BHS Principals

Mr. John Pearce graduated from Idaho State University with a BSE in Chemistry and Math in 1996. He started his teaching career at Little Rock Catholic High School for Boys in Little Rock, Arkansas. John completed his Master's Degree in Educational Leadership at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He started his administrative career in the Pulaski County Special School District, and served as the building principal for the last six years at Maumelle Middle School.

John's commitment to education has earned him the Administrator of the Year award from the Arkansas School Counselor's Association - Central Region in 2008. "Our goal this year is to reaffirm our commitment to our students and our community. I want people to look to our faculty and staff as developers of leaders, and know we are here to challenge, encourage, and help student develop 'Bronco Pride'."

John returns to Idaho with his wife Cydney, and his two sons, Seth (12), and Tate (8).          

Mr. Wes Jensen has lived in Blackfoot for most of his life. He attended Blackfoot schools and graduated from Blackfoot High School. He then attended Idaho State University and received his Bachelor's Degree in History. Upon graduation he moved to Boise to attend graduate school at Boise State University where he earned a Master's Degree in Education. Wes has been employed with Blackfoot School District for eight years and has "loved every minute of it!" "I am dedicated to this school and this community and will work extremely hard to help Blackfoot High be a better place!" Wes married the woman of his dreams, Laurie Jensen in 2007, and together they have three children and one on the way in December; Colton (12), Mikayla (3), and Brayson (1 ½).

Mrs. Lori Kay is pleased to return to the Blackfoot School District. She recently served as the director of the Flexible Learning Center alternate high school program in Sergeant Bluff, Iowa. She is licensed as a PK-12 principal, 5-12 language arts teacher, and a PK-12 talented and gifted teacher and coordinator. Her professional accomplishments include election to two consecutive terms on the Iowa Association of Alternative Education board of directors; professional conference presentations on differentiation, alternative strategies; and receiving the IAAE "Educator of the Year" award in 2009. Her educational philosophy is progressive and based on the belief that every student deserves a chance to learn and develop his or her unique talents and abilities.

Lori's educational background includes a B.A. in English Composite Teaching from Brigham Young University and a M.S.E. in PK-12 Administration from Wayne State College. Her recent professional development includes training on teacher evaluation from Morningside College, differentiated instruction from the University of Iowa, and creativity from Drake University. She believes, "We have truly educated our students when we have instilled in them a desire to be life-long learners."

Ms. Vicki Johnson is starting her 30th year with the Blackfoot School District. She graduated from Illinois State University with a Bachelor's Degree in Physical Education. She taught Physical Education for 22 years at BHS before returning to school to get her Master's Degree in Educational Counseling. She has been a Counselor at Blackfoot High School for seven years.

This year Vicki will also be the Dean of Students. Additionally, she will be serving as the School District's Title IX Coordinator. Vicki knew, as a 6th grader, that she wanted to be in education. She loves teaching and believes that,"all kids can learn." She moved to Blackfoot from Illinois to fill a one year leave of absence and has never left. Vicki says she loves working for Blackfoot School District #55. Her philosophy: "To love what you do and feel it matters - how could anything be more fun?" 

The Idaho State Legislature is charged with the responsibility to govern matters of the state. Part of that responsibility is to enact laws, rules, and regulations that directly affect the schools. We've all heard about the education bills signed by the Governor last spring, but there are some other regulations we must deal with that are not so widely known:

The first is ISAT reporting. Students all take ISATs (Idaho Standards Achievement Test), which everybody knows about, but it is a law that parents be notified about their students' scores within two weeks after the time the district receives those scores (which come in June). In years past, we were able to hold the scores until students returned to school in the fall. Unfortunately, the students aren't in school in June and won't be able to take them home, so they must be mailed.

It is important to know the impact the ruling is having on our school district. At BHS we received the scores for 253 sophomores, and 297 freshmen. Each sophomore's letter cost $1.32 to mail, for a total of $333.96. Freshmen letters are not quite as bulky and only cost $0 .88 each, or a total of $261.36. On top of that, we had 87 juniors who had to take one or more of the ISAT tests, and a hand full of seniors (16). Their mailing was $45.32. In addition to the ISAT mailing, student report cards also had to be mailed. They had to be sent separately from the ISAT scores. With 1,084 report cards going out, that bill was $476.96, for a grand total of $1,117.60.

A problem that will occur this fall is the ISAT testing window. This year the one month window opens on November 15th. Our trimester ends November 22nd, so students will be studying for trimester exams that whole week and shouldn't be subjected to ISAT testing during that time. The day after the trimester ends, our Thanksgiving break starts.  We return to school on November 28th. That means our testing window is whittled down to two weeks.  As long as there are no glitches from the testing center, we can still push the students through, but not in the most ideal of circumstances. When asked if the testing window could be moved, Scott Cook from the State Department of Education responded, "That's your problem. Deal with it!"

Christine Silzly, principal at Groveland Elementary School, was luckier. A parent donated 100 stamps to send the envelopes and students brought in their own stamps for the rest. No funds were spent from the school's account.

Tunda Hay, secretary from Wapello Elementary School said, "Wapello Elementary had each student bring a self-addressed stamped envelope, so it did not cost us any money; just time to stuff the envelopes."

Colin Folsom, principal at Ridge Crest Elementary School said, "Ridge Crest went ahead and mailed out the ISAT results and parent brochures. It cost us $99.00."

Ryan Wilson, principal at Stoddard Elementary School said, "We asked students to come back this week (in June) to pick up their reports. We are thinking that as a community school it wouldn't be too difficult to stop by and pick them up.  However, we have only handed out 39 reports out of 255. So, we had to mail them. It cost us $95.04 in postage plus the 216 envelopes and 3 hours of time to stuff the envelopes."

Todd Lauritsen, principal at MVMS said, "We spent $387.20 in postage for report cards and ISATs. (605 pieces @ $0.64 each). ISATs alone cost an additional $121.00. We mailed them today (6/8/11)."

Hal Silzly, principal at Stalker Elementary School said, "Stalker is sending out any reports that a parent doesn't pick up before June 14th. At $ 0.44 per stamp for probably 130 students it will cost us $57.30.

Brenda Honena, principal at Fort Hall Elementary School, "FHE spent $54.00 to mail out our ISAT scores."

The two week notification requirement is wasting hundreds of already scarce dollars. Communication with parents on their students' academic progress is important, but unless it's needed before fall, students ought to be able to take them home when they return to school.

"Students Come First" is a nice sounding phrase, but in actuality many of the costs local districts must bear, along with academically unsound legislation is anything but student friendly. In this time of economic crisis, districts across the state are trying to stretch already limited resources. Postage is an unnecessary added expense. School boards and superintendents across the state are shaking their heads as they try to figure out how to provide a quality education for their students in these troubling times.