Carson City School District welcomes two new principals

The Carson City School Board welcomed two new elementary principals at their meeting Tuesday night.

Lisa Hutchinson was approved as principal of Bordewich-Bray Elementary and Dr. Jennifer Ward-DeJoseph was approved as principal of Fremont Elementary.

“I’d like to express my thanks to both Mrs. (Karen) Simms and Mrs. (Casey) Gilles for their work and dedication in our district…I wish them good health and good fortune as they enter a new phase in their lives,” Superintendent Richard Stokes said in a press release. “In a similar fashion, we welcome Mrs. Hutchison and Dr. Ward-DeJoseph in their new roles. They are strong student advocates with successful track records in administering appropriate district curriculum that is aligned with the Nevada state standards. I look forward to each of them joining the dynamic leadership teams at their respective schools.”

Both women have spent their careers in Carson City; Hutchinson was a teacher at Seeliger, the curriculum specialist for math and English at Empire and vice principal at Bordewich-Bray for the last three years.

“You are the kind of person that lets the professionals be the professionals and I really appreciate that,” School Board member Joe Cacioppo said to Hutchinson.

Ward-DeJoseph also worked as a teacher at Empire, an implementation specialist for Empire and Eagle Valley Middle School and assistant principal at Carson Middle School. She started her career in the school district when she was 13 years old.

“I look forward to finding excellence at Fremont and to continue my work with the district,” Ward-DeJoseph said. “I have been with in this district for 38 years and have been blessed with fantastic people who have shaped me.”

The school board also approved new textbooks for K-5 math and science, advanced placement high school art history, advanced placement high school music theory and advanced placement high school statistics.

The board approved the “Investigations in Number, Data, and Space,” developed by TERC and published by Pearson for the K-5 math. The text would cost $335,000 for 3,400 students and additional funding will provide supplemental materials.

Many of the elementary teachers said they were pleased with the text because it also provided resources to help the students as well as keep all the math teachers on the same page.

“The biggest hurdle we had was that the textbooks didn’t have those materials and at this point, we can best pick the educational material that meets our standards, teacher needs and the school district needs,” said Empire Elementary School Math Coach Adrienne Wiggins.

The board also approved the “Bring Science Alive!” authored and published by Teachers’ Curriculum Institute. The material will contain online resources and hands on science kits.

Fifty-five Carson elementary teachers piloted this program. Most teachers approved of the material, and surveys within the department discovered those who disapproved mostly weren’t in the pilot program. They expressed dislike for the product and preferred to have a textbook, and some kindergarten teachers worried the electronic portions of the materials would be too advanced for their students. Susan Keema, assistant superintendent, said they’ve been working with the company to fit teacher needs.

The materials will cost $148,000 for the student editions and $159,420 for the teacher subscription and lab material totally $307,495 for seven years.

Keema said the materials will align to the NGSS, provide a foundational curriculum for K-5 and provide opportunity for students in developing 21st century schools, a continued movement of learner centered model and will support teacher efforts.

The three textbooks for the high school were all approved without much discussion: “Total Harmony, 7th Edition” for AP Music Theory, published by McGraw-Hill which will cost $7,500; The Practice of Statistics, 5th Edition for AP Statistics published by Macmillan Learning, for $6,600; and Art History, 5th Edition for AP Art History published by Pearson, for $6,700. All three texts will be paid for out of the College and Career Ready fund.

All textbooks were approved unanimously.