Vision Statement:
The students at Morning Sun Elementary school are high-achieving learners who are well prepared to meet the challenges and high expectations of the 21st century. All students participate in rigorous curriculum and high-quality opportunities for self-directed personal growth supported by the comprehensive school counseling program that facilitates strategic partnerships between the school, family, and community. As successful, lifelong learners, problem solvers, and productive citizens, our students achieve their fullest potential, while making a positive difference in our school and community.

Mission Statement:
The mission of the Morning Sun Elementary’s Counseling Program is to provide a comprehensive and developmentally appropriate counseling program that addresses the academic, career, and personal/social development of all students. In partnership with administrators, teachers, staff, parents/guardians, and community members, school counselors provide the support system to ensure all students in MSCSD are prepared with the knowledge and skills needed as they strive to become lifelong learners, problem solvers, and productive citizens.

• For ages 6 weeks to 12 years.
• A non-school related program that is located at Morning Sun Elementary School building.
• We walk children who also attend Preschool to and from their classroom, that is also housed in our elementary school building, for an easy transition in their day.
• Contact us at 319-868-7206 for more information.

The district plan designed to meet the instructional needs of English Language Learners is referred to as the Lau Plan (Lau v. Nichols, 1974). The Lau Plan must be collaboratively written by the K-6 team. The MSES team is:

• Mike Peterson, District Administrator
• Steve Hollan, Building Administrator
• ??, ELL Coordinator
• Alaura Rappenecker, School Counselor
• Michelle Dickey, GPAEA ELL Coordinator

The goal of our program is to develop English proficient students who are able to perform at an academic level comparable to their proficient native English peers, feel pride regarding their native language and culture, as well as pride in their new language and culture.

There are three areas in our Lau Plan’s Guiding Principles:

1. Linguistically: To teach English comprehension through skills within listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills to attain English proficiency and academic competence.
2. Academically: To educate ELLs to meet the same challenging academic content and student academic achievement that all children are expected to meet.
3. Cross-culturally: To assist students in understanding and functioning within American society while promoting pride in the students’ cultural and linguistic backgrounds.

Students entering Morning Sun Elementary School have a Home Language Survey completed to see if they qualify for our Language Instruction Education Program (LIEP). If so, they will be given an English Language Placement Assessment and then be placed into the appropriate LIEP to meet their language development needs. Direct services will be provided by the licensed ELL teacher with instruction matched to the ELLs development needs.

Annually, the district team will review the students’ ELPA21 results, state assessments, and district assessments to determine progress of the LIEP. Once an ELL is exited from the LIEP they will be monitored for two years to ensure that the student is demonstrating proficiency in statewide and districtwide assessments.

Morning Sun Community School was awarded the Statewide Voluntary Preschool Program Grant in 2010 as a result of the Preschool Advisory Committee’s dedicated work. The program’s goal is to provide a high-quality preschool program meeting each child’s needs, including children with disabilities and those from a diverse background.

The preschool provides a rich learning environment that encourages children’s natural curiosity and supports them to take risks that lead to new skill development. It is a setting where children feel safe, respected, and cared for.

This is an opportunity for all four-year-old children to take part in planned, active learning experiences to build their readiness skills. The preschool program has adopted and meets the Iowa Quality Preschool Program Standards, administered by the Iowa Department of Education. The Iowa Early Learning Standards are used to guide expectations for the children and instructional practices.

• Children must be 4 years old by September 15 to attend.
• Preschool sessions are 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.
• Morning Sun is part of the Statewide Four-Year-Old Preschool Program. There is no monthly fee to attend.
• We follow the Morning Sun Elementary School District calendar.

The Morning Sun Community School District is dedicated to providing quality educational services for students with diverse learning needs and abilities. In partnership with families, general and special education teachers work in collaboration to provide a continuum of services in the least restrictive environment for all students with different abilities.

IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) Is a federal law that that requires schools to provide every student to a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE) through their local school district from age 3 to age 21. To ensure a FAPE, a team of professionals from the local educational agency meet with the student’s parents to identify the student’s unique educational needs, to develop annual goals for the student, and to determine the placement, program modification, testing accommodations, counseling, and other special services that the student needs. These choices are recorded in a written Individualized Educational Program (IEP). The school is required to develop and implement an IEP that meets the standards of federal and state educational agencies.

