School Improvement Coordinator / Instructional Coach / Public Relations

School Improvement Coordinator, Mrs. Metsker is in charge of setting up the testing programs for our K-12 district including State Assessments, NWEA, and DIBELS. She makes sure the Bluestem District is up to date with the information needed to prepare for the tests. She works with the districts K-12 instructors to help make sure that they are delivering the curriculum that is mandated by the Kansas State Department of Education.

Mrs. Metsker chairs the District Steering Committee. This function of this committee is to keep the district in line and updated with all of the new regulations that come from the State Department on QPA (Quality Performance Accreditation) and the issues related to our district making AYP (Annual Yearly Progress).

New to her job title for 2007-2008 is Instructional Coaching. The title is fairly new and many local districts are creating and implementing this position. As an Instructional Coach, Mrs. Metsker will talk to the K-12 teachers about the best strategies that have been researched to show academic growth in students.

A second new job title for 2007-2008 is that of Public Relations. The Bluestem USD 205 Board of Education felt the need to improve public communication and asked Mrs. Metsker to research methods to educate the public. For this school year she is focusing on improvements to the district web page and working with Mrs. Gleason on the Bluestem Briefings.