By Superintendent Chris Healy
Hi, and welcome to the 2021-2022 school year. There have been some exciting changes at Worth County R-III over the summer and this video will talk a little bit about those changes. We have a few back to school items of information.
The staff has received their beginning of the year letters, which signals students will be walking in our school doors in a short couple weeks. Students will receive their information during the back to school events or on the first day of school. One piece of information that will be included in these packets will be the “Free and Reduced Lunch Application”. Completion of these forms benefits the school in many ways and is extremely important that everyone turn back in whether they qualify for free and reduced or not. While this year, the Seamless Summer Option of free lunches for all students is still in place, we would really appreciate families completing the free and reduced lunch application. As an incentive to fill out the time consuming form, every form will be entered in a drawing to win one of the multiple Chromebooks or iPads we are giving away.
This year, we have seven new staff members at Worth County and are still looking for a full-time bus driver and substitute teachers, drivers, cooks, and custodians. We’d like to welcome the following people to our staff for this school year. Mrs. Amber Hawk will be our new special education director, Ms. Katelyn Halsey is our new Ag Education teacher and FFA advisor, Mr. Cree Beverlin is our high school social studies teacher, Head HS boys track and field coach, and assistant high school football coach. Ms. Holly Praiswater will be teaching HS math. Mr. Ryan Hutchcraft is our new kindergarten through 12th grade PE teacher and he’s also going to be boys golf and assistant JH football coach. Ms. Jamie Degase will be in charge of Parents as Teachers and be an elementary para this year. Codey Sawyer is a new addition to our food service staff. Ms. Jonell Cook will be returning to us in the FACS department. If you see any of these new or current members of the community, please welcome them and show them support.
There have been several facility improvements throughout the summer and our custodial and maintenance staff, along with the contractors have done a great job in getting the changes made and ready for the students on August 24. One of the major changes was the removal of the tile in the HS, locker rooms, lunchroom, and elementary restrooms. We were able to use some of the federal funding to upgrade our flooring with a flake, epoxy finish. We also decided to carpet some of the HS classrooms. Take a look at some first look pictures of our new floors throughout the building. We got rid of some of the red and green colors that were present throughout the building on the floors and the walls. We weren’t able to save the Tiger at the center of the hallway from the class of 1962. It was a mosaic of about 30 tiles that were securely attached to the concrete. We do still have a Tiger in the middle of the hallway and we will continue the tradition of not stepping on the Tiger. We look forward to you getting in the building and seeing the improvements.
The restrooms have also seen a major upgrade over the course of the last year. We have been able to add touchless equipment, install new stalls, and upgrade the flooring and wall systems in all of the restrooms throughout the building. Another exciting improvement are the locker rooms for the 7-12 grade PE kids and athletes. The new flooring and lockers are a much needed update to both locker rooms and should reduce cleaning and maintenance time for our staff.
A couple other additions that were made possible because of donations are the new gym mats, donated in memory of Donnie Waldeier and the softball scoreboard that was donated by Patty and Lynn Trump.
There is still a lot of work that needs to be completed in these next 2 weeks to prepare for the start of the school year, but the hard work by all involved has ensured that the improvements were completed on schedule and we are ready for the 21-22 school year.
There have also been several educational changes that teachers continually make over the summer. A couple of the highlighted changes are the purchase of new 7 through 12th grade math materials and online content. Our teachers also participated in professional development for new math diagnostic and assessment software to help bridge gaps and find ways to cover new content in the classroom.
COVID-19 is still present in our community and around the world. At this time, masks will be optional. We will continue to have a focus on other mitigation strategies to help reduce the spread of any virus. Handwashing and hand sanitizing is important and will be a big focus. We also encourage everybody to cover coughs and place a focus on limiting face touches. The Tri-County Health Department will continue to be the agency that notifies individuals of the need to quarantine for close contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19. Individuals that are told to quarantine will be in quarantine for 10 days and can test out of quarantine 7 days after their last contact with a person who has tested positive if they remain symptom free. Any individual who has been completely vaccinated will not have to quarantine after a close contact, unless they are experiencing symptoms. Vaccination is one way, along with other mitigation strategies to remain in the classroom and on the playing field as much as possible. Quarantines will impact our educational process and extracurricular activities. We need our students and staff in the building in order to be highly effective. With this in mind, we are asking students, staff, and community members to stay home if you exhibit COVID-19 symptoms. A student or staff member should wait 24 hours after all symptoms have been resolved to return to school. Those that have been diagnosed with COVID-19 should follow the guidance of their healthcare provider.
Listed here are some important dates for the next few weeks. The elementary open house, 7-12 grade sports parent meeting, and 7th grade orientation will be August 19. The first day of school will be a half day on August 24th.
Important Dates
- August 19: 5:00-6:00 PM Elementary Open House
- 5:30 PM 7-12 Grade ALL Sports Parent Meeting (cafeteria)
- 6:00 PM Grade 7 Parent/Student Orientation (cafeteria)
- August 20: 7:00 PM Football Jamboree @ WC (Worth County, King City, Stanberry, Albany)
- August 24: First Day of School / First Day of Vo-Tech Classes (Early Dismissal 1:00 PM)
- August 24: 5:30 PM Softball Jamboree @ North Harrison
- August 31: Picture Day (Elementary, High School)
- September 2: 5:00 PM First Home SB Game vs. Maryville
- September 3: 7:00 PM First Home FB Game vs St. Joseph Christian
- September 13 - 17: Homecoming Week
- September 17: 7:00 PM Homecoming Football Game vs. Albany
There are several ways to find out more about Worth County R-III. We encourage you to go to our website at wc.k12.mo.us and to sign up for “Tiger Texts”. Facebook is another source of information at Worth County Tiger Talk’s page. You can also follow @WorthCoTigers on Twitter. The school’s system for notification about school closings will send automated emails and phone calls. Make sure the school has your updated contact information on the beginning of year forms. Other good sources of information are our local newspapers. They do a good job of covering events and happenings of our district.
We also encourage parents and the community to reach out to staff and administration to learn more about what is going on in our school. We have a highly qualified staff that has a passion for educating our kids. There are many different types of lessons that are taught in our classrooms every day that prepare our kids for successful futures.
We look forward to seeing 280 students walk in our doors on August 24 ready to learn and represent our school district and communities. This time of year is always filled with the excitement of something new and different, plus the familiarity of seeing friends and teachers every day. Let’s make it a good year and #WintheDay everyday. Go Tigers!
No comments:
Post a Comment