Academic changes

Multi-age classrooms among changes planned at St. Mary School

Dan Wackershauser

Updated: Feb 29, 2012, 4:31 PM

Published: Feb 28, 2012, 5:25 PM

Distinct changes are planned for St. Mary School in Platteville, beginning with the 2012-2013 school year.
On top of the list of changes will be a switch to multi-age classrooms due to low per class numbers.
According to information presented to parish members, the school currently has seven grade levels with 12 or fewer students. Two of those classes have five students each. Multi-age classrooms include combining two consecutive grade levels into a single class. The new, combined classes will not exceed 20 students. In addition:
• Multi-age classrooms will be discontinued when enrollment for the combined class is projected to exceed 20 students.
• Math instruction should be delivered by grade level.
• Reading instruction should be delivered in small groups within the classroom utilizing current best practices to target individual abilities and needs.
• The science, social studies, religion, art, music, and physical education curriculums will be redesigned so that one grade-level curriculum is delivered to the entire group each year. Currently, physical education, and music have combined grade levels.
School officials do not foresee first grade students on one side of the room and second grade students on the other side of the room. "Instead, we envision curriculum and instruction that engages all the students in the same topics at the same time, and includes materials and activities appropriate for all of the learners in the classroom."
The proposed classroom makeup will include 4K/kindergarten, 1-2, 3-4, and 7-8. Grades five and six have enough students to sustain their own classrooms.
"I think we have a pretty good idea of how to do this well, but we are still making sure we are staying in touch with all of the people involved in this plan to make sure it is going smoothly and accomplishing what we want it to accomplish," said Julie Addison-Fulton, assistant principal.
Benefits of multi-level classrooms, as outlined by school officials include:
• Distinct social benefits to students who are currently in small classes, especially those classes with just a few boys or just a few girls. Children have the opportunity to create more close friendships, learn from their peers, and develop responsibility, leadership, and independence.
• The new structure offers academic benefits because it allows teachers to better meet the needs of all learners, including gifted and struggling learners, through differentiation, which is widely recognized as an instructional best practice. Also, teachers get to know children well, which allows for them to better meet student needs.
"Once parents understood what the multi-age classrooms would look like then they became more comfortable with that idea," said Addison-Fulton.
The combined classrooms will result in the school employing six teachers, compared to nine currently. Principal Joseph Hood is hopeful the new number can be reached through attrition. "Our hope is that any teacher who is currently working here and wants to work here next year that we can accommodate them," he said. "Our hope is to not have to come to a point where we have to decide between one teacher and another."
For this school year, four new teachers replaced other teachers.
Partnerships have been formed with UW-Platteville and its pre-student teaching program. University students are assisting at St. Mary School as well as in the school's new learning center.
School officials also plan to add Spanish instruction for all grade levels next year. There is a possibility to add other languages, such as Chinese, French, and German, as the opportunity presents itself. A university student will be teaching Spanish at St. Mary School next year. She has previously taught Spanish at the high school level.
Because the multi-level classrooms will free up space at the school, the preschool, which is currently housed at St. Mary's Church, will be moved to the school building. A free half-day 4K program will be offered beginning next year. A new committee for the pre-school/daycare program was formed. That program may be moved to the school as soon as in June.
Addison-Fulton noted they have received enrollments for seven students into the 4k program for next year already. Enrollments for the other grade levels are being to come in.
"We are enthusiastic and optimistic that this is going to be an even better school next year than it is this year," said Hood. "Teachers are working hard to make this a reality."
"This is one of the best solutions we have to keep the school open," said Fr. Faustino Ruiz. "The Pastoral Council and the Finance Committee are happy to keep working on this program. We need to pray and we need the cooperation of the community of St. Mary's to make this dream come true. I am happy to do whatever I can to get this plan working for next year."
St. Mary's Parish currently leases the former O.E. Gray Early Learning Center building from the Platteville School District.

Cuts threatening use of local food

School lunches

SPRING CREEK CATTLE COMPANY is one of the local suppliers of food for the North Crawford Foodservice Program. Cancellation of federal funding will impact both the school district and the local agricultural business. Here, Bart and Amy Mitchell are seen with the beef cattle on pasture in the background. Spring Creeks Cattle Company is a family partnership between three brothers, their families, and their parents.

