District to consider adding therapy dog to HS/MS

     By next fall, the Monticello Community School District might have two therapy dogs instead of one.

     The district’s therapy dog program has proven so successful at the elementary school level that it is considering adding a second dog for the high school and middle school.

     High school counselor Carmen Stenger attended the special meeting of the Monticello School Board Jan. 12 to make a presentation pitching the idea.

     Stenger said research has shown the benefits of such a program can be physical, such as reducing blood pressure and stress hormones; social, including knocking down social barriers; cognitive, improving memory and problem solving; and emotional, helping students interact better with other humans through interacting with the dog.

     She said goals for students would include increasing their self-esteem as well as empathy and compassion, decrease violence, reduce anxiety and de-escalate tense situations.

     “When our students are at that point that they’re not ready to learn, this is one way that we can help them get back to that point,” Stenger said.

     Superintendent Brian Jaeger said the district has seen “such great effects” with the previous therapy dog, Champ, as well as Sadie, the current therapy dog.

     Stenger said she has a dog in mind, “Coconut,” a nearly 2-year-old Samoyed. If the program is approved, Coconut will undergo training in the spring, Therapy Dog International (TDI) testing over the summer, and could be certified in the fall of 2022. The animal will serve both the high school and middle school buildings.

     This was not an action item Wednesday, but will be put on the agenda for the board’s regular meeting Jan. 24.

In other board business:

     • A draft of the 2022-23 MCSD master calendar was presented to the board for discussion at Wednesday’s meeting. If approved, the calendar will include a school year running from Aug. 23, 2022 to May 31, 2023. Snow days, if needed, will be added to the end of the calendar, which was formed by the district’s calendar committee.

     The biggest change from this year’s calendar would be a total of 28 Wednesdays with dismissal at 1 p.m., as opposed to the 17 days of 2 p.m. dismissals in place this school year. The idea is to allow more time for professional development and collaboration, as well as prep time, for teachers on Wednesdays. The number of separate PD and collaboration days would be reduced.

     The calendar includes a Thanksgiving break from Nov. 23 to 25, winter break from Dec. 22 through Jan. 2, and a spring break from March 13 through 17.

     A public hearing on the calendar will be held Jan. 24 at 6 p.m., and it will be up for approval at the regular meeting immediately afterward.

     • The board appointed Amanda Brennemann to serve on the Jones County Conference Board. Among its responsibilities is approving the county assessor’s budget.

     • The board appointed Lauren Hawley and Crystal Ramos as special education child specific associates at Carpenter, and accepted the resignation of Taylor Holt from the same position.