-A Bird's Eye View-
A Bi-Weekly CSD Staff Newsletter
Volume 2 Issue 3, September 29, 2017
Top 10 Cardinal Celebrations
2. Have you checked out our "Where Are They Now?" spotlights on Facebook and Twitter? We have been featuring CHS alumni and what they are doing after high school graduation. Go here to read our latest alumni feature. Do you know of an alumni we should feature? Send their name to alawson@clintoncardinals.org.
3. Congrats to this month's Board of Education student, staff member and community partner of the month.
Student-Heidi Morales, CECC student
Staff-Britnea Monaco, CECC Special Education Teacher
Community Partner-Kelly Lasswell, GVMH
4. A successful Jr. Card Squad Cheer Clinic was held this week courtesy of the CHS Cheerleaders. Ninety kindergarten-8th grade students participated and will perform during Monday's 9th/10th grade football game.
5. Clinton High School DECA members had the opportunity this week to attend Tucker Leadership Lab at William Jewell College. It was a day of great teamwork, problem solving and networking.
6. Great feedback and conversation occurred this week as employees, leaders, Board of Education members, parents and community members came together to begin the process of creating a new 5 year strategic plan.
7. JROTC students participated in the Clinton JROTC Raider Tournament earlier this month. The team brought home 2 trophies by placing second in the Rope Bridge and third in the Raider Gauntlet.
8. Bright Futures partners have been busy giving time, talent and treasure to our students. Mrs. Mesh's Bright Futures partner, State Farm Insurance, helped students make kindness baskets to pass out to their neighbors.
9. Forty Clinton High School students had the opportunity to participate in Career Day at State Fair Community College in Sedalia this week. Students explored careers in Arts and Communication, Human Services, Business Management and Technology, Health Services, and Industrial and Engineering Technology.
10. The district received a very complimentary email this week from an umpire who had amazing things to say about our students and staff. Go here to read this good news!
From the Desk of the Superintendent
Good Afternoon Clinton Cardinal Staff,
We have had a heavy week. It was loaded with A.L.I.C.E training, suicide prevention and awareness training for CHS staff and students, 5-year strategic improvement planning with five different focus group meetings over three days. And obviously my recommendation to the Board to freeze standards-based grading until we are 100% confident that we have all necessary trainings and components in place to ensure its success prior to implementation. Written and aligned rigorous curriculum, professional development to orient teachers on the curriculum, and professional development on instructional frameworks so teachers can implement and assess the curriculum are all vital. Student achievement suffers in their absence. Dr. King is in the process of collecting questions and providing answers on how we will move forward with a different grading system in grades 3-12. I’m sure she will collaborate with both teachers and administrators to develop a system that is best for our students.
Over the past few days, I have had some great conversations with some of you. If you would like to talk, I encourage you to call, email, or stop by central office. I look forward to our next steps as we continue our work in making this the best school district possible for our students, teachers, staff, parents, and community members.
Have a great weekend.
Adam
King's Korner
Instructional Strategies for the K-12 Classroom
Dr. Joan King, Assistant Superintendent
Follow me on Twitter @Dr_JoanaKing
At the Sept 25, 2017 Board of Education Meeting, a decision was made to pause the Standards Based Grading initiative in grades 3-12. This decision was based on research and recommendation of district leadership. This will take effect at the end of 1st Quarter (Oct. 13, 2017).
Why? The decision to pause the initiative was largely due to inconsistencies across the district in grading practices, the frustration some felt in our recording system of PowerSchool, the lack of a specific plan in place for continual PD for new teachers in the SBG process, parent concerns as well as the lack of what Marzano calls foundational policies and practices in place. These foundational policies and practices include a guaranteed and viable written curriculum, both a written and practiced set of instructional practices that are known and monitored throughout the district, and established data teams in which student achievement is analyzed from multiple types of assessments. The Clinton School District has a lot of great things in place and we have already begun the hard work of addressing these foundational skills.
How? The process will be as follows:
I will collect FAQ from teachers, parents and students until Monday evening at 8:00. At that point I will compile the questions and see the patterns/trends that are most crucial for each group of stakeholders. The questions posed are anonymous, the purpose is to gather questions not names. I will begin posting the answers to these questions in the form of a FAQ section on our webpage as well as social media as early as Wednesday Oct. 4, 2017.
