Cardinal Connections
We talk a lot about #CardinalPride here in the district, and one of the programs that brings us a lot of pride and excitement, is the College and Career Access Program at Clinton High School.
Since 2019, the district has been a part of the rootEd Alliance and The Ayers Foundation Scholars Program. Through this program, the district has a dedicated College and Career Access Counselor (Lindy Johnson) who dedicates her time to helping students develop a plan for life after high school.
Mrs. Johnson works one-on-one with seniors, assisting each student in creating a post-secondary plan (college, trade school, military, workforce, etc.). She assists with the college application process, FAFSA completion with each student, and helps students understand the differences between scholarships, grants, and loans. She plans and attends college visits with students throughout the year, continues working with students from the classes of 2020, 2021, and 2022 until they have graduated from their post-secondary program, and SO much more.
We wanted to share a few facts about this program and the difference it is making for our students and their future.
- Senior scholarship attainment has increased from $264,000 in the 18-19 school year to over $1,000,000 for the class of 2022.
- FAFSA (Federal Application for Federal Student Aid) completion has increased from a previous 46% to 87% during the 21-22 school year. 87% of the current senior class has already completed a FAFSA.
- Before this program came to CHS, the district's college-going rate was 59.6%, it is now 83.5% (includes students entering the military).
- During the 21-22 school year, 93% of seniors left high school with a solid post-secondary plan in place.
We are excited to hear the many success stories that will come from this program and the difference it will make in not only our students' futures, but the future of our community.
Clinton Intermediate School students have been getting in the spirit of fall as they create autumn-inspired artwork in Mrs. McCoy's art class.
Third graders are learning about one-point perspective art as they finish up their pumpkin patch paintings.
Students in fourth grade are creating space in their artwork by using the concept of overlapping in their fall leaf-like paintings. Students have also had fun mixing colors on their leaves to create beautiful and unique pieces of art.
See more pictures here.
It might look like a mess, but it's hands-on learning for students in the Building Trades program at Clinton Technical School.
Students in Mr. Foster's class are taking down walls, putting up walls, learning about the drywall process and more, as they assist CTS in making some changes to their building's layout.
Building Trades is one of six Career and Technical Education programs at Clinton Technical School. These programs serve 195 students from Clinton High School and 11 area high schools.
See more pictures here.
The Clinton School District is excited to join other school districts across the region in celebrating teachers on the 2nd Tuesday of each month.
This month, we celebrated and recognized the outstanding work of Clinton High School Project Lead the Way teacher, Mrs. Melissa Peery. Melissa has been an educator for 28 years, 21 of those years here in the Clinton School District. During this time, she has impacted thousands of students. Mrs. Peery builds strong positive relationships with her students, their families, her colleagues, and the Clinton community. Melissa has worked tirelessly to reorganize and clean the CHS shop to provide a safe learning area for students to be creative and learn important woodworking skills. Mrs. Peery serves as Student Council sponsor, which allows our student body to have a voice in decisions made at CHS. Mrs. Peery is an amazing teacher leader and a role model to others.
"I am proud to be a teacher because I get to work with students from all backgrounds and abilities, value who they are, inspire them to dream BIG and then watch them live out that dream. I am so honored when a student remembers me even though I am just a tiny part of their story. Success stories come in all shapes and sizes and I especially like the "underdog" or non-traditional successes!"
We are so glad to have Mrs. Peery on our team and on #TeacherProud Tuesday, we celebrate her and the positive difference she is making in our Cardinals' lives.
Students in Mrs. Potter's kindergarten class have been learning all about directed drawings and labels during writing time. Directed drawings give students confidence while also developing fine motor skills and improving listening skills. This step-by-step approach is a valuable pre-writing skill that allows students to be creative while reaching the same goal.
Last week, students had fun learning all about transportation. Students read a variety of books, firemen came to teach them about fire safety, and they finished the week with a fire truck craft and snack. Both of these projects worked on executive function skills such as planning, working memory and flexible thinking.
See more pictures here.
Seventh graders in Mrs. Ash's Clinton Middle School ELA class are learning how to use rubrics.
Students practiced using rubrics effectively by grading cookies. Students used a "Cookie Rubric" which contained certain criteria for judging the different types of cookies.
This fun (and yummy) activity helped students understand the sometimes abstract idea of rubrics and how this grading tool is used.
See more pictures here.
It is definitely beginning to feel like fall, and is there any better way to celebrate than with apples?!
Clinton Early Childhood Center students have been learning all about Johnny Appleseed. Students read books about apples, learned about the life cycle of an apple, and had fun peeling apples with an apple peeler. Students had even more fun cooking and eating the finished product!
See more pictures here.
On October 5, over 300 Henry Elementary School and Clinton Intermediate School students, school staff and volunteers participated in National Walk to School Day.
