DPI impressed with Wrightstown art program

Brian Roebke photo
Aubrey Stradel, a member of the Wrightstown High School Dance Team, talks with school board members about the team’s fundraisers, practices, competitions, and other things at last week’s meeting.

By Brian Roebke
Editor
Superintendent Andy Space of the Wrightstown Community School District said members of the State Department of Public Instruction were in Wrightstown for a day in August and were very impressed.
“Years ago art was you were at a table, now those are learning spaces that are conducive for kids learning at a young age,” he said. “Art has become so much more and it was really nice to see.”
He congratulated art teachers Jill Bailey, Jessica Johnson, and Ashley Moser for their work and being one of just 65 schools in the state that were chosen.
Also in his report, Space also said Bellin Health would like to partner with the district with a TytoCare virtual health program.
“There’s health kiosks that we may be able to bring into our school buildings,” he said. “It would be run by some of our health aids but we would be connected via a virtual link to a doctor or a nurse practitioner and students or staff.”
Patients can meet virtually with health professionals, saving a trip to the doctor, and saving the district money on insurance costs.
Bellin also wants the school district to partner with them on the Bellin Health Run to promote kids being active in the community and taking part in healthy choices.
Speaking about a CESA 7 superintendents meeting, Space mentioned one of the hot topics was the school voucher system and the school district pays out $450,000 to voucher schools.
“We said we would like the opportunity to see this to come back much like open enrollment,” he said. “Right now if we have a child that leaves our district and goes to a private school, that money gets sent there. If they come back in two, three, four, five weeks, that money doesn’t come back.”
He said that’s a glitch they would like to work on with state legislators.
Space is also concerned about the state’s new reading bill for the 2024-25 school year that he said will cost school districts a lot of money and be a big undertaking.