The Indiana Department of Education has announced that South Central Elementary School is now newly certified as a leader in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education! In a partnership with EES Innovation, the South Central STEM leadership team consisting of teachers and administrative staff met regularly to work on programming and goals that would follow the Indiana STEM Education requirements. They also worked with community members and businesses. The school completed a rigorous application and review process that included an onsite visit with IDOE staff. The certification lasts for five years and the entire process must be repeated every five years to remain certified. Visit the school's STEM website for more information.

Congratulations to our leadership team and our teachers/staff on accomplishing this school goal!

Dear Students, Parents/Guardians, & South Central Community,

It's hard to believe it's already May and the end of another school year is approaching! Where does the time go? We've had another very successful school year at SC. There are always bumps in the road, but I'm grateful to be a part of an incredible school community. South Central is a special place, and that's because of our students, staff, and community!

As you may know, South Central's Board of School Trustees, administration, and staff have been working carefully and diligently on a plan for additions, renovations, and improvements to our school building and campus. Those improvements will begin this summer! It's important to note that this project is completely tax neutral, and will NOT change the school corporation's debt service tax rate. So you will NOT see an increase in your taxes because of this project. We are working within the parameters of the school corporation's existing debt structure. The proposed project will be a total bond issuance of $12.15 million but will be broken up into a series of two bond issues. The board of trustees hired Tonn and Blank Construction out of Michigan City to be the construction manager for the project. Elevatus Architecture out of Ft. Wayne is the architect.

Last June, we convened a committee of 14 stakeholders (board members, admin, teachers, and parents) to identify needs and wants for the additions, renovations, and improvements. Through that process, we came to the addition of classrooms to both the elementary and jr-sr high schools, renovations of ALL restrooms in the building, renovating the library/media center, renovating the locker room area, constructing an activity center building, replacing an old chiller, and more. Please visit the new page on our website for more detailed information and pictures. We will also post construction updates as the project advances.

https://www.scentral.k12.in.us/building-project

The Board of Trustees and administration will be hosting an informational meeting on Tuesday, May 14th at approximately 5:30pm for anyone that would like to learn more about the project. The regularly scheduled board meeting is at 5:00pm with the informational meeting to follow.

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, administration, and staff, I thank you for your continued support of South Central Schools.

Go Satellites!

Ben Anderson, Superintendent

Save the date! The Northwest Health Sports Medicine Program will once again be offering sports physicals at South Central. The physical night will take place on June 18th from 5:30pm to 7:30pm.

South Central Elementary School, through its penny war fundraiser, raised $20,022.80 for Riley Hospital for Children!

The penny war fundraiser was sponsored by Junior Council members and was held from March 4th to the 22nd. South Central Elementary (and the Corporation) will now be designated as a "Red Wagon School/Corporation" for their fundraising efforts! Additionally, a Red Riley Wagon with a customized South Central license plate will be used at Riley Hospital as transportation for many patients.

Dear Satellite Families, 

As you are likely aware, we will experience the phenomenon of a total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8th. While the total solar eclipse is an exciting event for some, it does also bring some safety concerns to consider. After discussing this event with the Board of Trustees, LaPorte County Emergency Management, and the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, we do feel that we need to make a slight change to our schedule on April 8th. We will dismiss students early; elementary car riders beginning at 12:20pm and Jr.-Sr. High School at 12:30pm.

The timing of this rare event is what drives this decision. It occurs near regular dismissal time. LaPorte County is in the path of 96% totality of the solar eclipse, which will occur at 2:08pm. The partial eclipse begins approximately 12:52pm and will last until 3:23pm, according to LCEM and IDHS. 

I understand that this decision will be met with mixed reactions. We are making this change in the best interest of safety though, as viewing the eclipse without proper eyewear can cause permanent damage to your eyesight. South Central purchased approved safety glasses for students a few weeks back and we hope those will arrive in time to provide those, should parents/guardians want to view this event with their child. 

We sincerely appreciate your understanding regarding this change, and always appreciate your support of South Central Schools! 

Yours in education,

Ben Anderson, Superintendent

The South Central Elementary Junior Council will be sponsoring a penny war fundraiser between grade levels to help benefit Riley Hospital for Children. The fundraiser will take place from March 4th to March 22nd with prizes for the most money raised by grade level and for reaching the school goal. Details on this fun way to raise money can be found in the attached flyer.

