BW Intermediate opens in former Baughman MS building

By LENNY C. LEPOLA

News Assis­tant Man­ag­ing Editor

Big Wal­nut Inter­me­di­ate School (BWIS), open­ing this year to serve dis­trict fifth and sixth grade stu­dents at the for­mer Baugh­man Street mid­dle school build­ing, has had a num­ber or rein­car­na­tions. It served as Big Wal­nut High School from the early 1950’s until 1991 when the cur­rent high school opened. From 1991 through 2011, Big Wal­nut Mid­dle School was housed in the building.

After the new mid­dle school opened in August 2011, the build­ing sat idle. But the district’s goal was always to open an inter­me­di­ate school serv­ing grades five and six to relieve swelling stu­dent pop­u­la­tions in the ele­men­tary build­ings and the new mid­dle school, allow­ing room for future growth.

Steve But­ler will be the Big Wal­nut Inter­me­di­ate School prin­ci­pal. But­ler first came to Big Wal­nut dur­ing the 1974–75 school year, serv­ing at the then Big Wal­nut Eighth Grade Build­ing at the old Harlem School in Cen­ter Vil­lage. He left the dis­trict and came back in Jan­u­ary of 1984 when there was a grade seven/eight inter­me­di­ate school at the Har­ri­son Street build­ing; and in 1991 But­ler served in the district’s tra­di­tional sixth, sev­enth and eighth grade mid­dle school.

But say the name Steve But­ler today and most folks think of Hylen Soud­ers Ele­men­tary School, where But­ler sat in the principal’s chair from 1996 until 2009. After retir­ing from Soud­ers, But­ler served for three years as the school district’s gifted coordinator.

“Through­out the sum­mer, dis­trict and build­ing per­son­nel have worked to get the build­ing ready for its new role, with clean­ing, paint­ing, new tech­nol­ogy and a staff ready to share a new adven­ture begin­ning on the open­ing day of school on Wednes­day, August 22,” But­ler said. “Among our goals this year will be striv­ing to pro­vide the best edu­ca­tional oppor­tu­ni­ties pos­si­ble as we help our stu­dents through the begin­ning of adolescence.”

Any­one who has expe­ri­enced Steve But­ler as a prin­ci­pal knows that he expects stu­dents to exhibit good man­ners — being polite, respect­ful and thoughtful.

“Big Wal­nut Inter­me­di­ate School stu­dents will be expected to respect them­selves, each other and the adults respon­si­ble for their edu­ca­tion,” But­ler said. “By the same token, the staff will set an exam­ple for the stu­dents to follow.”

But­ler said courses in both fifth and sixth grades would include daily classes in lan­guage arts, math, sci­ence and social stud­ies, as well as a study cen­ter. There will be an ABCD sched­ule of art, music, phys­i­cal edu­ca­tion and a technology/library component.

“The sixth grade stu­dents will either be on the 6 Red or 6 Gold team,” But­ler said. “Each team will have four teach­ers for core courses and spe­cial­ists for the related arts areas. Fifth grade stu­dents will be on two teacher teams, also with spe­cial­ists for the related arts areas.”

Instru­men­tal music will be offered to fifth and sixth grade stu­dents, But­ler said. Band will be offered two or three days per week dur­ing lunch recess. Reg­is­tra­tion for band will take place after school gets started; reg­is­tra­tion details will be sent home with stu­dents. High School Band Direc­tor Craig Porter will be the instructor.

“As par­ents and stu­dents select back-to-school cloth­ing for the 2012–13 school year, they need to keep the school dress code in mind,” But­ler said. “The prac­tice of the ele­men­tary schools will be closely fol­lowed, and appro­pri­ate mod­esty will be stressed — no spaghetti straps, no tank tops, under­gar­ments must be cov­ered, shorts must extend at least halfway down the thigh – and for safety, no flip-flops.”

But­ler said par­ents with ques­tions about the dress code could call the inter­me­di­ate school office for fur­ther infor­ma­tion at 740–965-7800.

“The five/six build­ing will allow more time for chil­dren to grow up and mature before being thrust into an ado­les­cent world,” But­ler said. “Our school activ­i­ties will empha­size age appro­pri­ate events; and the staff is excited for this chance to focus on the fifth and sixth grade age group to pro­vide edu­ca­tional and extra oppor­tu­ni­ties for growth.”

An Open House for stu­dents and par­ents will be held from 4 p.m. until 5:15 p.m. on Mon­day, August 20. The Open House will pro­vide an oppor­tu­nity to tour the build­ing and to meet BWIS teach­ers, sec­re­taries, edu­ca­tional aides and other staff.

