Rich Hill Junior High Scholar Bowl had its first meet of the season last night! The team finished 2nd overall with 1 - 1! Caleb Fischer, seventh grade, finished 1st place for overall questions answered between all teams competing with 110 pts!
Dear Parents,
DESE has released our Annual Performance Report (APR). We received this report in December from last April's MAP results and have 3 months to show improvement before our students are assessed again. Overall, after the rules for calculating points were changed, schools in the state declined an average of 5%. We declined 11%. While our students show acceptable performance and we received most of those points, the state measures each individual student's growth from their last assessment and gives points based on what the state considers adequate growth for every student. We did not receive many of those points.
This week, we began a "soft" implementation of a growth assessment called NWEA. Each student will take a Growth benchmark quiz 3 times a year so we can track their individual progress over their academic career. This will allow teachers to modify instruction, address skill deficits, and provide advanced work to students who are above grade level. In a separate "News" story, I will post my thoughts on the way school's are "held accountable" by legislators and the true purpose of that design.
These short assessments are about 43 questions each in reading, language usage, math, and science. The students begin at the last level they assessed at and get questions that are "too hard" and questions that are "too easy" until, by the end of the test, we know exactly what that "sweet spot" for instruction is. On top of this tool, the elementary teachers have been working all year on a reading system called LETRS that has significantly changed the way they are teaching reading and they are excited about the results they are getting from students.
While we may not have much time for improvement this year, we hope that the few months we've been given will be enough to boost our growth so that we can have the entire year next year to get each student on track to grow from where they are. I am attaching two links for you: 1. Annual Performance Report (select Rich Hill in the drop down menu); 2. NWEA Family Toolkit. I hope these two resources help you understand our improvement efforts to represent Rich Hill and your children well.
1. https://apps.dese.mo.gov/MCDS/Visualizations.aspx?id=36
2. https://www.nwea.org/family-toolkit/
Thank you and look for my News story to post soon,
Dr. Goddard
Rich Hill Senior Class of 2024. Aden Gwinn!
94th Annual Archie Basketball Tournament Brackets. January 22 - 27, 2024
Please follow the link to see the brackets.
https://www.richhill.k12.mo.us/o/jhhs/live-feed
The Junior High Scholar Bowl Meet for today at Midway has been postponed. (1.17.2024) We will let you know if they can set a new date.
The Rich Hill District has completed the drinking water sampling required by Missouri's "Get the Lead Out" legislation.
Out of 119 sources, only the 8 high school science lab table faucets were above 5 parts per billion in lead.
According to the EPA: "Lead is known to cause a range of health effects, from behavioral problems and learning disabilities, to seizures and death. Children six years old and under are most at risk from exposure lead-based paint because they crawl on the floor and they put their hands and other items which can have lead-based paint dust on them into their mouths. Because their bodies are still growing, children tend to absorb more lead than adults."
The sampling plan, final report, educational information, and remediation plan are at the bottom of the district page: https://www.richhill.k12.mo.us/page/district
Due to hazardous road conditions, the following have been cancelled for this evening (1/16/24): HS Basketball contests @ Osceola, HS Boys and Girls Basketball Practices, and Little Cheer Practice. Makeup dates for the HS Basketball contests will be announced as soon as arrangements are made. Little Cheer practices will be rescheduled for Jan 22nd-25th with performance being rescheduled to the home basketball game versus Jasper on Monday January 29th.
Rich Hill Senior Class of 2024. Trinity Burris!
Little Cheer Practice Announcement: Tuesday, Jan. 16th. We will be having Little Cheer practice from 3:15 - 4:30 pm for those who can make it into the school.
This is an important announcement from the Rich Hill R-IV School District. Due to the weather advisory issued by the National Weather Service extended through noon tomorrow, there will be no school on Tuesday; however, because temperatures will begin to warm through the afternoon, the basketball teams will still travel to Osceola. The bus will leave the school at 3:50 and the games will begin at 5:30pm. Thank you and stay warm and safe.
Appleton City has canceled the remainder of the tournament. The games scheduled for tonight and tomorrow are canceled.
This is a reminder from the Rich Hill R 4 School District that there will be no school on Monday for students. Teachers will be in Professional Development on Monday. Thank you and have a great weekend!
Rich Hill Senior Class of 2024. Brayden Chandler!