• First Goal: $2,000 = Pajama Party
• Second Goal: $3,4000 = Movie Day
• Third Goal: $6,000 = Board Game Day
• Fourth Goal: $8,000 = Ice Cream Party
• Final Goal: $10,000 = Fun Day

On February 15, 2024, South Central Elementary School was recognized at the Indiana Statehouse for achieving over a 95% proficiency rate on the 2022-2023 IREAD-3. Ben Anderson (superintendent), Nick Kimmel (principal), and Chris Walter (3rd grade teacher) also got to meet Dr. Jenner (Indiana Secretary of Education), Jim Pressel (Indiana State Representative), and Suzanne Crouch (Indiana Lieutenant Governor).

Thanks again to all our teachers and staff, especially our 3rd grade teaching/support teams, for their daily efforts to achieve this goal!

Select the link below to view the Notice of Adoption of Preliminary Determination for South Central Community School Corporation to issue bonds and enter a 2024 lease agreement for the renovation of and improvements to facilities throughout the school corporation.

South Central Elementary School will hold pre-kindergarten and kindergarten roundup for the 2024-2025 school year on Tuesday, March 26th from 9:00am-2:00pm and on Thursday, March 28th from 3:30pm-6:00pm.

Children who turn four by September 1, 2024 are eligible to sign up for pre-kindergarten and children who turn five by September 1, 2024 are eligible for kindergarten. Please bring the child's birth certificate. 

Pursuant to Indiana Code § 20-26-7-37 and Indiana Code § 6-1.1-20-3.5, notice is hereby given that the Board of School Trustees (the "Board") of the South Central Community School Corporation will meet at 5:00pm on February 13, 2024 at 9808 S. 600 W, Union Mills, Indiana, to hold a public hearing to discuss and hear objections and support regarding the proposed renovation of and improvements to facilities throughout the School Corporation, including the construction of additions, site and athletic improvements, the construction of an activities center and the purchase of buses, equipment, and technology (the "Project"). The Board will also consider the adoption of a resolution making a preliminary determination to enter into a lease agreement relating to the Project and to issue bonds to finance the Project. You are invited to attend and participate in the public hearings.

Brian Lautenbach
Secretary, Board of School Trustees

Congratulations to all the participants of the 2024 elementary spelling bee! A big shoutout also goes to our top three finishers:

1st Place: Wyatt B.
2nd Place: Hannah B.
3rd Place: Lillian W.

Pursuant to Indiana Code § 20-26-7-37 and Indiana Code § 6-1.1-20-3.5, notice is hereby given that the Board of School Trustees of the South Central Community School Corporation will meet at 5:00pm on January 9, 2024 and at 5:00pm on January 22, 2024, at 9808 S. 600 W., Union Mills, Indiana to hold public hearings. On January 9, 2024, the Board will hold a public hearing to discuss and hear objections and support regarding the proposed renovation of and improvements to facilities throughout the School Corporation, including the construction of additions, site and athletic improvements, the construction of an activities center and the purchase of buses, equipment, and technology (the "Project"). On January 22, 2024, the Board will hold a second public hearing to discuss and hear objections and support regarding the proposed Project and will also consider the adoption of a resolution making a preliminary determination to enter into a lease agreement relating to the Project and to issue bonds to finance the Project. You are invited to attend and participate in the public hearings.

Brian Lautenbach
Secretary, Board of School Trustees

Pre-Kindergarten at South Central Elementary School has returned! Registration for 2024 will open on January 10, 2024. Please call the elementary office if you are interested in having your child attend this program. For more information, please see the attached flyer.

South Central is pleased to be selected as a recipient of the Indiana Department of Education Literacy Center's Competitive Science of Reading Grant! This competitive grant opportunity is designed to support state-accredited schools that serve students in kindergarten through grade three and whose educators are interested in implementing evidence-based practices aligned with the science of reading and Indiana's Priorities for Early Literacy. South Central was awarded the full amount of $150,000 (for schools of this size) to use for training and curriculum.

You can read the full press release on the IDOE website.

Dear Parent/Guardian,

Thank you for your support over the last 48 hours as we've endured another tragic loss of a student. Mark was a vibrant, respectful young man and will be dearly missed here at South Central.