I will work closely with Teresa Plumlee to work through the logistics of PowerSchool as we move back to a more traditional grading scale.
Meetings with each affected building principal and teacher groups will take place to ensure the smoothest transition for all of the stakeholders. We are blessed to have great leadership at the building level, and I am confident that each will help in making this board-approved decision a win.
At that point, a more traditional grading policy with accompanying practices will be put into place and communicated to all stakeholders through newsletters, social media, district webpage and newspaper.
As always, the goal of the Clinton School District is student achievement. We thank you for your understanding and look forward to answering any questions you might have.
Upcoming Events September 29-October 5
Only events that appear on the district calendar are listed here. ALWAYS REFER TO THE DISTRICT WEBSITE CALENDAR FOR THE MOST UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION!
*9/29 Football @ Smith Cotton, 7:00
*9/30 Cross Country @ Camdenton, 9:00 am
*10/2 Softball @ Holden, 5:00
*10/2 Football (9th and 10th grades) vs Smith Cotton, 6:00
*10/3 Soccer vs. Warrensburg, 5:00
*10/3 Volleyball @ Smith Cotton, 5:00
*10/4 National Walk to School Day (more info here)
*10/4-10/7 District Softball Tournament @ Odessa (bracket here)
*10/5 Soccer vs. St. Michael's, 5:00
*10/5 Volleyball @ Center, 5:00
From the Business Office
Helpful information from Emily Brown
October’s pay day is Friday, October 6th! Don’t forget that if the 8th falls on the weekend, you will get paid the Friday before!
Another benefit offered through our affiliation with MET (Missouri Educators’ Trust) is telemedicine services! Get secure, convenient care from your computer, smart phone, or other mobile device for common conditions like nausea, pinkeye, seasonal allergies, sinus infection, sore throat, stomach flu, etc. You do NOT have to be on our group insurance plan. This benefit is actually offered through our Wellness Plan and any Clinton School District employee and their dependents (18 months and older) can use this doctor service. You pay a $45 co-pay for the service at the time of service and insurance is NOT billed. You must have the ability to connect visually, screen to screen, and you do have to reference our telemed plan code of Cli45c.
Please contact me via email if you would like additional information.
Thanks!
Emily
It's a Great Day to be a Cardinal
Great Start at CIS
Submitted by:Clinton Intermediate School Principal, Jarrod Boyles
What a wonderful start to the school year it has been at CIS! I am pleased to share that we have experienced a very smooth transition from the lazy days of summer to the all so familiar and hectic routine as staff and students fill the classrooms. Our CIS students have been nothing short of amazing as they engage in active learning on a daily basis. The sights and sounds of daily instruction, mixed with joyful and enthusiastic learning, makes for a warm and inviting atmosphere for everyone who walks these halls.
Equally as impressive, are the amazing faculty and staff members that work day in and day out to motivate, guide, and educate our learners. I am very fortunate to be a part of such a wonderful family of educators that want to see every child succeed.
I encourage you as parents, friends, and community members to make time to come see all the wonderful things happening in our little world. Any of the front office staff would enjoy the opportunity to provide tours of the building to show off the wonderful things happening every day at CIS. We also have volunteer opportunities for visitors to sit down and work with students on an individual basis. If you would like more information on how to volunteer please get in contact with the CIS office at 885-3179.
Be sure to follow us on Twitter @CIScards345 to stay up to date with Clinton Intermediate!
It’s A Great Day To Be A CIS Cardinal!!!
DID YOU HEAR THE NEWS?
Check out some exciting news below!!
Honor for Mifflin
Pam Mifflin, 5th grade teacher, received word that she was chosen by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), to participate in the Missouri Assessment Program's (MAP) Summative Content and Bias Review for Science next month in St. Louis.
Congratulations Pam!
An Oldie, But a Goodie
This is our very own Health Occupations teacher, Barbara Houk, being crowned Homecoming Queen.
About Us
Communication and Community Relations Department
Email: alawson@clintoncardinals.org
Website: http://clintoncardinals.org
Location: 701 South 8th Street, Clinton, MO, United States
Phone: 660-885-5585
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Clinton-Schools-257810614245734/?fref=ts
Twitter: @ClintonMoCards