Morning Sun Elementary defines gifted and talented children as students who exhibit outstanding abilities, or have the potential to do so, compared to their peers of similar ages, backgrounds, and experiences. These outstanding abilities can be found in children from all cultural and economic backgrounds.  Gifted and talented students require advanced learning opportunities that are beyond what is offered in the regular classroom curriculum. Morning Sun Elementary educators understand that giftedness is dynamic and is constantly evolving, and therefore, they continually adapt their programming to cater to the needs of gifted and talented students. Advanced learning will be provided through a flexible educational setting which encourages differentiation and advancement within both the general education and TAG classrooms. 

The Teacher Leadership and Compensation (TLC) System rewards effective teachers with leadership opportunities and higher pay, attracts promising new teachers with competitive starting salaries and more support, and fosters greater collaboration for all teachers to learn from each other.

The overriding philosophy of the system is multi-pronged but boils down to this: Improving student learning requires improving the instruction they receive each day. There is no better way to do this than to empower our best teachers to lead the effort.

Through the system, teacher leaders take on extra responsibilities, including helping colleagues analyze data and fine tune instructional strategies as well as coaching and co-teaching.

The goals of the Teacher Leadership and Compensation System are:

• Attract able and promising new teachers by offering competitive starting salaries and offering short-term and long-term professional development and leadership opportunities.

• Retain effective teachers by providing enhanced career opportunities.

• Promote collaboration by developing and supporting opportunities for teachers in schools and school districts statewide to learn from each other.

• Reward professional growth and effective teaching by providing pathways for career opportunities that come with increased leadership responsibilities and involve increased compensation.

• Improve student achievement by strengthening instruction.

Every school district in Iowa has implemented a TLC plan. The state of Iowa has almost 10,000 teachers serving in a teacher leadership role.

The Morning Sun CSD’s vision is to create a learning environment where teachers empower one another, in cooperation with the community it serves, to educate and prepare all students to be contributing members of a changing society.

Our district goals are to:

• effectively compensate teachers taking on leadership roles
• recruit and promote excellent teachers
• support and collaborate with all teachers in the district
• provide time for highly effective teachers to grow, refine, and share their teaching skills
• implement leadership within our district with fidelity

The vision and goals for the TLC implementation are aligned with current goals in the area of student achievement, developed with parent and student input:

All students will achieve at high levels in:

• reading comprehension
• math skills
• science
• technology

In order to achieve our district’s vision and goals, the Morning Sun Community School District plans to use the TLC funds to empower teachers to successfully support one another in implementing Iowa Core and other district initiatives, promote collaboration to improve instructional strategies and collaboratively develop rigorous and relevant curriculum which will impact our district’s student achievement.

Role #1 Part Time Instructional Coach – Vicky Miller and Kathie Grimm

Responsibilities and duties:

• sustain Iowa Core
• monitor and evaluate universal screener data
• assist with implementation of student interventions
• collaborate and plan with K-6 teachers in the area of literacy
• work with teachers and administrators to coordinate professional development
• maintain a full-time teaching position
• fulfill one-year contract
• additional contract hours:  days

Role #2: Mentor/ Instructional Coach & PD – Tammy Noble

Responsibilities and duties:

• mentor first year teacher(s)
• serve as a model for exemplary teaching practices
• collaborate with teachers on implementation of Iowa Core
• reflect on instructional strategies and practices
• research best practice strategies for implementation in classroom instruction
• provide opportunities to co-teach
• maintain full time teaching position
• fulfill one-year contract

Role #3: Technology Coach – Amanda Vreeland

Responsibilities and Duties:

• analyze data for curriculum improvement
• work with teachers and administrators to coordinate professional development
• monitor Iowa Core implementation
• research strategies for teachers
• professional development as agreed
• one-year contract

Role #4 Building Interventionist/Data – Kerry Bunnell

Responsibilities and Duties:

• analyze data for curriculum improvement
• work to coordinate professional development
• collaborate with other teacher leaders
• assist in progress monitoring
• work to increase the skills of non-proficient students
• monitor Iowa Core implementation
• research appropriate strategies
• one-year contract