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Governor Eric J. Holcomb and the Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ISBVI) today announced James R. Michaels will serve as the next superintendent. The school’s current superintendent, James Durst, announced his retirement earlier this year. Michaels will enter the role with over 35 years of serving Hoosier youth and adults with disabilities.

“James Michaels has spent his life in service to Hoosiers with disabilities,” said Gov. Holcomb. “I know James will bring that dedication along with his decades of experience providing and leading human services to the Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired."

Michaels is an alumnus, former employee and former board member of ISBVI. Since 1998, Michaels has served in education, counseling and leadership positions, including VP of Programs, at Bosma Enterprises, an Indianapolis nonprofit providing employment, rehabilitation and job training for people who are blind or visually impaired. Earlier in his career, Michaels held multiple student-serving roles at the Indiana School for the Deaf.

“I am so grateful to have the opportunity to return to the school that made such a difference in my life. As a former student and employee of the Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, I have witnessed first-hand the life changing impact the school has on the students, parents, staff, and the community at-large,” said Michaels. “I am excited to have the opportunity to work side by side with the amazing ISBVI staff to continue to support, encourage, and educate the student-body. The message the students will hear from me over and over again is, ‘I believe in you.’”

Michaels completed his undergraduate and graduate degrees at Indiana University. He resides in Brownsburg with his wife, Connie; they have a son, Jesse, currently attending college.

As one of the largest state schools in the nation serving students who are blind or have low vision, IBSVI enrolls 110 students spanning preschool through high school, approximately 40 of whom are residential, as well as directly serving over 300 students across 46 school districts. Established in 1847, the school also offers a wide array of other programming aligned to its statutory mission of serving Hoosier students with visual disabilities.

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By: Monika Spaulding

For the second year in a row, Salem Community Schools was awarded the STEM Integration grant. Totalling $44,582, STEAM Director Jessica Morgan is thrilled to have received the grant again.

“This year, the focus will be on computer science,” she said. “We will have training for 10 teachers to learn how to integrate computer science into core classes.”

Morgan has started using the funds already to purchase more supplies for the lab including robots and micro:bits that can be used at all three school buildings. She said a new 3D printer has been bought for Bradie Shrum and computer science building and design kits have been purchased for 6th and 7th grades, which will include coding.

“All of this falls in line with the conference that I went to this summer, along with Crystal Mikels and Casey Fields,” said Morgan. “We went to Computer Science Professional Development (CSPD) week in Bloomington in June. This grant will help us incorporate a lot of what we learned at the training into our classrooms.”

Some examples of ways computer science will be included in the classroom are for math class: using micro:bits to put on shoes and count steps, using different speeds and then taking the information and creating graphs.

In history class, students can make games by taking famous people in history and making informational links about the person for people to click on and learn more about them in presentations.

Morgan is looking forward to school starting and sharing these ideas with teachers to make learning more hands-on and fun for students at Salem schools.

“This grant will help us integrate technology into the classroom even more than we have already,” she said. “It’s going to be a great school year.”

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The Salem School Board approved earlier dismissal times for the 2024-25 school year. Superintendent Jill Mires explained that she, Transportation Director Ed Jordan and the school principals all worked together to make a plan for how to get the buses back to the bus compound earlier in the evenings because it starts to get dark early from about the end of October through the winter months.

Dismissal will start at Bradie Shrum Elementary School at 2:45 p.m., with late load buses being in the front of the fleet and loading beginning at 2:50 p.m. At the middle school, walkers and car riders will be held to let bus riders load first. Classes will end around 2:50 p.m. with buses being loaded from 2:57 - 3:00 p.m. The high school will hold student drivers until bus riders are loaded, dismissing at 3:00 p.m. with loading from 3:01 - 3:05 p.m.

Mires said early dismissal will also provide built-in PD time for teachers, as they will still be in the buildings until 3:30 p.m. She said all teachers will participate in the extra time after students have been released. Mires said this also allows the school to be more in line with the Prosser schedule. After school activities will also be able to begin earlier.

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Operation Back To School is back!

This program provides financial assistance to Indiana veteran families experiencing financial difficulty.

The program offers $500 per qualified dependent for back-to-school supplies and other school related expenses.

Families can begin applying on July 15. The application period closes on August 30.

Apply Now!

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Gina D. Walker, First Deputy of Election and Voter Services for the Washington County Clerk of the Courts. has released an abbreviated list of county school board candidates for the 2024 General Election, which will be November 5.