Thanks to Coach Johannsen for organizing this yearly event. Thank you also to school staff, Bright Futures Clinton Advisory Board Members, OakStar Bank, Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare, Hawthorn Bank, Clinton Missouri Police Department, and parents who helped students safely walk to school. Thank you as well to Equity Bank for allowing parents to utilize the parking lot for drop-off.
And we can't forget our amazing school crossing guard who was kept very busy on this morning!
See more pictures here.
Parent Teacher Conferences are next week, Thursday, October 20th. **Please note, school will not be in session Thursday, 10/20, Friday, 10/21 and Monday, 10/24. Staff will be taking part in professional development on Monday.**
Conference information for each building is below. If you should have additional questions, please reach out to your child's teacher or school office.
- CECC/Henry/CIS-October 20th, 8:00-7:00 (Teachers will schedule with parents.)
- CMS-October 20th, 8:00-10:00 and 2:00-7:00 (Parents will sign-up for a conference time using a Sign-Up Genius link. This link will be available later this week.)
- CHS-October 20th, 8:00-11:00 and 1:00-7:00 (Teachers will be available in their classrooms for parents to visit with them as needed. Stop by during any of the times listed here.)
- CTS-October 20th, 9:00-1:00 and 3:00-7:00 (Teachers will be available in their classrooms for parents to visit with them as needed. Stop by during any of the times listed here.)
The Clinton School District is committed to providing timely, consistent, and accurate information to our stakeholders.
In order to ensure that we are meeting these standards, we have developed a Communication Survey. Information provided in this short survey will be used to improve external and internal communication with students, families, staff and community members.
Responses are anonymous and will be collected through October 28th. Thank you in advance for your participation in this survey.
It's time for the Bright Futures Clinton Angel Tree!
This program is for families who are experiencing financial hardship and are in need of assistance for Christmas. Forms can be completed online at www.clintonangeltree.com or forms may be picked up at any Clinton school building office.
Forms must be returned by November 4th. Gifts will be available for pick-up on December 14th and 15th from 10am-7pm at Gary's Towing (219 S Main).
**The Bright Futures Clinton Angel Tree can only serve students enrolled in the Clinton School District and their younger siblings who are not yet in school but do reside in the district. **
Please direct questions to Amanda Johnson at clintonangeltree@gmail.com.
If you would like to receive text messages regarding transportation-related issues (ie, buses running late, buses being combined, etc.) please complete the form below.
Please be aware this is for transportation-related communication ONLY.
**AFTER PROVIDING YOUR NUMBER YOU MUST TEXT Y TO 67587. IF YOU FAIL TO DO THIS, YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE TEXT MESSAGES.**
The district will begin using this system for transportation communication on 10/14.
The Clinton Middle School Cheerleading Squad will be having a Pancake Breakfast on Saturday, October 22nd from 8:00-11:00am in the CMS cafeteria.
See flyer below for more details and email Kiera Green (kgreen@clintoncardinals.org) with any questions.
Attention kindergarten through 6th grade students!
The Clinton High School football team will be hosting a FREE Youth Flag Football Camp the next two Saturdays (10/15 and 10/22).
Please see flyer below and contact Cody Carlson (ccarlson@clintoncardinals.org) with any questions.
We wanted to follow-up with you regarding an email we sent several week ago. In this email we shared with you that the federal program that allowed all meals for all students to be free (regardless of income) had ended.
What does this mean for your family?
- Free and reduced meals are still available for those who qualify. If you have not completed a form this year, and would like to determine if you qualify, you can find a form here or request one from your child's school office.
- Please be aware that even if your child qualifies for free/reduced meals, there are still circumstances where they will be charged full-price for food/drink items.
- A la carte items (CMS/CHS)
- Choosing extra entrees as they go through the lunch line (CHS)
- Getting a second chance breakfast after having a regular breakfast earlier in the morning (CHS)
- Extra milk with breakfast/lunch (all schools)
- Snack milk (Henry Elementary)
- While the district has not denied any student a meal because of a negative balance, it is important that student meal accounts are kept in good standing. You can pay in one of two ways:
- You can send money with your child to turn into their school office.
- You can pay online here. **Please note, you must have a PowerSchool Parent Portal account before you can submit through RevTrak. Please contact your child's school office to set-up this PowerSchool Parent Portal account.** School meal prices are available here.
- Families will start receiving phone calls if their child's meal account is -$20 or more. We ask that families provide payment for these outstanding balances in one of the ways listed above.
We thank you in advance for your attention to this very important matter and ask that you please reach out to your child's school should you have any questions.
The district calendar can be found below.
You can find a dedicated website calendar for the district and each building at the links below. You can also subscribe to each calendar to have events uploaded to your personal online calendar.
District calendar
Clinton Early Childhood Center calendar
Henry Elementary School calendar
Clinton Intermediate School calendar
Clinton Middle School calendar
Clinton High School calendar
Clinton Technical School calendar
