LEAD Innovation Studio
Vol. 4, Issue 31 - April 16, 2021
NOTE FROM THE PRINCIPAL
For any student who is planning to participate in any MSHSAA sanctioned activity (Debate, Athletics, Music) they must pass all their classes or they can lose eligibility. Please let us know if you have any questions.
The next 6 weeks will certainly fly by and include many celebrations. We are excited to have the opportunity to celebrate our first graduating class, and look forward to our building dedication and LEAD student work showcase.
Student Vaccines
Park Hill School District is partnering with the Platte County Health Department on a private vaccination clinic just for students who are old enough for the Pfizer vaccine, which is approved for people who are 16 and older. You should have received a message on Wednesday afternoon with details if your student is 16 years of age or older. Please contact us with any questions.
Startland Social Change Initiative
4 LEAD students were selected to participate in an 8 week Social Change Internship through Startland. This internship was a pilot to challenge students to inspire, encourage and create social change applying design thinking methodoligies. They worked in teams with students from acrooss the metro to develop an idea and work together to create, test, and pitch solutions to social challenges in our community. Each week, teams were introduced to local social entrepreneurs as a way for them to network and learn from real world experiences. The LEAD students involved were all in our LEAD Connect program. We are excited to be working on making Connect a course students could enroll in and earn credit for, hoping to bring that online next school year. The vision of the Connect program is to engage our students in authentic project work they are passionate about!
To learn more about the Startland Social Change Internship our students participated in, click here.
Great work and congratulations to the following students for their work:
Leah Kabuyah started the “Educating Educators” initiative
Easton Waller & Jack Stanley started the “Monarch Butterfly” initiative
Matthew Nunez' group worked on a bill to address smoking and minors.
LEAD Showcase
Parent Advisory
-Celebration of outstanding ACT scores for our high schools and recognition for both PHHS and PHS as top 20 schools in Missouri according to US News and World Reports.
-Information regarding the Malware attack
-Financial savings from refinancing of bonds that will result in $4 million dollars of savings for the district.
-Thank yous to our families, students and staff for hard work, patience and flexibility through the pandemic
I talked about several important LEAD specific updates, including:
-Staff appreciation week - more details coming on that - May 3-7
-Updates and thank yous about our drop off and pick up procedures
-Reminder of the (then) 7 weeks of school remaining and finishing strong academically
-Reminder of the 5/13 Dedication celebration and Showcase evening
Senior updates
LEAD Senior Celebration - @ LEAD on Saturday, May 22nd - We have been working on meeting with seniors and staff to finalize plans for the senior celebrations. What we know: it will happen the afternoon of 5/22 - we had put out a save the date for 2pm on that day. There are other events happenign and we may need to push it forward just a bit to begin as early as 1pm. We are finalizing plans and will email directly to our LEAD seniors and families next week.
PHHS Senior Graduation Information - many details can be found here: PHHS Srs
PHS Senior Graduation Information - many details can be found here: PHS Srs
LEAD Club Dates
LEAD Student Athlete Dismissal
Several LEAD Students are involved in Spring sports/activities at the home high school and drivers may need to leave earlier than other drivers in order to make it to practice on time. Therefore, we are implementing the following plan:
- If you are a driver and need to leave early due to a practice, game, or activity please come see Dr. Eisenmenger.
- You will be given a sticker for your student ID. Please show your ID badge with the sticker to your last block teacher.
- You will be permitted to leave at 2:45 pm daily. Do not leave before this time as our buses are leaving.
- Only students that are participating in Park Hill School District activities will be given the sticker. In other words, leaving early for work is not a reason to get a sticker.
LEAD Dedication Ceremony
We are hosting a dedication ceremony for our new building on the afternoon of May 13, and we are looking for students to perform a musical selection and recite a speech or a poem. We want these performances to tie into the ceremony theme that our new building is symbolic of LEAD's vision for student empowerment, professional aesthetics and tangible dreams.
We would love to give all interested students an opportunity to apply for this ceremony. Using the following guidelines, students can submit their musical performance, speech or poetry reading via this google form by April 19: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeTZYeRi8nBkLLuOTOenfjaAe63PfbVh82K-nqOoOiy51mWIQ/viewform?usp=sf_link
Guidelines:
- All selections should align with the ceremony theme: Our new building is symbolic of LEAD’s vision for student empowerment, professional aesthetics and tangible dreams!
