Pictured left to right are Teacher-Jamie Teson, Special Ed Coordinator-Kyle Johnson,Teacher Assistants- Zyaria Green, Claudia Sumner

A new classroom was opened at Kratz Elementary on January 17th. The classroom will provide special education services and supports for students K-5. Ms Teson moved to Kratz from Marvin to get the new classroom started and was excited to meet the students and their families at the open house on January 12th.

View the calendar in Spanish here.

The Ritenour School District will host an open house for the community to review potential school boundary changes on Wednesday, March 8 from 4:30 - 7 p.m. in the auditorium lobby at Ritenour High School, 9100 St. Charles Rock Road.

At the open house, district administrators and a professional demographer will be on hand to share potential new school boundary maps and gather additional community feedback on proposed elementary and middle school attendance areas. The new attendance areas are scheduled to be presented to the Ritenour Board of Education this spring for final approval.

In December 2022, the district hosted meetings at each elementary and middle school to seek feedback that will help the district to redraw elementary and middle school attendance boundaries. Dozens of families and community members also completed an online survey to provide feedback.

Families ranked their top priorities that impact school boundaries, which included:

1. Provide equity in class size, resources and staffing
2. To the greatest extent possible, avoid student crossing identified “dangerous” streets
3. Eliminate divided apartment complexes among elementary schools so students living in these complexes attend one elementary school
4. Provide equal classroom sizes that are at, or below, Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) standards
5. Eliminate crowding and balance enrollments by schools
6. Minimize travel/maximize safety in travel; assign students to the closest school possible and don’t divide subdivisions and neighborhoods

For more information, visit www.ritenourschools.org/Redistricting.

SSD’s Family and Community Engagement (FACE) program is seeking applicants interested in participating in the Spring 2023 SSD Family Leadership Institute.

Family Leadership Institute participants have the opportunity to:

• Build understanding of future planning and problem-solving utilizing the Charting the LifeCourse tools.
• Learn to effectively participate in their student's education and improve the educational climate for all children.
• Learn how to positively interact and collaborate with other families and school personnel.
• Discover new resources and network with other families.

This program, which is offered at no cost to participants, is designed for family members who are the educational decision-makers for a student with a disability.

Spring application is now open. Apply here.

Please check out these unique and FREE leadership opportunities for high school students with disabilities, ages 16 - 21.

• Missouri Youth Leadership Forum

• Virtual Leadership Summit

The goal of the RSD-SSD PAC is to collaborate with parents/guardians, Ritenour School District Administration, and SSD Administration to improve the overall results of our kids. We seek parent input on matters concerning special education services.

We meet monthly to develop our abilities to:

• Share information and support with other parents navigating the special education process

• Learn about advocating effectively for our children

• Improve communication and promote collaboration between Ritenour Schools and Special School District

• Promote a positive, inclusive understanding of students with disabilities

The RSD PAC meeting will be on Monday, March 27th from 6:00pm - 8:00pm at the Ritenour Administrative Center. Future meetings will be held on the 4th Monday of each month.

The Affordable Connectivity Program is a Federal Communications Commission program that helps connect families and households struggling to afford internet service. This new benefit provides a discount of up to $30 per month toward broadband service for eligible households and up to $75 per month for households on qualifying Tribal lands. Eligible households can also receive a one-time discount of up to $100 to purchase a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet from participating providers.

Eligible households can enroll through a participating broadband provider or directly with the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) using an online or mail in application.

You can learn more about the benefit, including eligibility and enrollment information, by visiting www.fcc.gov/ACP, or by calling 877-384-2575.