Begin­ning Mon­day, Sep­tem­ber 10, BWIS will offer a free “Grab ’n Go” break­fast pro­gram to all students.

Each stu­dent will be assigned a locker through his or her home­room teacher. The lock­ers have built-in com­bi­na­tions. It may be help­ful for stu­dents to prac­tice with a com­bi­na­tion lock prior to the begin­ning of school. Teach­ers will be very under­stand­ing of the dif­fi­culty stu­dents have with oper­at­ing com­bi­na­tion locks the first few days, and they will be avail­able to help stu­dents as necessary.

Class lists will be posted at 4 p.m. on Thurs­day, August 16. They will be dis­played on the win­dows of the school entry that is clos­est to the flag­pole. Lists will show stu­dents the name of their home­room teacher and their home­room num­ber. On the first day of school stu­dents will report to that room for home­room and to receive the rest of their schedule.

Stu­dents will be tak­ing art, music, phys­i­cal edu­ca­tion and library/technology on an ABCD sched­ule as they have in the past at each of the dis­trict ele­men­tary schools. Stu­dents will not be chang­ing into gym clothes for phys­i­cal edu­ca­tion other than wear­ing gym shoes on their phys­i­cal edu­ca­tion days to participate.

School Age Child Care, SACC, will be offered at BWIS from 7 a.m. until school begins at 9:10, and from the end of the school day at 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. Direct ques­tions about the SACC pro­gram to Child­care Unlim­ited, the pro­gram providers, at 614–361-6990.

Par­ents should take the oppor­tu­nity to use the Big Wal­nut School Dis­trict web site at < bigwalnut.k12.oh.us > for infor­ma­tion includ­ing upcom­ing school events, school sup­ply lists and other information.

The Big Wal­nut Inter­me­di­ate School fac­ulty and staff at BWIS have been teach­ing and work­ing at each of the district’s schools. Big Wal­nut Inter­me­di­ate School for the 2011-12 school year will include:

• Office Staff:

Steve But­ler, Prin­ci­pal; Ric Cav­ic­chia, Coun­selor; Kathie Bow­man, sec­re­tary; and Pam Ott, secretary

• Teach­ers:

Elaine Blak­ley, 5th grade inter­ven­tion spe­cial­ist; Karen Bod­ker, 5th grade math and sci­ence; Savan­nah Brown, 6th grade math; Rhonda Cor­ven, 5th grade math and social stud­ies; Jason Craw­ford, 6th grade sci­ence; Mike Den­ton, 6th grade phys­i­cal edu­ca­tion; Chris Eddy, 6th grade inter­ven­tion spe­cial­ist; Chris Epstein, 5th grade art; Joe Evener, 5th and 6th grade read­ing tutor; Rob Fir­chau, 5th grade lan­guage arts and social stud­ies; Lau­rel Fitch, 6th grade social stud­ies; Barb George, 6th social stud­ies; Doug Ger­mann, 5th grade REACH, math; Katie Graven, 5th grade lan­guage arts and social stud­ies; Justin Heck, 5th grade music; Scot­tie Hefner, 5th grade phys­i­cal edu­ca­tion; Rina Hoge, 5th grade lan­guage arts and social stud­ies; Susan Likens, 6th grade inter­ven­tion spe­cial­ist; Heather McCoy, 6th grade lan­guage arts; Susan Miss­man, 5th grade inter­ven­tion spe­cial­ist; Craig Porter, 5th and 6th grade band; Barb Porter, 6th grade art; Amy Read, 5th grade music; Jes­sica Shel­ton, 5th and 6th grade inter­ven­tion spe­cial­ist; Paula Sier­adzki, 5th grade lan­guage arts and social stud­ies; Ann Spence, 6th grade lan­guage arts; Mike Stone, 5th grade math and sci­ence; Scott VonAl­men, 6th grade math; Mike Wion, 6th grade sci­ence; Casey Wright, 5th grade math and science

• Edu­ca­tional Aides: Rene DeMint; Mar­ri­anne Hines; Kriste Mar­tin; Christy Zvansky

• Food Ser­vice: Alice Huf­fer; Cathy Black; Mar­garet Harlor

• Cus­to­dian: Teresa White

Big Wal­nut Inter­me­di­ate School

Steve But­ler, Principal

105 Baugh­man Street

Sun­bury, OH 43074

Phone: 740–965-7800

Fax: 740–965-7801

Hours: 9:10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Posted by Gary Henery on Aug 15 2012. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.