The Creston Police Department reports the arrest Thursday night, of 49-year old Michelle Renee Schell, of Creston. Schell was taken into custody at around 7:50-p.m. in the 100 block of E. Adams Street, on charges of 5th Degree Theft and Public Intoxication. She was being held in the Ringgold County Jail on a $300 cash bond.

(7-a.m. News)

The principal at Pekin Middle School decided to make a big statement to support a student who was teased by classmates. Jackson Johnston shaved his head to honor his grandfather, but didn’t get the support he expected when he went to school. “Right off the bat I got rude comments like ‘okay baldy’, ‘oh,you look like you have cancer,’ stuff like that,” Johnston says. Johnston says his classmates didn’t understand why he shaved his head.

“My grandpa is going through chemotherapy because he has a very rare form of cancer,” Johnston says. “And I’ve been close to my grandpa ever since I was a little kid. We’ve done everything together.” Pekin Principal Tim Hadley learned about the issue with the 6th grader. He says Jackson’s mom called and said he had been excited, but things turned disappointing after the comments from his classmates. “She just basically stated that it was probably one of the worst days that he had.”

Hadley decided to turn the issue into something positive. He says he thought about it and could have disciplined the kids, but decided it was better to use it as an opportunity in the correct response and how to support others. “I’m a big believer in you can talk, but it’s better when you walk,” Hadley says. So, he allowed the 11-year-old Johnston to shave his head at a school assembly. Hadley says he knows how Johnston felt.

He says cancer affects everyone and in his case his mother battled cancer when he was in high school and he lost a grandfather to cancer. “So it is something that was near and dear to me,” Hadley says.

Hadley says his haircut got the response he wanted from students, but it has gone beyond that to people in the community who also responded with their support and praise for the way he handled the situation. He says he hopes everyone will think before they make comments to someone and ask if the comment will build them up or tear them down.

(Radio Iowa)

The Department of Education released its third annual Iowa School Report Card Thursday. Department director Ryan Wise says it’s designed to give a look at individual schools within a district. “You do see some schools that improved and some schools that declined in terms of their overall ranking,” Wise says. “You also see a slight overall shift downward this year — because there was statewide dip in test scores.”

The schools don’t get a letter grade, they instead are given rating. “Ranging from exceptional, high performing, commendable, acceptable, needs improvement, and priority And those ratings are created by a school’s performance in a number of areas related to student proficiency, student academic growth, attendance, graduation rates, staff retention. Those different measures compiled together make a school’s overall rating,” according to Wise.

He says some minor changes were made this year to include more schools in scores and ratings. Wise says they also added two categories in how schools are judged on closing achievement gaps. “In the previous year we looked at achievement gaps for students who had individualized education plans, who received free and reduced priced lunch or who were English language learners. We’ve added in two measures that also look at achievement gaps along racial and ethnic lines, so for students from diverse backgrounds,” Wise says.

The report card also includes a new summary review of efforts to get parents involved. “We’ve included a statewide survey of teachers on their practices in engaging parents and parental involvement,” Wise explains. “That addition isn’t scored this year — but it does provide another level of information for parent to look at in reviewing their school’s report card.”

Wise calls the report card a starting point for parents to evaluate their schools. “Parents shouldn’t stop at the ratings. They should use this as an opportunity to really engage with their childrens’ school. To say ‘tell me more about’ the areas that they are most interested in,” he says. Wise also sees the report card as something school administrators and staff can use. ” I hope that it will be a positive valuable tool at building level for principals to engage with their staff and say here’s where we’ve improved, hear a re things we think have contributed to that growth, here’s where we still face challenges — how can we continue to make progress in those areas?,” Wise says.

You can find the report card and your school’s rating at: www.educateiowa.gov/schoolreportcard. Wise says improvements will continue to the Iowa School Report Card, particularly after Iowa finalizes a new state plan for school accountability and support under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, which replaced the No Child Left Behind Act.

(Radio Iowa)