Update for February 23-27

Curriculum Work ELA + Social Studies

On Monday, February 23rd, most of our ELA teachers will be at the district office working through determining District Essential Standards, Supporting Standards, and Nice-to-Know Standards, as well as calendaring standards/units for the year, and identifying essential learning expectations and/or questions.

• Grades 6-8 will meet on Monday, February 23, and Thursday, April 9 

We have a number of substitutes in the building today to cover the teacher who are at the district office for training. 

On Tuesday, February 24th, the Curriculum Review Committee for Secondary Social Studies/History/Government/Economics will have its first meeting from 3:30 - 5:00 at the district office. We will have a number of additional meetings for this committee. The dates are as follows:

• Tuesday, February 24, 2026

• Thursday, February 26, 2026

• Tuesday, March 10, 2026

• Monday, March 16, 2026

• Monday, May 4, 2026

• Thursday, May 7, 2026

• Thursday, May 14, 2026 (if needed) 

Spring Conferences - March 5th 12:00-7:30

Please start communicating with parents about Spring Conferences on March 5th. The booking sheet for conferences are attached. We need to see as many parents/students as possible during this 1 day of conferences. Fall Conferences saw our attendance at 81%. Our strategic plan has parent attendance at 94% by 2030. We need to increase our parent attendance by 3% every year to hit the mark.  

Our goal is to see all our students and their parents/guardians, to share: 

• “I can” statements of learning, 

• current levels of learning,

• strategies to support learning at home. 

Department Heads - Meeting 2/25/26 @7:30

We will meet on Wednesday, February 25th to create our ISAT schedule for 25-26. We will meet in Justin's room A10. 

Team Leads - Meeting 2/26/26 @3:10

We will meet on Thursday, February 26th for update on Advisory lessons and focus, behavioral health support  update, HUB project, and Conference update

Athletics & Activities Update

• Girls basketball and Cheer seasons are coming to a close. Cheer banquet is this week. 

Our wrestling team showed out again this Thursday against Sacajawea, Clearwater Valley, Pomeroy, and Dayton. On top of our three tournament wins, we continue to shine in weekly bouts as well! This upcoming week, we will wrestle in Grangeville, followed by dueling Sacajawea at LHS under the lights on March 4th at 5:00 pm and our Bi-State Tournament on Saturday, March 7th at 9:00 am. 

• This week’s wrestling match will now be at Grangeville High School on Tuesday, February 24th, instead of being hosted by Jenifer on Wednesday. There will be district transportation provided, leaving JMS at 2:40 pm.

PBIS Tier 2 + RTI - Team Meeting 

We are scheduled to have a PBIS Tier 2 Meeting this week. We will combine this meeting with our RTI meetings going forward. 

BPA - BOISE 

Next week John and Priscilla will be away supporting the BPA trip to Boise. They are scheduled to leave with students Sunday night and be away Monday - Wednesday. Thank you John and Priscilla for your support with BPA!

NAEP - March 3 - Group A - 8:20 + Group B - 12:30 

We are scheduled to take part in the NAEP assessment on March 3rd. 50 grade 8 students will be involved in these assessments during the day. 

Thank you Bonnie, John, and grade 8 teachers for supporting the successful completion of these assessments. 

New Work Order System

https://lewistonschools.incidentiq.com/ - Incident IQ is now in operation for submitting work orders to IT/Maintenance. Please give this site a try to see if it is working for you. I have had trouble accessing from my desktop. However, using the Chromebook + phone I had no issues. 

ESP of the Year 

Nominations are open for the Lewiston Independent School District No. 1's 2025-2026 Educational Support Personnel (ESP) of the Year Award.  Fellow staff members, school district employees, parents, students, and the general public are encouraged to complete and return a nomination form in recognition of the staff member's outstanding service. 

• Nominations are due by March 13, 2026.   

• Here is the Form: ESP of the Year Form

Update for February 17-20

Happy Presidents' Day

Who is your favorite President of all time? Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt, maybe our current president? Leadership is tough. I can only imagine how stressful the presidency is for all those who've been fortunate enough to have the position. 