LFPA cuts_Spring Creek Cattle Company — SPRING CREEK CATTLE COMPANY is one of the local suppliers of food for the North Crawford Foodservice Program. Cancellation of federal funding will impact both the school district and the local agricultural business. Here, Bart and Amy Mitchell are seen with the beef cattle on pasture in the background. Spring Creeks Cattle Company is a family partnership between three brothers, their families, and their parents.

JORDAN DERRICK

Crawford County Independent & Kickapoo Scout

Updated: May 1, 2025, 12:38 PM

Published: Apr 30, 2025, 2:49 PM

With the federal government defunding programs around the country, it appears the North Crawford School District Food Service department will feel the impact.

Programs that fund food service at North Crawford, like the Local Food for Schools (LFS) and the Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant, had their funds frozen on March 7, when the USDA announced they would be terminating those programs.

For North Crawford, this means they have lost funding for purchasing food from local farms, something that the food service department has prided itself on. This summer, the district is covered for their efforts in serving local food.

25% sourced locally

North Crawford Food Service Director Jen Kapinus said in story published last summer that about 25% of the food served at the school is local, and specifically beef, pork, and apples are the most commonly locally sourced.

Now, that 25% is likely to drop, depending on the department’s next steps, which will have a large impact on the future of the school and the food service department.

Because of the timing of the USDA’s announcement, the food service department will have very little flexibility in the coming school year. In February, commodity orders are due, while the grant money comes in during May. Since, commodities were ordered with the assurance of getting this money in May, the department will have to figure out how to get the food still needed.

“We can no longer make the purchases we planned,” Kapinus said. “We planned ahead for two years, and there’s no money for that now.”

Having to find food to replace the planned purchases is not the only trouble with these cuts. It will also put a strain on the budget and the local farmers who provide for the program, and it will cause the department to move backwards in quality.

Cuts strain district

These cuts also put a strain on the district because they now need to work through existing suppliers to get food that they typically would not get from them.

“(The budget cuts) result in us having to look elsewhere,” North Crawford Superintendent Brandon Munson said.

It is not just the school district feeling the impact of the cuts. Good partnerships with our local families and farmers are being lost.

Although Munson believes it won’t hurt them too badly financially, Harry Young, of Young Family Farms LLC, who has been providing meat to the district since 2020, is sad to see these programs go.

Young noted the impact on the local economy. It supported farmers in the area and kept that money local.

“It was a good program,” Young said. “It got fresher food to the kids, that was more nutritious than what could be bought through the supply chain.”

Since higher quality food costs more, the department will have to compromise the quality of the food they are purchasing. Aside from the nutritional benefits of higher quality food, higher quality ingredients tend to make the food taste better.

While the department gets more local food than nearby schools, and students enjoy the food, many already feel that what they are being served is more processed than they would like it to be.

Kapinus believes that the reduction in quality will affect meal participation, which the program relies on to be able to serve the students the best they can.

Meal participation is often a domino effect. When more students eat the food, the program has a bigger budget to buy better food, which leads to more participation, but if the quality goes down, less students will eat, which will shrink the budget, which leads to even lower quality and, therefore, less participation.

Kapinus is hopeful that, through donations and possible fundraising, the department can continue to serve high-quality meals to students, but it will take a lot of hard work and support.

It can be difficult to rely on such variable methods, though. The district recently received a donation from a local farm, but there is so much to be cautious about with donations, especially with meat. It also is not consistent. Both fundraising and donations cannot be planned for ahead of time because if the needs are not met, the meals can’t be made.

Despite these hurdles, the department is doing what they can to serve the best meals with what is available to them, but there will have to be a decline in quality because of the cost of food.

“There will definitely be a compromise,” Kapinus said, “but we will continue to do as much scratch cooking as possible, and we are trying to find a happy medium between hyper-local and hyper-processed.”

Kapinus is working to prepare for the future, despite the funding losses, but it is unclear what will happen as time goes on, especially with the federal government aiming to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.

With bad news after bad news for the food service department, a glimmer of hope has come in the form of school lunch debt forgiveness.

Through School Lunch Fairy, a national program based in Florida, The North Crawford School District will be receiving a donation to cover a portion of school lunch debt owed.

School Lunch Fairy is a charity organization that uses donated funds from all over the country to support school districts struggling with school lunch debt and sets up emergency lunch funds to provide struggling students with free lunches before they fall into debt.

With the donation this program will give the district, it puts the food service department in a better standing and relieves some of struggling students’ financial stress.

This program gives Kapinus and the food service department hope for where they are headed, even when things the future is unpredictable.