As you know, we recently sent a letter to you with information regarding virtual learning, eLearning, and our snow make-up days. Next Wednesday, November 1^st was a scheduled virtual learning, where students were going to be required to be on live Google Meets from 9:00-12:00pm, then teachers were going to have professional development in the afternoon. In light of the tragic events we are dealing with, we've decided to change the November 1st virtual day to an 'old fashioned' eLearning day. This way, assignments will be posted by 9:00am and due by 11:59pm, unless otherwise noted by the teacher. There will be no live instruction through Google Meets, however, teachers will be available by email and Canvas/Google Classroom to assist students.

We thought switching to an eLearning day would be more appropriate to provide flexibility and some time for students and staff to decompress as we continue to navigate these difficult times.

Please feel free to visit the online learning page on our website for further information and clarification: https://www.scentral.k12.in.us/services/technology/online-learning-info

Thank you again for your continued support of South Central Schools, our students, staff, and community.

Sincerely,

Ben Anderson, Superintendent 

Dr. Katie Jenner, Indiana Secretary of Education, visited South Central Schools on Wednesday, October 18th to celebrate IREAD-3 scores and discuss all the great things happening at the school! Dr. Jenner toured the building, visited classrooms to observe different lessons taught by teachers, saw STEM programming/activities, and even got hands-on experience with the high school welding program.

"The culture of South Central is really incredible," Jenner said. "I mean, you can feel the energy and the passion and the joy that the teachers bring to the school every single day. That matters because, the joy that our teachers bring, certainly, radiates off what our students bring to the table in terms of learning."

View ABC57 news story on Dr. Jenner's visit

South Central Elementary and the Junior Council will be participating in Red Ribbon Week on October 23rd through 27th! See the attached flyer for the dress-up days during the week. For more information on Red Ribbon Week visit redribbon.org

After a 30-0 undefeated regular season, the South Central varsity girls volleyball team kept the same momentum going in the postseason to become IHSAA Sectional 34 tournament champions! The Lady Satellites swept North Judson (25-12, 25-15, 25-17) in the semifinal round and LaVille (25-12, 25-15, 25-15) in the championship to take home the second-consecutive title. The team now moves onto Regional action against Pioneer on Saturday, October 21st at Rochester.

Dear Parent/Guardian,

I hope this letter finds you well! It's hard to believe we're already approaching the end of the 1st grading period. The year has flown by! We've had a fantastic start to the school year here at SC, and we appreciate your partnership and support.

The purpose of this letter is to provide information on our virtual learning and eLearning days this school year. We have two virtual learning days built into the school calendar for teacher professional development days. Those are November 1st and March 6th. On those two days, teachers and students will be on live Google Meets in the AM, while the afternoon will be for teacher meetings and training. The building principals will send out schedules and information very soon specific to those two days.

For inclement weather, we'll potentially utilize eLearning days, virtual learning days, and snow make-up days. We are only allowed to use up to three (3) eLearning days in a school year, per Indiana Code. eLearning days would be our "old fashion" days where lessons are posted on Canvas (grades 5-12) or Google Classroom (grades K-4) by 9:00am, and students can complete their work at any time throughout the day. Assignments are due by 11:59pm, unless otherwise directed by the teacher. For virtual learning, students are required to be on live Google Meets for at least 50% of the school day in order for it to count as a day. So those days we will use our 2-hour delay schedule like we have in the past, and live Google Meets will begin at 9:00am. The JH/HS will operate on the 2-hour delay bell schedule. The elementary school will provide a live instruction schedule for each grade level that will also begin at 9:00am.

If we happen to use up our 3 eLearning days, we'll then plan to use 3 virtual days with live instruction. While I certainly hope we don't have that many inclement weather days, if we get past those 3 eLearning days AND 3 virtual learning days, we'll utilize the built-in snow make-up days. Snow make-up days are built into our calendar on January 15th, February 16th, and April 26th.

I understand that this is somewhat confusing, which is why I wanted to provide this letter to try and clarify the differences. Please do not hesitate to reach out to the school office if you have any questions or for further clarification!

Thank you for your continued support!

Ben Anderson, Superintendent

The annual junior vs. seniors powderpuff football game will be held on Wednesday, September 27 at 6:00pm. The game will take place on the Satellite football field. Tickets can be purchased at the gate for $5.00.