Spring Conferences - March 5th 12:00-7:30

Please start communicating with parents about Spring Conferences on March 5th. The booking sheet for conferences are attached. We need to see as many parents/students as possible during this 1 day of conferences. Fall Conferences saw our attendance at 81%. Our strategic plan has parent attendance at 94% by 2030. We need to increase our parent attendance by 3% every year to hit the mark.  

Impact Grants - Due by the end of the week

Each year, the Lewiston Independent Foundation for Education, Inc. sponsors the 'Impact Grants' program to benefit the students and staff of the Lewiston School District. This program offers awards of up to $1,500 to district staff to support innovative educational projects.  

Complete this form to be considered for an impact grant: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfD5PrAdTFgiq3lZXvwfsfldgA5l5c5OEo8ZxhuMF4H5aRIaw/viewform 

PINK OUT DAY - WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18TH 

To support our girls basketball teams for their last games of the season, please wear pink on Wednesday, February 18th. 

Update for February 9-13

Congratulations Wrestling Team!

• The wrestling team won the meet that took place over the weekend in Lapwai. When you see our student wrestlers today, please congratulate them on the victory. 

Early Release for School Improvement on Wednesday 2-11-26

We have 2 hours for professional development on Wednesday. We will have a presentation from staff who took part in the RTI/MTSS training as well as department learning for If/Then/So and departmental goals. 

Engagement Burro Block

This week we will have a whole school engagement focus for our Burro Block. All elective teachers are taking part in the Burro Block and the focus can be more of engagement/fun activities instead of the typical intervention/extension/enrichment focus. 

Super Bowl - Congratulations Seahawks & Potluck

What an awesome Super Bowl! Feels good to beat the Patriots. A little revenge from the last Super Bowl Seahawks were in. Huge thanks to all those who made the Potluck on Friday a success!

2026-2027 Teacher of the Year & ESP Award: Nominations Are Open!

Nominations are open for the Lewiston School District 2026-2027 Teacher of the Year. Fellow teachers, school district employees, parents, students, and the general public are welcome to complete and return a nomination form. Below are nomination forms for the Lewiston School District Teacher of the Year program. Additional nomination forms are available at each school and at the Central Services Office (3317 12th Street).

Nomination forms should be returned to Human Resources; Central Services at 3317 12th Street; Lewiston, Idaho 83501.

Alternatively, forms can be returned to Human Resources c/o Kathy Vellegas, Human Resources Supervisor at kvellegas@lewistonschools.net or submitted electronically.

Questions may be directed to the Teacher of the Year Award Committee c/o Kathy Vellegas at (208) 748-3042 or (208) 748-3041.

Teacher of Year Nomination Form 2026-2027  (Printable PDF)

Teacher of the Year Nomination Form 2026-2027 (Online Form)

Teacher of Year Information and Timeline 2026-2027 

The timeline for the selection process is listed below.  All forms must be returned to the Human Resources Office at Central Services by Friday, February 13, 2026.

January 5, 2026 – NOMINATIONS OPEN: Forms available at each school, the Central Services Office, and online.

February 13, 2026 –  NOMINATIONS CLOSE: Forms must be returned to the Central Services Office by 4:30 PM.

March 6, 2026 – SELECTIONS MADE: A review committee selects the Lewiston Teacher of the Year for 2026-2027, as well as an Outstanding Elementary Teacher and an Outstanding Secondary Teacher.

TBA -STATE APPLICATION DUE:  Application due for the Idaho Teacher of the Year.

August 24, 2026 –  SELECTIONS ANNOUNCED: Selections are announced at the Teachers' Back-to-School Assembly at LHS.

Update for February 2-6

Congratulations Cheer Team!

Cheer Team were crowned grand chaps this weekend. They won 3 Grand Championships this season. Last year we had 0. This is some significant growth for our Cheer Team led by Brooke and Kenzie. Very well done!

• Please congratulate the team members and Brooke when you have a chance. 

Grade 8 Trip

Thanks to the grade 8 core teachers and all our elective teachers for supervising the grade 8 trip to the DeAtley Center. This was a great opportunity for our JMS students to see the programs offered at LHS and DeAtley Career Technical Education Center. Big thanks to LHS teachers and students for taking us through the programs offered!