- Selections can be no longer than 90 seconds.
- Musical selections can be vocal or instrumental.
- Musicians can choose to submit a solo, duet or trio.
- Submissions are due by April 19.
- Potentially be available after school.
After April 19, a team of judges will choose a selection of from the submissions of musical performances, speeches, and poetry readings for the dedication ceremony.
-Dr. Stanley
SENIOR SURVEY
Attention Seniors: You must complete the ‘2021 Senior Survey’ in Naviance by Friday, April 30th. Check your email for more details on how to access it.
City of KC Design Thinking Challenge
COUNTDOWN TO SUMMER!!
- Junior/Senior Gala - PHHS & PHS - MAY 1 (see flyers below)
- Last Day for Seniors - May 19
- SENIORS - Senior Celebration - May 22, 2:00
- GRADUATION!!! - May 23
- Last Day for Grades 9-11 - May 28
SOS - SIGNS OF SUICIDE PROGRAM
JUNIOR SENIOR GALA
SUMMER SCHOOL
This summer, your student can participate in Park Hill's high school summer school program to complete required credits. The first session is June 3 through June 21 and the second session is June 22 through July 9, with no school on July 5. We are offering credit recovery and math courses in person, but the rest of our high school classes will be offered online. You can register for summer school at the same time you verify your enrollment and residency which begins April 5.
LEAD students who do not complete coursework during the school year will have the opportunity to complete in person credit recovery for those courses during the first session of summer school.
Summer school enrollment ends May 7. After May 7, please call us or visit the Park Hill website to register your student.
New Quarantine Rules
In response to new CDC research about the lack of COVID-19 transmission in schools and the effectiveness of school mitigation strategies, the Platte County Health Department decided to adopt Missouri guidance about quarantines. The Kansas City Health Department also signed off on this quarantine guidance for schools. The health departments said this new guidance only applies to the schools, because of our consistent, multi-layered strategies to prevent spread of COVID-19, and they can only implement these new rules in schools that require masks.
Our own data in the Park Hill School District supports this, as we have a less-than-1% transmission rate in our schools.
We will follow this guidance starting on Monday, April 12, following in the steps of the other school districts in our region. This means our new quarantine practices will include the following:
- Direct Exposures in School:
Students and staff who are directly exposed to COVID-19 at school will not have to stay home from school if everyone involved was properly wearing their masks. However, people must quarantine if the direct exposure (less than six feet for greater than 15 minutes) is during a time when people are not wearing masks, such as at lunch or during athletics. The person who tested positive will still need to isolate at home.
- Direct Exposures Outside School:
This does not apply to exposures outside of school, which will still cause a quarantine.
- Contact Tracing and Notifications:
We will still work with the Platte County Health Department to contact trace any direct exposures to COVID-19, and we will still notify families and staff about exposures.
- Masks and Other Precautions:
If someone is directly exposed, they must wear their mask at school at all times for 14 days, including during recess and athletics. They must also monitor their symptoms for 14 days.
- Antigen Testing:
If students or staff develop symptoms, they may call their building nurse or supervisor to schedule a free appointment for a COVID-19 test.
Student Antigen Testing
Park Hill School District is still offering antigen testing to students who have COVID-19 symptoms. If your child has symptoms, please contact the school nurse to schedule a test.
If your child is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and are wanting to have them tested, here's how:
1.) Must be a student in the Park Hill School District.
2.) Must have symptoms.
3.) Call LEAD Nurses at 359-4134 for a referral to the testing site.
4.) Click and print this consent form (fill out prior to appointment).
Please contact the LEAD nurses if your child has an exposure or symptoms of COVID, or if you have any health or wellness concerns at any time.
Mark Your Calendar . . .
- April 19 - LEAD SOS Day
- April 20 - After school clubs
- May 3-7 - Teacher Appreciation Week
- May 11 - After school clubs
- May 12-21 - EOC Testing
- May 13 - LEAD Building Dedication
- May 13 - LEAD Showcase Evening
- May 18 - After school clubs
- May 19 - Last day for Seniors
- May 22 - LEAD Senior Celebration
- May 23 - Graduation
- May 28 - Last day of school for grades 9-11
- June 3-21 - Summer School