Appleton City Tournament Update: The Tigers play the Miami Eagles tonight at 4:30 in Appleton City. The updated brackets are attached. Appleton City has not released the date of when the Championship games will be played. We will keep you posted.
https://www.richhill.k12.mo.us/o/jhhs/live-feed
No school today due to icy condition possible this morning with freezing temps this afternoon.
As we enter the weekend, I wanted to give the community an update on our busy December. At the end of the update is a list of next week's events.
First of all, I wanted to say Thank You! to all of the responses we had to my last post. We now have plenty of toiletries and other items for us to help students for a while now. Plus, I have a list of individuals who can provide specific items in a pinch when we have a student in need.
If you still want to give, we know of some of our students who are in jeopardy of losing their water and/or electricity during the holiday season. You can go to city hall and ask to pay all or part of an overdue bill. Just say you want to help a household out that has children in it and they'll take care of it for you.
Not too long ago, the community suffered a tragedy and some of our children lost their mother in a car accident. Not only did our staff respond by visiting the family, tutoring, and taking supplies to help them through this difficult time, but the community as a whole has responded to make sure this family's needs are met through the holiday season. Rich Hill is a very giving community. That has been my experience in rural communities and it makes me wonder why anyone who has lived in a small town would ever want to live in a big city.
Finally, I would like to give a Shout Out to a specific teacher and a staff member. There are many I could give and I'll do more in the future, but Lora Rapp has overseen the installation of a new greenhouse next to the Ag building. It is mostly done with some electrical work and fixtures left. She applied for $105,000 in grant funding and the district will pick up about $50,000 to help complete the project. Once the project is complete, we will get some picture up for everyone!
As to a Shout Out for a Staff Member, again, I could pick several, but this week, I will Shout Out Mark Toppass. Mark is on call 24/7 for power outages, snow removal, flooding, toilets backing up, unloading deliveries...you name it. This weekend, Mark came up to check on a power outage and removed a charred squirrel carcass. Darn squirrels!
Next week is absolutely crazy with the following events:
Monday through Saturday: Butler Basketball Tournament. Either the boys or the girls play every night.
Mon/Tues/Thurs/Fri--WEMO JH Basketball Tournament at Rich Hill starting at 5:30
Wednesday at 5pm is the FCCLA Christmas Party
Wednesday at 6:30pm is the December Board Meeting in the Library
Friday morning Senior/Baby Pictures for Yearbook are due
Saturday/Sunday is the Afterprom Basketball Tournament
Don't forget December 20th is an early out day (just an early warning to make sure parents have plans in place)
Dear Community Members and Organizations:
This is the time of year when people are feeling gratitude for having things they need, wishing for things they want, or being acutely aware that they don't have the things they need or want. Several civic groups and individuals have approached me this year about making donations to the school for kids in need.
Some of you have been able to provide for specific things which have benefited kids greatly. But we do have students, especially our older students, who often need things immediately. Predominantly toiletries like shampoo, soap, body wash, toothpaste, and deodorant. We also have need to provide kids with sweats, underwear, socks, or hoodies for various reasons from kindergarten through 12th grade. If you can provide unopened toiletries for both boys and girls, or unopened underwear or sweats (new/like new) for boys or girls anywhere between 5T and 40 inch waist, or new or like new hoodies from 5T to XXL, you would help us provide the best possible learning environment we can give to children.
Other items our nurse uses to care for kids daily includes zip lock bags, Tylenol, ibuprofen, children Tylenol and ibuprofen (chewable), band aids, etc. (please only unopened items).
Through the state’s feminine hygiene grant, we have been able to stock a full year’s supply of feminine supplies and medication that is available to our female students so please do not donate these items.
If you would like to be put on a list to donate specific items such as a coat, or shoes, or any items we discover a child might need, please email me at kgoddard@richhill.k12.mo.us and I will make your name available and what you can provide to our principals and counselor.
All other items listed above may be dropped off at any of our offices.
Thank you all and the Faculty, Staff, Administration, and School Board wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Wishing sophomore Oscar Green good luck at his first ever state band audition! Along with first year band director Allison Holsey.
Information for our Tiger Community!
The Carpenter's Cup in Butler will be distributing FREE groceries tomorrow, Nov. 29th from 1-4 pm. Please see the flyer for details.
The bus barn has several used 11 22.5 bus tires both 12ply and 16ply. $100 each or best offer. Contact Kenny Kasner at the bus barn to take a look at them.