RTI/MTSS Training 

Lots of learning from our RTI/MTSS training from last Thursday and Friday. Thanks to Justin, Ali, Bonnie, Katy, Heidi, Mary, Mandy, and will for their active participation and support for this work we need to engage ourselves in to continue to improve student achievement. 

Vector Solutions Training

We have checked off those staff members who have shared their certificates of completion for vector training. Please review our list and let Aaron know if you have completed the training and not submitted the certificate. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1w3gehqFRmLei5iKq0D9ZKPFoeYAx318a3121AbpZi3U/edit?gid=0#gid=0 

Sad News for our Burro Staff

Last week we lost Jack Caldwell. This is very sad for our Jenifer family for which Jack was a part of for many years. Mr. Sperber visited with one of Jack's sons last Friday and shared our condolences. As many of us knew, Jack was off work for several months before returning last week on Monday night. I had a chance to talk with Jack on Monday and he was very happy to be back and was grateful for the concerns shared while he was away. 

This loss hits hard for those staff members who knew Jack for many years. We will organize to support Jack's family with this recent and sudden loss. 

https://klewtv.com/news/local/fatal-crash-claims-life-of-lewiston-man 

Malcom’s Brower-Wann Funeral Home of Lewiston is in charge of arrangements.

Middle school kids tour their next tomorrow

Jenifer eighth graders had the opportunity to take a look at Lewiston High School’s DeAtley Career Technical Education (CTE) Center

By Dean Ferguson Reporter

Bombproof black-topped tables plumbed for Bunsen burners are long gone. Old ag-mech shops crammed with grimy tools and stale air thick with smoke from flux coating from welding rods and solvent fumes, no more. Institutional-beige walls and cracked asbestos flooring – good riddance.

By yester-year standards of parents and grandparents, Lewiston High School’s DeAtley Career Technical Education (CTE) Center, which opened in 2020, is the NASA of public education operations.

Thursday 200 Jenifer Middle School eighth grade students toured the shiny halls and spacious rooms that will form the borders of their bigger pre-adult world this fall.

CTE Administrator John Potter welcomed them, pitching classes as ways to “explore careers while still 15, 16, or 17 years old.” The skills they could learn – such as how to repair your plumbing – cannot be replaced by AI chatbots, he promised.

Students from Potter’s DECA and Business Professionals of America clubs sharpened their leadership skills by leading groups from class to class.

Kennedie Clare, 16, and Alexis Keller, 17, led students through the automotive shop where cars are on lifts being worked on.

“It’s fun to see them looking at all the new stuff,” Clare said, as she and Keller led their wide-eyed visitors.

As is the disposition of the young, they don’t quite fathom how far out of the public education experience this CTE building is for prior generations of north central Idaho students – some of whom knew people who rode horses to school. This place has so much: an engineering room with 18 lathes, a welding shop, a big broadcast studio, a nursing room with beds, fake babies, and showers, a sawdust free woodshop, a soon-to-be finished fabrication shop, and much more.

Still, 50 years, expect this AI generation of learners to tell stories about the crude tools they got by with – though, this bunch at the DeAtley building may add that they had the best crude tools of the day.

Ferguson can be reached at dferguson@lmtribune.com.

Return To Class Protocol

Message from Quinn on 1/22 

Good Morning, Staff

I have been working on a protocol for situations in which students are sent out of class before returning to their next class period. Students will not be sent back to the class from which they were removed; however, they must complete the protocol before being allowed to return to their next class.

If a student refuses to complete the protocol, they will remain in IR until it is completed. If they don't complete the form, they are not ready to return to their next class. The protocol must be completed correctly before the student may return to class. If a student continues to refuse, the administration will contact home. They will also be assigned a detention or an alternative placement until they complete the Reflection Form. 

Once the student completes the Reflection Form, they will have a restorative conversation with an adult before they can return to classes. The restorative reflection can be with any staff member in the building. 

Thank you for your continued support.

RTI/MTSS Training 

Lots of learning from our RTI/MTSS training from last Thursday and Friday. Thanks to Justin, Ali, Bonnie, Katy, Heidi, Mary, Mandy, and will for their active participation and support for this work we need to engage ourselves in to continue to improve student achievement. 

• We will share updates with staff from this training at our next PD