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School Calendar: Dates To Remember
- Friday, November 19th: No school - Teacher Professional Development Day
- Friday, November 19th: Primary and elementary parent teacher conferences
- November 22nd-26th: No school - Thanksgiving break
- December 13th: School board meeting | 6:30PM
- December 20th: Early out - 12:30PM
- December 21st: Early out - 12:30PM
- December 22nd-31st: No school - Winter break
- January 3rd, 2022: No school - Staff Professional Development Day
- January 4th, 2022: Students return to school from winter break
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Note From The Superintendent
Dear Southern Boone School District Family,
This is the time of the year as Americans, we think about what we're thankful for. We look back on the the memories of the past, appreciate the blessings of the present and look forward to the promises of the future. As we continue to face another year of challenges, on behalf of the school district, I would like to say thank you for your grace, compassion and understanding, as the districts continues to navigate through these challenges.
Words cannot express how thankful and appreciative I am for our teachers, instructional aides, custodians, maintenance, food service, grounds team, secretaries, bus drivers, administration, nurses, and all staff members for their leadership, service, passion and dedication to help meet the needs of our students and assisting families in the community. Over the last year and a half, we have found ourselves having to think about all aspects of education in a different way. These times have allowed us the opportunity to examine how we can take advantage of technology to educate our students and meet their needs as best we can.
We all agree there is no substitute for in-person learning and teaching. However, we found ourselves redirecting resources, thinking outside of the box, modifying instruction and assessment, in an effort to keep students in seat as much as possible over the last year and a half. Was it perfect all the time? No, not always, but our commitment continues to be serving the students in the school district and providing them the highest level of education.
I am humbled and grateful for the dedication of our school staff and the community's support of the school district. I am thankful that our parents continue to trust us with their children. Our school motto this year has been, “Together We Can”. With the combination of our dedicated staff and the community's ongoing support, we will continue to do everything we can to provide students with the best education possible, because, "Together We Can!"
Happy Thanksgiving!
Respectfully,
Christopher Felmlee
Superintendent of Schools
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New Southern Boone School District COVID-19 Rubric
The Southern Boone School Board of Education met for their monthly meeting on Monday, November 15th, and approved changes to the school district's Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Service Plan. The changes include adding a COVID-19 Rubric to help with COVID-19 mitigation efforts. The rubric will go into effect on Tuesday, January 4th, 2022.
View the the school district's updated Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Service Plan here.
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Southern Boone County R-I School Board Filing Notice
The Southern Boone County R-I School District will accept declarations of candidacy from any person interested in running for a position on the School Board in the April 5th, 2022 election. Persons interested may file at the superintendent’s office located at 5275 West Red Tail Drive, Ashland, MO.
Filing will begin on December 7th, 2021, at 8:00 a.m. and will continue during the district’s regular business hours, which are Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. when school is in session. The days that school is not in session, the office will be open 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The office will be closed in cases of inclement weather. The office will be closed on December 24th & December 27th, 2021. The filing time will be extended until 5:00 p.m. on December 28th, 2021.
There are two positions available with a three-year term.
Qualifications include: A school board member must be a U.S. citizen, a resident taxpayer of the district or voters of the district in urban districts, a resident of Missouri for at least one year and at least 24 years of age. Candidates must also be current on state and local taxes; have not been found guilty of or pled guilty to a felony under Missouri or federal law; are not registered or required to register as a sex offender; and have filed required campaign documents for all previous campaigns, if any. Details are provided in MSBA’s A Candidate’s Legal Guide to Running for the School Board and Board Candidate Requirements.
More information on the qualifications and duties of a school board member can be found here and on the Missouri School Board Association’s website.
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Middle School Construction Bond Update
There's a lot of work happening with the middle school construction project. The steel frame of the addition is going up. The roof bar joists and metal decking arrived late last month. Last week, the structural steel was delivered. Crews have assembled around 50% of the steel column, beams and bar joists. The masons have completed the load bearing concrete block walls. Over the next several weeks, the iron workers will continue to construct steel and install the metal decking
Late last month, Firestone Manufacturing delivered the the remaining 2.5 inch composite board for the middle school roof. Over the last two weeks, the roofers were able to return and continue replacing the roof along the east side of the north building. The roofers have roughly two to three weeks of work remaining on the middle school north building. As weather allows, the roofers will be transitioning to the south building and start reroofing in December.
Voters in the Southern Boone School District approved the $7.7 million bond issue last April for the middle school construction project. The project will connect the two buildings with the new addition, which consists of a new main office, science labs, library and vocational area. The project also includes converting the current office and library into additional classrooms, and other much needed improvements to the middle school.
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Eagle Spotlight: Elementary ARC Program
Southern Boone Elementary School began implementing a new reading program this year that has students and teachers buzzing with excitement over engaging classroom read alouds and new classroom libraries! This new reading program, often called ARC, is a core curriculum that includes units of study that integrate multiple subject areas and includes instructional tools for all components of reading and writing.
Teachers began the year with Unit 1, The Literacy Lab, which encourages and fosters a love of reading by surrounding students with high level text and engaging them with exciting classroom read alouds and activities. Students were given the opportunity to build their stamina for independent reading and writing while participating in rigorous classroom discussions centered around a mix of fiction and nonfiction books.
Last year, teachers began using the independent assessment piece of ARC. The Independent Reading Leveling Assessment (IRLA) is a tool that determines a student’s independent reading level as well as strengths and areas of challenge for each student. Teachers use the information from the assessment to set power goals for each student. These power goals are the basis of a classroom’s small group reading instruction and are used to coach a student up into the next reading level.
Here's what students, teachers and parents are saying about the new ARC reading program at the elementary school:
"I love that ARC makes helping our students find “just right” books so easy! ARC also helps teachers communicate student strengths and areas to work on more effectively with parents." - 3rd grade teacher
"I really like how the IRLA lessons focus on closing gaps, such as phonics. The students really like the variety of books they get to choose from." - 4th grade teacher
"The books were very engaging which led to meaningful discussions centered around specific reading strategies!" - 5th grade teacher
"5th grade students were so excited about the classroom read aloud, they asked me to purchase the sequel.” - 5th grade teacher
"My daughter cannot get enough of the books from her classroom library! I used to have to beg her to read. Now every night, she begs to stay up a little later to “read just one more page!" - 4th grade parent
"I like that I can read from my colored bin with books on my level. I think they are super interesting!" - 5th grade student
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Other Announcements
2021-2022 School Bus Snow Route Schedule
Winter will be here before we know it, and the transportation department would like to remind parents about snow routes for school buses. The following roads will not be traveled when the school district announces it will be running on snow routes. When snow routes are announced, the buses will continue on the snow routes for the remainder of the day. Depending on current weather conditions, school bus drivers have the discretion of not traveling any road that could endanger the safety of the students.
The Southern Boone Eagle Online Team Store is open! Get your Eagle spirit wear today!
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