KSD eSpotlight
Thursday, August 11, 2022
Welcome Back!
We are so excited to welcome back families on Tuesday, August 23. Please look for school specific information from your building principals in the coming days. We look forward to welcoming your student back to our schools.
Health Protocols for the 2022-23 School Year
As we begin the 2022-23 school year, we want to provide updated information about the health protocols we will utilize in our district. Throughout the past 2 years, our goal has remained the same: We are maximizing in-person learning while keeping our students and staff as safe as possible. We appreciate understanding of the need to remain flexible. Please note, consistent with policy and relevant Missouri state law, the superintendent and the Board of Education have the authority to issue health-related mandates. This includes requiring masks when deemed appropriate.
To start the 2022-23 school year for PK-12:
Masks will be optional for all students, staff and visitors to Kirkwood schools. We will not utilize building-level thresholds to determine if students, staff and visitors must wear masks. We welcome any individual who wishes to wear a mask to do so.
We will no longer publish a dashboard specific to COVID cases of students and staff. Individuals who want to follow COVID trends in the community can utilize the St. Louis County Department of Health website, which includes local data by zip code.
We will no longer provide classroom notification for individual cases. We will closely monitor the health and wellness of our students and staff and will communicate proactively about any trends or concerns. Specifically, the district will monitor daily attendance rates at each of our schools. If a daily attendance rate drops below 90% for a single day in a specific school, parents of students in that building will be notified prior to the next day of school that they may want to consider sending their student to school with a mask (in this case masks will be recommended, but not required).
Individuals who are sick or having any symptoms of illness are strongly advised to stay home and consider consulting with their healthcare provider on their healthcare needs. Any absences should be reported to the school office.
Consistent with Board of Education policy EBB: Communicable Diseases, any individual who is sick with a communicable illness should isolate at home until they are no longer contagious. For cases of COVID-19, we will follow CDC guidance, which states individuals can end isolation after five full days if they are fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication and other symptoms have significantly improved. Students or staff who were diagnosed as positive for COVID will be required to wear a well-fitting mask for 5 additional days (day 6 through day 10).
We will continue to encourage hand washing and/or the use of hand sanitizer. Hand sanitizer will remain available in every classroom and in common and high traffic areas throughout our schools.
We will work directly with staff and families to assist with individual health and medical needs.
We continue to encourage all staff and eligible students to talk to their healthcare provider about getting vaccinated. Children under six months are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. You can find information about where to access the vaccine here. Please note, the COVID vaccine is not required by the Kirkwood School District or Missouri School Immunization Requirements.
As supplies are available, we will continue to provide rapid testing in our schools with the approval of a parent or guardian.
Playground Updates
As you may have seen in the recent community postcard, we are making an update to public use guidelines for all KSD playgrounds. Our safety and security team are continually reviewing our processes and procedures in order to ensure we are prioritizing student safety. That includes evaluating and recognizing when there is room for improvement to modify our practices.
As an update for the 2022-23 school year, all KSD playgrounds will be closed to the public until after school programming has concluded (6 p.m.) on days when school is in session. Playgrounds will continue to be open after 6 p.m. until dusk. They will also be open on weekends and days when school is not in session. This change will ensure we are prioritizing the safety of the students in our care, specifically those students participating in Adventure Club programming. This year, we are excited to welcome nearly 650 Adventure Club students across the district.
We know this will be a change for many of our families and appreciate your cooperation as we modify our practices to ensure we are prioritizing student safety. We’ve also included some frequently asked questions on our Safe and Sound website.
Free and Reduced Lunch Information
For the past two years, funding provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture made it possible for the Kirkwood School District to provide breakfast and lunch free of charge to all students. This funding has expired, which means that free meals will no longer be available to all KSD students (effective May 26th, 2022).
Families who qualify for free or reduced-price meals must fill out an application for the 2022-23 school year in order to receive free or reduced price meals. Even if you have filled out a form in the past, you will need to reapply for the 2022-23 school year.
Filling out a form could result in additional financial assistance for your family. In KSD, those benefits include:
50% reduction in student technology fees
50% reduction in middle school and high school annual activity fee
50% reduction in bus pass fee
KHS students qualify for testing and college application fee waivers
If you are not sure if your family qualifies for free and reduced-price meals, you can see FAQs provided by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education here.
KSD Nutrition on the Weekends
KSD N.O.W. - Nutrition on the Weekends Registration for the 2022-23 School Year
Kirkwood School District offers the KSD N.O.W. program to supply an array of nutritious, non-perishable meals and snacks for children experiencing food insecurity, free of charge. During the 2022-23 school year, boxes will be distributed to families at their homes via delivery in a discrete and caring manner once per month.
If you wish for your child(ren) to participate in the program, please complete the form below. Only one form is needed for all the school-aged children in your family, but please include information for each child on the form below. This information is kept confidential.
Once your child is signed up, they will receive boxes of food each month of the school year or until you no longer wish to participate. If your form is received after the deadline each month, your child will be eligible to participate in the program the following month(s).
If you have any questions, please contact program coordinator Emilie Lytton at ksdnow@kirkwoodschools.org. All inquiries will remain confidential.
If you have unmet food needs for your family, including older children, babies, or toddlers, please contact KirkCare at 314-965-0406 or dial 2-1-1 for referrals to food banks and social services in your area.
In order to receive support through KSD N.O.W. for the 2022-23 school year, please complete the online registration at https://www.kirkwoodschools.org/KSDNOWRegistration.
ALL FAMILIES MUST COMPLETE THIS FORM TO PARTICIPATE IN KSD N.O.W. Students who currently participate will not automatically be re-enrolled.
To find out more and how to support, we welcome your financial contribution to keep KSD NOW running to support our students. We continue to accept online donations via our online giving campaign.
Upcoming Dates to Remember
Monday, Aug. 22: Meeting of the Board of Education 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Aug. 23: First Day of School
Saturday, Sept. 3: Nipher 100th Anniversary (more information coming soon)
Saturday, Sept. 10: Rotary Ramble (more information coming soon)
Monday, Sept. 12 - Board of Education Work Session 5 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 21: Unified Night Lights (more information coming soon)
Monday, Sept. 26: Meeting of the Board of Education 7 p.m.
Kirkwood School District
Email: news@kirkwoodschools.org
Website: kirkwoodschools.org
Location: 1099 Milwaukee Street, Kirkwood, MO, USA
Phone: 314-213-6100
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KirkwoodSchoolDistrict/
Twitter: @kwoodschools