January weather has been inconsistent.... to say the least! It is my hope that February is a little more consistent. Our building is full of snow day supporters. We shall see what February brings!

It is hard to believe we are almost halfway through our 3rd quarter. Mid term for quarter three will be February 8th. The end of the quarter is set for March 10th.

If you haven't heard....the Chiefs are playing in the Super Bowl! So that calls for a spirit week!

Good luck to Mrs. Maggie Brune and the Science Olympiad team as they head to regional competition on February 11th. Team members are: Julia Borcherding, Cole Brinker, Isaac Brune, Cooper Groppe, Liam James, Megan James, Kyle Koch, Cole Mendenhall, Wyatt Meyer, Corbin Sadler, Evan Scheer, Kyle Scheer, Millie Yarbrough, Brooklyn Yates, and Madyson Yates.

A huge shoutout to our team volunteers, Darren Brune, Jenny McIntyre, and Dale Koch. It takes a lot of time and effort to prepare for competition. Good Luck, Mrs. Brune and Team!!!

Slime Time! Oh, no! Green slime is about to take over R2! Join us on Tuesday, February 28th as we see what happens when green slime gets out of hand! This night could get messy, so come prepared for some ooey gooey fun. Somebody may get slimed!!!

Eighth graders and kindergarteners will wear caps and gowns for the graduation ceremony in May. Caps will be purchased by families and gowns will be provided by the district. The graduation date is usually set at the March board meeting.

Eighth graders will have their class and individual pictures taken during the Spring Picture Day on Thursday, March 23rd. Eighth graders are encouraged to dress nice (no jeans or t-shirts) for their 8th grade class picture. A casual dress or dress pants for the ladies and button up shirts with ties for our gentlemen. We ask that parents help make appropriate decisions for the 8th grade pictures.

Students will get the chance to shadow at the high schools they are thinking about attending. The following dates have been established so far.

8th grade shadow dates:

Washington March 3rd

Hermann March 23rd

New Haven TBD

Students interested in attending Washington High School are encouraged to attend their curriculum fair. The event is February 8th at 5:00 pm.

Kindergarten screening will take place on Wednesday, March 15. Screening will run from 7:30 am until 4:00 pm. Questions can also be sent to koetterer@fcr2.org.

Track practice will begin on February 27th at 3:00 pm. Student will ride the bus into the high school. There is a parent meeting on February 21st at 6:00 pm at New Haven High School. Students that are interested in participating in New Haven track should email Coach Tucker at jtucker@newhavenschools.us by February 15th.

Please make sure your students wait until there is an adult on the parking lot before exiting vehicles. Students should not walk in between cars. They should walk to the front of the row and then head to the sidewalk. Your cooperation is appreciated.

The School Messenger phone system will be activated if a decision is made to close school. We have set up the phone system to call and text to the cell number of every student and employee in the district. You should be contacted by phone with a recorded message in the event we have a school closing. Messages will also be sent out via ClassTag and be posted on Facebook. You may also watch or listen to the following TV stations:

TV Channels:

2, 4, 5, 11, & 30

The television stations have a computerized system and our school name appears almost immediately (depending on the alphabetical order scrolling across the bottom of the screen) once the information is entered. The first time for closing school each year is often problematic so you should check different channels for our school closing information. School closing information will also be posted on Facebook. *For some reason, Channel 4 has not been posting our closings. It appears on the other channels. I will contact channel 4 and see what the issue is.

Grade checks will take place on February 8th. This policy also refers to track.

As a reminder, these are the requirements to participate in sports, cheer, archery, Science Olympiad, or other after school activities. If your child is on academic probation, you received an email from me at mid quarter. Grades will be monitored and reviewed at the end of the quarter to see if the student is eligible at that time.

Academic Requirements – In order to participate in sports, cheer or clubs, students must:

1. Maintain a C- average in basic subjects.

2. Have a passing grade in all classes.

3. Be present for the last four hours of the day of the game, or have pre-scheduled appointments approved by admin.

4. Not be under any suspension or expulsion.

These academic requirements pertain to basketball, cheer, Science Olympiad, and archery.

Failure to meet these requirements on the mid-quarter or quarterly report card will result in ineligibility of extracurricular activities for a period of four weeks upon issuance of the report. After four weeks, if requirements are met, the eligibility is reinstated. If not, ineligibility continues until the next report card.

Who Would Pay the Ultimate Price Under HB 253?

I am not a particularly political person, but with my position I have to be aware of threats to public education and our district. I believe HB 253 is one of those threats. This bill refers to Open Enrollment within public school districts. Awe, that may sound appealing to some but there is definitely devil in the details of this bill. It is the first step to small school consolidation. Here are some concerns many area public schools have with open enrollment.

• The Missouri school funding system is not built to support open enrollment.
• Many small districts, such as ours, has limited (or no) industry. Parents travel to work other places. If a parent decided to move their child to a district closer to work, that would take away funding from our district which could result in fewer resources and fewer opportunities for the students that stay in district.
• We perform well academically and so do many small schools. Many small schools spend less per student to give a high quality education. It would seem that politicians would want to support the effort to spend less and get more. However, if this legislation were to pass it could end up closing a significant number of small schools. (like us)
• If our community lost R2, it loses more than just a school. Our school is basically our community's heartbeat. We would lose a major source of employment for our area as well.
• By attending a small school, more students get the opportunity to experience more things and often at a younger age. All of our students are accepted to athletic teams. There isn't a need to "try out" and hope you make it. Our athletics, choir, and band all begin in 5th grade. That isn't the case at other larger public schools. Many of our students participate in clubs and extracurricular activities that they might not have the opportunity to experience at a larger school.
• Districts can "opt out" of open enrollment is what legislators will say. Districts can decide not to accept students from other districts, but we can't do anything to keep our students from leaving. This is a common misconception among politicians.

These decisions are being made in Jefferson City by people that really have no idea how public education works. Many of whom haven't been inside a school since they graduated. I urge you to contact our area local representatives Mike McGirl, Mike.McGirl@house.mo.gov, Kyle Marquart, Kyle.Marquart@house.mo.gov, and Brad Banderman, Brad.Banderman@house.mo.gov and ask them to vote NO on open enrollment. They all have a vote! These gentleman attended a legislative breakfast recently and expressed their eagerness to hear from small schools and learn more about how this would affect us. I urge you to send them an email.

Our school Facebook page is loaded with information. If you do not use Facebook, you can still see our posts by visiting our school website at www.fcr2.org. Our FB feed scrolls at the bottom of the page.