Tuesday Talk with Dr. Dain
Dear Pirate Nation,
Greetings! As parents, you always remember your children’s special milestones. For some of them, it’s the same to everyone…the birth of a child, their first steps, their first word etc. One of the very special milestones for me as a mother was when my children learned to read. It’s a skill that is sometimes taken for granted, but when my children learned to read, I always felt thankful that no matter what hardships they may face, the gift of literacy was something that could never be taken away from them.
Today, I have the same prideful feeling of a monumental milestone as I was able to witness my youngest son become a first-time voter. Different from my other two children, Brock has always been very interested in current events and understanding local, state, federal, and international government. He is a humanitarian and believes that every vote counts; every vote matters! When he turned in his ballot, I could tell he was experiencing his own sense of pride and accomplishment; he performed his civic duty and felt really great about it! Today, I realized that as a mom, I am entering a new chapter—and that is as a mother of adult children. And honestly, I am not sad about it. It is really cool to see your children take ownership of their journey and as cliché as it may sound, become productive citizens. But enough about me…the moral of my story…GO VOTE! 😊
Proud to be a Pirate!
Dr. Jessica Dain
Superintendent of Schools
Spotlight on High School Academies
Arts & Media
Students are learning the core principles of animation. In the coming weeks, they will be given the opportunity to work together and explore/share ideas for animation. From these ideas, they will create and demonstrate in a peer learning environment.
Health and Life Sciences
Students in Biology determined the impact that exercise has on carbon dioxide production.
Human Services
Matt Porter, Northwestern Mutual Financial Representative and Piper parent, visited Mrs. Geist's Career and Life Planning Class last week. Students are learning about personal finance. Matt talked with the students about the need to have savings and different ways to save money.
The FCCLA clothing drive officially began this week. Students can bring bags of soft goods into their Advisory classes to donate to our student organization. The community can also drop clothes off at the high school Saturday, November 5 from 9:00 - 11:00. Tuesday, November 8, the drop off is at Piper Creek Elementary in the parking lot from 4:00-6:00. Tuesday we collected 30 bags of clothes. However, our goal is 300. Clean out those closets and donate clothes, bedding, etc. All donations will go to Savers which supports Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Piper Early Childhood Additional Classes
Piper Early Childhood Center is excited to announce we have two additional classes opening Jan.4. We will have a half-day 3s class in the morning and a 4’s half-day class in the afternoon. We are currently filling spots from our wait-list, but encourage others to enroll. Please go to www.piperschools.com to enroll. Questions can be directed to Brooke Fenton at the Piper Early Childhood office 913-721-9014.
Piper Parents as Teachers Now Enrolling - Serving Piper families Birth to Kinder
Personal Visits: Parent Educators share age-appropriate child development information, address parenting concerns and engage the family in parent-child activities.
Group Connections: Group Connections provide opportunities to share information about parenting issues and child development.
Screenings: Annual developmental, health, vision and hearing screenings provide for early identification of delays that could interfere with learning.
Resource Network: Parent Educators help families identify and connect with needed resources and overcome barriers to accessing services.
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library: All children are enrolled free of charge in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and receive an age-appropriate book mailed to their home each month.
To enroll or get more information, click here.
Nicole McDaniel
Parent Educator
816.805.2461
November Board of Education Meeting
The next Board of Education Meeting is scheduled for Monday, November 14th at 6 PM in the Board Room located in the Library at the CTE Building (Formally known as Piper East Elementary School.) Community Members who would like to present to the Board of Education need to sign up one week in advance of the meeting by contacting Mr. Mitch Nutterfield, Board Clerk, at mnutterfield@piperschools.us.
Piper PTA (Parent Teacher Association)
The Piper School District has a strong PTA that is extremely dedicated to caring for the students, teachers, and parents in the community. They currently are not requiring formal membership for PTA--anyone and everyone is welcome to participate regardless of paid membership.
Parents frequently ask if there is a district platform for parents to collect money from other parents for to utilize for teacher gifts or fundraising in planning for future Project Graduation celebrations. Please remember that PTA is a pivotal partner in keeping parents’ funds fiscally safe and they are happy to help parents create “Class” accounts in order to provide checks and balances with parents’ gracious donations.
Lastly, all parents are welcomed and encouraged to attend District PTA Monthly Open-House Meetings. The meetings begin at 6:30 PM and take place in the Piper Prairie Library. The dates are as following:
- January 10
- February TBD
- March TBD
- April 11
- May 9
Questions? Please contact PTA President, Morgan Rentie, at piperpta203@gmail.com
COVID-19
We will continue to have COVID-19 tests available should your child become ill at school, and you wish to provide consent for them to be tested. If your child is exhibiting 2 or more COVID-19 symptoms, our nursing staff would highly recommend having them tested. As always, best practice is to keep your child home if they are feeling unwell.
Should your child test positive for COVID-19, we will be following CDC recommendations for exclusion. The date of the onset of COVID symptoms will count as day zero and your child will need to remain home for five additional days beyond the date of symptom onset. Your child may return to school as long as they are fever free for 24 hours without medication.
Upon return to school, your child will have 2 options regarding masking per CDC guidance. Option 1 is to wear a mask through day 10 following the onset of symptoms. Option 2 calls for testing on day 1 of their return and day 3 of their return. If both tests are negative, mask-wearing can be discontinued following testing on day 3. Please visit with your school nurse if you wish to pursue the testing option.