The concrete is here!!!

On the morning of September 30, concrete trucks arrived and crews went to work pouring the concrete footers needed to support the thousands of concrete blocks used to build the walls and support our addition. We look forward to watching the masons as they go to work next week building our new walls.

Thank you parent volunteers!

Thank you to some parent volunteers for planting new bushes and shrubs in front of the school and in the courtyard for everyone to enjoy. Parents and children "dug right in" and helped change the appearance in front of our school. Thanks again to everyone for helping!

The footings are dug.

On September 28th, the footings were dug in preparation for the contractors to begin building forms and pouring concrete. You will notice there are some large piles of dirt piled up from the footings being dug as well as some concrete block that was delivered. Everyone has been excited to see the progress during the first 2 days.

What an exciting day as construction crews break ground!

You could find the students and staff watching from the windows and along the construction fence at recess to watch the construction crew tear up our old playground. It was very exciting to finally see some progress being made on the elementary addition. Construction crews tore up the blacktop and hauled it away today. They are now ready to start digging to set the footers and pour concrete.

Look what arrived at Okoboji Elementary school today!

YIPPEE! We had construction equipment arrive at the school today. At our monthly construction meeting, we were told they will be starting to break ground next week. Please stay connected with the Okoboji Elementary blog for construction updates.

An Opportunity to "Question" the Elementary Staff

On our September 20th professional development day, the Okoboji Elementary staff learned, practiced and developed lessons with "good" questions. Staff worked on the strategy of Questioning and developed questions that will create student responses that require higher order thinking and create better thinkers and more in-depth learners in our classrooms. Look for some of these types of questions to come home with your child and on their teacher's classroom blog.

4th Graders Skype Around the World

Fourth grade students in Mrs. Brecher's class use technology and Skype with a US soldier in the country of Qatar, near the Persian Gulf. Students had the opportunity to ask questions about refueling planes and the other duties of the military. Students used the responses to their questions as a springboard to research new ideas and topics in their classroom. Check back here to find out where these students will travel next with the power of technology.

Students from Germany visited Okoboji Elementary

The students and staff at Okoboji Elementary were fortunate to have visitors from Germany visit our school on September 8. There were 18 high school girls and 3 teachers who visited the elementary in the morning. These students stayed with host families in the area and were given an opportunity to experience the IOwa culture through a variety of activities. The girls and teachers make up an instrumental band, similar to a jazz band, that performed a concert at the Okoboji High School on September 8th.