS NewsHour on Tuesday, February 20, 2018 and can also be viewed online.

Data Points - The Folly of Rankinig Schools Based on Test Scores Alone: In his latest Data Points blog post, Boise School District Superintendent Dr. Don Coberly explores the issue of ranking schools solely based on test scores and how test scores don't tell the whole story.

Data Points is dedicated to providing student achievement and education trend analysis and is intended for parents and patrons interested in an objective, data-driven look at student performance in Boise and across Idaho. 

  Parents - Sign-Up for Emergency Text Messaging: The Boise School District offers emergency text messaging for parents/guardians. To receive emergency text messages

sign-up on our emergency text messaging registration webpage . 

Non-Parents - Mobile App Available: Boise School District has a mobile app to improve communication to you. The app is available in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. 

Note: Should you no longer wish to receive Constant Contact emails from the District, you may click on the SafeUnsubscribe link located at the bottom of this email. 

News Media Contact: 

Dan Hollar 

Public Affairs Administrator 

Boise School District 

(208) 854-4064 

[email protected] 

www.boiseschools.org