Wapello Community Schools

15 Days! Just 15 days until the Voted Physical Plant and Equipment Levy Renewal Election that will be held on Tuesday, March 1, 2022, at the Briggs Civic Center in Wapello. The polls for this very important election will be open from 7:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. Did you know that the Voted PPEL funds have been used to replace ceiling tiles in our attendance centers? Over time, the ceiling tiles that are in our attendance centers begin to sag and break down. In some of the original construction in our buildings 2' x 4' ceiling tile were used. We have found that over time, the tiles begin to sag in the middle and droop down, eventually breaking and falling. As we have been replacing ceiling tiles each year, we have switched to a 2' x 2' tile that is less likely to sag and break down. They provide a crisp clean look that we were desiring in our hallways and classroom space. Switching to a 2' x 2' tile has required some additional gridwork to be installed, but we hope that by adding the additional gridwork and going to a smaller tile that is less prone to sag and break, that we will have to replace the tiles less often, therefore freeing up money to be used on other projects. Because ceiling tile replacement is part of the upkeep of our buildings, it makes it eligible to be paid for out of the Physical Plant and Equipment Levy and takes pressure off of the General Fund Budget to help pay for more programs for students. That is today's Voted PPEL Fact, so now you know! To learn more about this important funding stream and the projects that it funds, visit our website at www.wapellocsd.org and click on the menu button and look for the PPEL Renewal Election and look at the resources to get a better idea of the kinds of projects that we are able to fund because our voters have kept this levy in place for the past 24 years. #WeAreWapello #WapelloTribePride

Elementary Parents! Tomorrow is spring picture day at Wapello Elementary! If you would like to pre-order your student's spring picture package, you may do so, by clicking on this link: http://halverson-photography.hhimagehost.com/2022SpringWapello to visit the Halverson Photography website and pre-order your student's package. The website states that the online ordering is open until 7:00 p.m. this evening. We apologize for the tight time frame, but we just received the link about 30 minutes ago.

Reminder: you must purchase tickets online for tonight's IHSAA District 9 game! Tipoff is at 7:00 pm, when Wapello hosts Notre Dame. Purchase your tickets at https://www.iahsaa.org/tickets/. (no school issued passes or cash accepted at the door)

Audrey Rickheim was our 1st grade “Star of the Week!” Peaches came to visit us, look at her cute sweater!

The Indians Basketball team will start their bid for the State Tournament Monday night when they host Notre Dame in a IHSAA District 9 game at 7:00 pm. Tickets are on sale now at https://www.iahsaa.org/tickets/. (No cash or school issued passes accepted)

17 Days! Just 17 days until the Voted Physical Plant and Equipment Levy Renewal Election that will be held on Tuesday, March 1, 2022 at the Briggs Civic Center in Wapello. The polls for this very important election will be open from 7:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. Did you know that the Voted PPEL helps the Wapello Community School District to outsource our IT Department? On July 1, 2021, the district went a different route with the Information Technology Department throughout the district. We went from a half time IT employee to a team of IT professionals from Grant Wood AEA in Cedar Rapids. The team at Grant Wood is able to manage our network remotely, and they also have a dedicated technician that is on site at Wapello at least one day each week to perform maintenance and manage our devices. In the event of an emergency, Grant Wood will dispatch one of their technicians to the district to address immediate needs that can not be done remotely. By moving to an out sourced IT Solution, the district was able to save dollars from the General Fund that help support teacher salaries and programs for our students and shift them all to the PPEL fund. In the first six months of having Grant Wood AEA manage our network and devices, the solution is working well and the district is saving General Fund Dollars that can be repurposed elsewhere in the budget to support our staff and students. That is today's Voted PPEL Fact, so now you know! To learn more about this important funding stream and the projects that it funds, visit our website at www.wapellocsd.org and click on the menu button and look for the PPEL Renewal Election and take a look at the resources to get a better idea of the kinds of projects that we are able to fund because our voters have kept this levy in place for the past 24 years. #WeAreWapello #WapelloTribePride

Can't make it to today's District 7 Wrestling at Wapello? Watch the livestream at www.thundercountry.tv. KIIC radio will have the broadcast and stream throughout the day. And remember, if you do come, you'll need to purchase your ticket at https://www.iahsaa.org/tickets/ (no cash at door)

16 Days! Just 16 days until the Voted Physical Plant and Equipment Levy Renewal Election that will be held on Tuesday, March 1, 2022 at the Briggs Civic Center in Wapello. The polls for this very important election will be open from 7:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. Did you know that the Voted PPEL funds have been used to upgrade many of the old fluorescent tube lights to LED? When LED Lighting became an affordable option, many of the old fluorescent tube fixtures were able to be converted to LED providing a light that lasted longer and saved money with less energy being consumed. The Voted PPEL Dollars were used to make the conversion to LED and purchase the LED bulbs, which in turn drove down the cost of electricity that the district was using. This freed up some money in the general fund that is able to be used for student programs and staff salaries. That is today's Voted PPEL Fact, so now you know! To learn more about this important funding stream and the projects that it funds, visit our website at www.wapellocsd.org and click on the menu button and look for the PPEL Renewal Election and take a look at the resources to get a better idea of the kinds of projects that we are able to fund because our voters have kept this levy in place for the past 24 years. #WeAreWapello #WapelloTribePride

