Bluffton school enrollment is anticipated at more than 1,225, the largest enrollment here in 20 years. That fact, plus an update the school year, which begins Monday, Aug. 26, are in the summer school newsletter, attached at the bottom of this story.

Here is a partial overview of the year by Greg Denecker, superintendent. His complete overview is in the newsletter.
We are excited to welcome over 1,225 students into our district on the first day of school. This is our largest district enrollment since 1999-2000.

Due to a large kindergarten class again this year, we will continue to keep an additional teacher at this grade level.

Last year’s large kindergarten class has necessitated an additional first grade, making five sections of this grade level. This new teacher is Brooke Unterbrink. 

Megan Quinton will move from second grade to third, making five sections of third grade. 

Additional new teachers have joined our district this school year. 

• At the high school, Jason Diller will teach chemistry and physics, and  Kasey Krendl will teach social studies, both at the MS and the HS. 

• At  the middle school, Melissa Richards will teach language arts, Nicole Flory and Jarred Carpenter will teach science, and John Rader will teach math. 

• At the elementary, Amanda Markley will teach at the 5th-grade level.  In addition to new teachers, our new middle school principal is Josh Kauffman. 

Last year we started engineering courses at the high school.  The first course was titled Introduction to Engineering Design.  This second year of the program will offer Principles of Engineering. 

At the middle school, we have added a rotation class, where students will get an extra class period for a week in one of the four core subjects: math, science, language arts, and social studies. 

After a week, the students will then have an extra period in another core subject for a week until each core subject has been in the rotation class. 

This extra period will enrich the academic content standards that are being covered in the regular core class.  We are excited about this opportunity for our students. 

Finances
The financial report (see below) shows our general fund carry-over balance of just over $6.1 million for the 2019 fiscal year. 

We have been able to achieve financial stability due to the cost-saving measures that have been put in place over the last several years and the increase in both the state and local revenue. 

Our district spends $2,903 less than the state average per pupil, but achievement levels show the district consistently performs near the top in the state. 

This could not be achieved without the support from our parents, students, staff, and community; everyone plays an important role in helping each of our students succeed.  We will continue to look for ways to be fiscally responsible to you, our community, while still providing our students with an excellent education.

Our professional development this year will focus on mental and emotional health, incorporation of technology, and vertical alignment of academic content standards and assessments.  

On the second page of the newsletter you will find the permanent improvement projects, which were completed over the course of the past year. 

These funds allow our district to make repairs and improvements to our facilities for our students and community.  While our buildings are not new, we believe the updates and upkeep on each of our facilities make for an excellent learning environment. 

 If you ever have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to stop in or call me at 419-358-5901.