Tuesday Talk with Dr. Dain
Dear Pirate Nation,
Good Evening! I hope your week is off to a great start! The District’s week is off to a fast, furious, but fantastic start!
Before I share an overview of the December BOE meeting, I am happy to share that tomorrow, the Piper School District will be hosting the Annual Wyandotte County Education Legislative Breakfast in which all elected officials at the local and state level are invited to a breakfast where Wyandotte Superintendents from all four districts share their legislative platform along with answering any questions state legislators may have prior to the Spring Legislative Session which begins in January 2023. Please find the Piper Legislative Platform here.
DECEMBER BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING
Community Recognitions
Piper High School Cheer Team
Last night we recognized the Piper High School Cheerleaders who recently attended the KSHSAA Game Day State Competition and received 3rd place out of 17 schools in the 5A Varsity Division. They are now one of the top three cheerleading programs in the state of Kansas with the help of Head Coach Morgan Kolenda and Assistant Coach Erin Gaster.
The team consists of seniors: Alana Crone, Taylor Hinterlong, Madi Welker, Alexis Eskina, and Mariana Terrazas. Juniors: Emma Williams, Avery Roellchen, Emily Briggs, Addie Walker, Ava Ward, Jasmine Leonard. Sophomores: Rylee Hafner, Tatiana Pate, and Keyasia Williams. And freshmen: Callie Markham, Maya Morales, Baylee Peghee, Jolee Zwart, and Jamarah Hall-Cooper.
These 19 ladies also received first place at the National Cheerleading Association's Midwest Regional Championship last month and received a Gold Bid invitation to compete at the National level in Dallas, Texas. The team was also awarded The NCA Spirit Award at summer camp, which is the highest award one can receive at a summer camp. This award goes to the team that exemplifies the qualities under which the NCA was founded: leadership, sportsmanship, values, and teamwork. Junior, Emma Williams, was named Top All-American cheerleader at camp scoring the highest among 56 others. This was also the first year in school history that all 19 girls were nominated for NCA All-American.
Piper High School Unified Bowling Team
Piper High School participated in their FIRST EVER Unified Bowling season this year. Unified Bowling consists of athletes participating in the Life Skills program paired with peer helpers. These peer helpers are assisting our students, but mainly serving as teammates for our athletes! The coaches were Jack Sampel, Amy Bartlow, Elizabeth Thompson, and Brianna Bedell.
Groups bowl six games total throughout the meet; usually teams bring two to three groups. Each game is bowled in the Baker Format. This format of bowling is where multiple people bowl certain frames of a game. The athletes within the Life Skills program bowl the 1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th frames. The peer helpers (usually there are two peer helpers in each group) either bowl the 2nd, 5th, and 8th frames or the 3rd, 6th, and 9th frames.
On November 7th Piper High School competed in the Regionals Tournament for Unified Bowling. We took four bowlers to compete; they were Matthew Braithwaite, Leilani Kamai, Brody Merrick, and Coltyn Bard. There were 13 teams competing at the Regional Tournament: each school bringing their best bowlers. The top five teams are invited to the State Tournament.
The Piper High School Unified Bowling Team took FIRST at Regionals! It came down to the last frame with our team needing seven pins to win and six to tie; Matt Braithwaite was able to knock down 9 in the final frame. This put us ahead of Shawnee Mission East by three pins! Our team bowled its highest score of the year with 829! They were picking up tough spares and splits all day!
This qualified us for the State Tournament! Piper took five bowlers to compete in Topeka: Matthew Braithwaite, Leilani Kamai, Brody Merrick, Darron Spak, and Coltyn Bard. There were 15 teams competing at the State Tournament.
PIPER TOOK FIFTH IN THE WHOLE STATE (1A-6A)! The team tied its highest score of the year with 829. They did an excellent job, and it is a great accomplishment to do this in the first year of the program! Go Pirates!
Piper Robotics B2 Spirit Team
The Piper Robotics B2 Spirit Team competed two weekends ago in a FIRST Lego League competition. After working countless hours over the span of a few months to work together on an Innovation Project as well as building and coding a robot to compete at the Robot Game table, they brought home The Innovation Project Award as well as The Engineering of Excellence Award resulting in them earning a place at Regionals in January. To bring these awards home surpassing the scores of 25 teams at the competition is a grand achievement.
To win The Innovation Project Award, the team had to utilize diverse resources for their project to help them gain a comprehensive understanding of the problem they identified, developed a well-researched solution, and effectively communicated their findings to the judges and their community. Teams are also required to write a presentation and be able to communicate effectively to the judges alone without the help of coaches or parents. They rose to the challenge.
To win The Excellence of Engineering Award the team had to have an innovated project solution that effectively addresses the seasoned challenge and great core values evident in all that they do.
These students have exemplified Pipers Portrait of a Graduate for critical thinking and problem-solving, creativity and innovation, initiative and self - direction, resilience and social, emotional well-being, social, global, and cross-cultural skills, and communication.
To have students from multiple grade levels 6 of which have never coded before, spanning from Elementary - Middle School showing that they together can create solutions and teach as well as learn from one another is at the heart of all that Piper wishes to achieve, Community, Innovation, Resiliency, and #FUTUREREADY. The team is coached by Adam Schack and Stephan Brumbaugh.
The students are:
- Elizabeth Braithwaite – Piper Creek Elementary
- Elijah Schack - Piper Middle School
- Jaden Schack - Piper Middle School
- Sahara Schack - Piper Creek Elementary
- Zander Crittenden -Piper Creek Elementary
- Tori Crittenden - Piper Middle School
- Jensen Rentie - Piper Creek Elementary
- Jhett Rentie - Piper Creek Elementary
Bond Projects Update
Last night our architectural and construction firms presented an update on their progress on our bond projects. The team is currently working to go out to bid on the second package for the addition onto the new Piper High School. The team expects to go out to bid at the end of this week and we will have an update in mid to late January on the results of that process. Soon after bid packages are complete, the actual construction on the building will begin.
As the bid process is in full swing on the building structure, you will currently notice that ground is beginning to be turned on the site. Fencing has been placed around the construction zone. As a safety reminder, the basketball goals on the current PCE campus are part of the area which is now being considered a construction zone and they are no longer accessible. Please be careful when near the construction site!
Action Items
Our Board of Education took supportive action approving the following items at last night’s meeting:
- Standard Operating Procedures for School Safety Security Officers
- The 2023-2024 School Calendar Found Here
- 154 Interactive Flat Panels (like the ones currently outfitted at PCE) for the remaining district classrooms to replace classroom projectors
- Piper High School 2023-2024 Academy Course Guide
- Enrollment Fees for the 2023-2024 School Year Found Here
- Upgrade and renewal of the District’s technology contract with K12itc
Proud to be a Pirate!
Dr. Jessica Dain
Superintendent of Schools
January Board of Education Meeting
The next Board of Education Board Meeting has been rescheduled for Wednesday, January 18th at 6:00 p.m. in the CTE Library/Board Room. Community members interested in addressing the Board of Education should reach out to Board Clerk, Mr. Mitch Nutterfield, at mnutterfield@piperschools.us by Wednesday, January 11th.
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
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.