January Student of the Month Pizza Party today! #wearewapello #wapellotribepride

The Wapello Jr/Sr High Daily Announcements for Friday, February 11, 2022 have been posted to our website and mobile app. They can be found in the documents folder, or by clicking on this direct link: https://5il.co/15gqn #WeAreWapello #WapelloTribePride

18 Days! Just 18 days until the Voted Physical Plant and Equipment Levy Renewal Election that will be held on Tuesday, March 1, 2022 at the Briggs Civic Center in Wapello. The polls for this very important election will be open from 7:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. Did you know that the Voted PPEL helps the Wapello Community School District to make the annual lease payments on a portion of our bus fleet? Four years ago, the Wapello Community School District leased four Blue Bird Buses for a period of three years. In the spring of 2021, the district turned in three of those buses and took delivery of three new units. We kept one of the original four, and will continue to keep one out of the group of leased buses until the district owns the fleet outright. Once the district owns the route buses outright, we will begin a replacement cycle that will replace one of the four route buses every other year. This will allow us to spread the cost of replacement out and not have to buy two or three buses at once. The average cost of a new route school bus for the district is approximately $90,000. The Voted PPEL allows us to take a portion of the taxes that are levied and make an annual payment on our bus fleet. That is today's voted PPEL fact of the day, so now you know! To learn more about this important funding stream and the projects that it funds, visit our website at www.wapellocsd.org and click on the menu button and look for the PPEL Renewal Election and take a look at the resources to get a better idea of the kinds of projects that we are able to fund because our voters have kept this levy in place for the past 24 years. #WeAreWapello #WapelloTribePride

Wapello will host the IHSAA District 7 Wrestling tournament on Saturday 2/12/2022. Reminder; tickets need to be purchased online (no cash at door) through the IHSAA website (School passes and Conference passes are NOT valid for this event). Anyone Kindergarten and older need to have a ticket. https://www.iahsaa.org/tickets/.

Support the Arts!

The Wapello Jr/Sr High Daily Announcements for Thursday, February 10, 2022 have been posted to our website and mobile app. They can be found in the documents folder, or by clicking on this direct link: https://5il.co/15gqn #WeAreWapello #WapelloTribePride

Daryan Nichols was our 1st grade “Star of the Week!” He did a great job reading “Super Sam has fun” to the class.

CORRECTED: if you were trying to buy tickets after 12:00 today you likely found you were no longer able to locate the link. That issue has been corrected, and the ticket link is now active on our page again. Sorry for the confusion. https://www.wapellocsd.org/page/wapello-activity-online-ticket

For the second year in a row, the Wapello TIES Rocket League team has qualified for the IAHSEA State Tournament. They once again had a phenomenal regular season, earning the #2 seed. This year, the state tournament will be held in-person at Grandview University on Friday, March 4. We are currently looking for business sponsors to help offset the cost for the hotel stay and meal money. If you are interested in helping out in anyway, please email me at micah.peck@wapellocsd.org. We have purchased shirts and would gladly list your business on the back side of them as well as put your graphic on the actual jerseys we plan to order. Thank you for your support! #wearewapello #wapellotribepride

It's Throwback Thursday! Back to the 1988 WHS Tomahawk for today's memories! #WeAreWapello #WapelloTribePride

19 Days until March 1, 2022 which is the date of the PPEL (Physical Plant and Equipment Levy) Renewal Election, the polls will be open from 7:00 am - 8:00 p.m. at the Briggs Civic Center. Did you know that the revenue that comes from the Voted PPEL Levy funds our district copiers? The district leases its copiers from a vendor that provides the lowest responsible bid for providing copier equipment to the district. Access Systems has held the lease for the district copiers for the past 5 years and just negotiated terms on a new 5 year lease. The district just received 5 brand new Sharp Copiers in January of 2022 and will keep these machines until January of 2027. Typically, the four copiers in our two attendance centers average approximately 250,000 copies produced each year, on each machine. The fifth copier is located at the Central Administration Office and is capable of producing color copies. While it doesn't have quite the volume as the others in the district, it does see a fair amount of use daily. With over 1,000,000 copies produced each year in the district, leasing the machines is the makes the most fiscal sense for the district. Due to rapidly changing technology, by leasing the machines, we are not left with an obsolete machine that we either would need to constantly repair to keep operational. Another advantage to leasing our copiers is that we are to return these machines in and let the leasing company take care of the disposal of these e-waste items. Under Iowa law, it is permissible to pay the costs of the copier lease from the Physical Plant and Equipment Levy. The cost of the annual lease for our copiers is just under $10,000 per year. This is $10,000 that does not have to come from our General Fund Budget which pays for teacher salaries and programs for our students. Without the Voted PPEL in place, we would need to trim $10,000 from the General Fund budget to accommodate these costs. That would most likely mean a reduction in staff, or programs for our students. That is today's PPEL Fact of the Day, so now you know! To learn more about this important funding stream and the projects that it funds, visit our website at www.wapellocsd.org and click on the menu button and look for the PPEL Renewal Election and take a look at the resources to get a better idea of the kinds of projects that we are able to fund because our voters have kept this levy in place for the past 24 years. #WeAreWapello #WapelloTribePride

Game Day for the Arrows!!! Let the post season begin. The Arrows will take on WACO at 7PM here in Wapello.