Volume 2 | October 2022


Turtle Mountain Area Schools Newsletter


Celebrations & In the News
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Governor, First Lady highlight importance of recovery services at groundbreaking for Turtle Mountain facility

Friday, September 16, 2022 - 01:00 pm
BELCOURT, N.D. – Gov. Doug Burgum and First Lady Kathryn Burgum today participated in a groundbreaking ceremony for the Turtle Mountain Recovery Center (TMRC) in Belcourt, highlighting the critically important role of recovery services in addressing the disease of addiction.
“The Turtle Mountain Recovery Center is a key addition to the toolbox in the battle against the disease of addiction,” the governor said. “We’re grateful to the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians for their continued partnership on this important issue and for taking the lead on this crucial project and investing in the health and well-being of their members for current and future generations.”
“Thank you for your tireless efforts to create pathways to recovery for all of the people of Turtle Mountain and beyond. I know this is a culmination of years of research, planning and development to make this dream come alive,” the first lady said in her keynote address. “Today is a celebration of taking the next big step toward ending addiction in your community. I am in awe of the spirit, passion and drive this community has for looking out for each other, extending a helping hand, and creating opportunities for hope, healing and recovery.”
The $18 million Turtle Mountain Recovery Center will more than double the current available treatment capacity in the Turtle Mountains. Plans are for the facility to begin as a center for culturally based residential and outpatient treatment of substance use disorder and eventually become a full-scale behavioral health care practice to also offer mental health services to the communities of the Turtle Mountain Reservation.
Today’s ceremony included remarks from Tribal Chairman Jamie Azure, North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley, North Dakota Indian Affairs Commission Executive Director Nathan Davis, and USDA Rural Development State Director Erin Oban, among others.
The governor and first lady will host the sixth annual Recovery Reinvented on Nov. 3 at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks. Registration is free and open at www.recoveryreinvented.com.
From the District Office
Staying Organized

School-Wide Calendar of Events - You will notice that the school website now has a linked school wide calendar of events. It has the week events listed on the right-hand side of the home page. If you would like to see the month events, scroll down and click "view calendar". If you have a school-wide event you would like added to the calendar, please contact connie.baker@k12.nd.us

Reservation of Meeting Rooms - To reserve meeting rooms in the Event Center or the District office please go to the website and click on CLICK HERE TO SCHEDULE A MEETING.




Click on the picture for a quick explanation and tutorial on how to book one of the conference rooms.




Athletic Schedules - In an effort to best serve our community and make the current website as user friendly as possible, we have added athletic calendars specific to fall and winter sports to the website. Thanks to Nicole Blackwell for assisting in this process!


NEW DISTRICT WEBSITE
We are excited to announce a new website is under construction!
Travis LaRocque has been working with Educational Networks in the creation of the new site. Click below to get a peek at the new mock page! The site is expected to be completed and launched over winter break.

The project was started after direct feedback from teachers in the "School Feedback" forum this past summer. We value your opinion!

LEA Happenings
(Local Education Association)
LEA MTSS
(Academic Team)

The 2022-23 school year has brought some new faces to the MTSS Academic Team. Kellie Hall, Danielle Sloan, Renee Thomas, Melonna Plant, Melvin McCloud and Stephanie LaRocque.

The team continues to meet weekly as we create and refine the academic MTSS process.
The work this fall has been centered around
  • Beginning of the Year (BOY) Data Collection
  • BOY Data Analysis
  • Processes for assessing incoming students
  • Creating and training a team to monitor student progress


You will now find "LEA MTSS" documentation on the website. These documents are static and are being updated often. . We have included a tutorial (see below) originally shared with the building principals. We are working on efficient ways to gather and analyze data at each building. Principals will be rolling this data in their respective buildings. If you have questions, please ask one of your building administrators.

A special thanks to Paula Keplin for her assistance in collecting and updating information in the data spreadsheets.
LEA MTSS SEL TEAM

LEA MTSS
(SEL/Behavior Team)

In September we launched the LEA MTSS SEL(Social Emotional Learning) team. The team has been busy at work in many different capacities. The team has representation from each building. Members include Kellie Hall, Marilyn Laducer, Samantha Grant, Alexis LaRocque, Jarrid Azure, Brenda Wilkie and Chasity Peltier.


The areas the team has been working on are

Watch for virtual presentations in the upcoming weeks to learn more about Simile School, Indigenous SEL Framework with Dani Morrison and Conscious Discipline, a program used in the Mandan school system.
ESSER FUNDS
Apply for a Project Grant!
We have had some fantastic fall applicants and we are now looking for winter applications!






Want to try something new and innovative in your school or classroom?

The following application allows individual or teams to apply for ESSER learning loss funds to be used for specific projects in schools or classrooms!  



Application Deadlines
Fall 2022 - September 30th
Winter 2023 - January 13th
Spring 2023 - April 14th

Upcoming Dates
Thank- you to Travis LaRocque and Connie Baker for all the hard work and ongoing updates on the website!
School SMART Goals
We are well into the 2022-23 school year! Are we on track to meet our school SMART Goals?

Turtle Mountain Elementary School
The number of TMES Students in grade 3-5 scoring proficient or higher in Reading/English Language Arts will increase from 21% to 31% or higher by the end of the SY22-23 as measured by the NDSA administered in Spring 2023. 

The number of TMES students in grade 3-5 scoring proficient or higher in Mathematics will increase from 12% to 22% or higher by the end of the SY22-23 as measured by the NDSA administered in Spring 2023. 

The number of TMES students in grade 3-5 scoring proficient or higher in Writing will increase from 12% to 22% or higher by the end of the SY22-23 as measured by the NDSA administered in Spring 2023.

Turtle Mountain Middle School
The number of TMMS Students in grade 6-8 scoring proficient or higher in Reading/English Language Arts will increase from 32% to 42% or higher by the end of the SY22-23 as measured by the NDSA administered in Spring 2023. 

The number of TMMS students in grade 6-8 scoring proficient or higher in Mathematics will increase from 18% to 28% or higher by the end of the SY22-23 as measured by the NDSA administered in Spring 2023. 

Turtle Mountain High School 
Based on the SY21/22 NWEA Reading Spring Data, the number of TMHS students (freshman, sophomores, juniors) scoring in the lo range (%ile <21%), will DECREASE from 60% (156 students) to 45% (35 students) by the end of May 2023.  

Based on the SY21/22 NWEA Math Spring Data, the number of TMHS students (freshman, sophomores, juniors) scoring in the lo range (%ile <21%), will DECREASE from 43% (123 students) to 32% (31 students) by the end of May 2023.  

By end of May 2023, 75% of seniors will be Choice Ready
Current LEA Data
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