Rich Hill R-IV

Missouri has been approved to administer Summer EBT 2024. This program is a dedication and commitment between the lead agency, the Department of Social Services (DSS), along with DESE. Summer EBT provides Missouri children who are eligible for free and reduced-price school meals the opportunity to receive critical nutrition benefits. Households who need to apply can submit the application online (https://www.healthytogether.co/onboarding/missouri-sun-bucks) by August 31, 2024. Families can use the Missouri SuN Bucks Eligibility (https://mydss.mo.gov/sunbucks-eligibility) to see if they need to complete an application. Families with children who meet the criteria will receive an EBT card by mail, or the benefit will be added to their existing EBT card. Criteria for automatic eligibility includes: The household already participates in SNAP or Temporary Assistance; including extended eligible household members, or The child is age 7-17 and in foster care, homeless, a migrant, or The child attends a school that offers the National School Lunch or School Breakfast Program and the household income meets the requirements for free or reduced-price school meals.

Hello parents! I hope your children had a good first day of school. We have seen an increase in enrollment and as you know our bus routes have dropped to 3 until we can find another driver. These buses are very crowded and we got everyone home safe today. We are trying to put as many as 4 children per seat which means loading is a challenge so please do not change your child’s drop off location unless it is an emergency. If you have the availability to drop your child off or pick them up, I’m sure your child and all of those who must ride the bus will thank you! Also, this is the second year for all parent drop-off and pick-up being at the dome. For student safety, no children should be picked up in the student and faculty parking lot or dropped off there in the morning. If your child is trying to go out these doors, they will be redirected to the dome entrance to get picked up. If they manage to get past the teachers on duty or go out another entrance to sneak around to the student lot, just like last year they will face disciplinary action. We do have cameras viewing those exits and the parking lot so we will be able to identify children. All of these regulations are to protect the more than 330 students we serve from preschool to 12th grade. Thank you for your help as we try to get the school year off to a good start.

Tiger Football! The Tigers will kick off the season in Archie at the Jamboree this Friday. The games will be held at the practice fields by the Archie school and fans are encouraged to bring lawn chairs. *pocket sports calendars are now available in the HS office.

Little Cheer will be held Sept. 3rd - 5th. If interested, please complete the form attached and submit it to the Elementary office with payment by August 27th. Grades Pre-K to 5th grade $30 per cheerleader Performance: Friday, Sept. 6th

Dear Parents, School begins on Wednesday morning at 7:56am and we look forward to having your children back with us for the 2024-25 School Year. We are facing a bus driver shortage and so we will need your patience and cooperation regarding school transportation. For now, we will have 3 routes until we can train and hire another driver. All of our current drivers are retirees with limits on the number of hours they are permitted to work. Due to this, drivers cannot wait for children to come out of houses after the driver has stopped and honked the horn multiple times. Children need to be waiting at the bus stop when the driver approaches the stop. If the driver stops and children are not visible, the driver will proceed to the next stop. Children who miss the bus will need to be delivered to the school by the parent because drivers will not be able to return the house. The same applies in the evening. Bus drivers will drop the child at the designated bus stop. The driver is not responsible for verifying a parent is home before departing the bus stop. Parents must ensure there is an adult waiting at the designated stop. The school receives 20 to 40 bus drop off changes per day and each one requires the teacher, the child, and the bus driver to be notified by the office secretary. This takes time and creates confusion, especially when we do not receive calls until the last 15 minutes of school. Please try to call before 2pm if there is an emergency situation where a child needs delivered to another location than their normal stop. Please minimize call-ins to change your child’s drop off location as we are trying to deliver over 200 children home every day and each change increases the chance of the child getting delivered to their normal stop instead of the one you have requested that day. The first few days of school are always a challenge as we figure out how long routes will take and what time the bus will arrive. Because our routes will be longer, we are unsure of when buses will be at your home location. If you are in a rural location, please be looking for your bus as soon as 15 minutes before your normal time and it may arrive later than usual. Town route children should begin watching for their bus by 7am and most children will be picked up by 7:35am. Each day your bus time will become a little more accurate, but children should always be ready for their bus 10 minutes before it normally arrives. Thank you for helping us keep school buses the safest form of transportation in the United States.

We are building our crew for Friday & Monday Night Football Games! If you are interested in running the chains or being the announcer, please contact Damon Green or the HS Office. You will have free admission to the home football games and have the best seat in the house! dgreen@richhill.k12.mo.us 417-395-4191

Junior High practices will start Monday, August 19th.

Please see the attached Tax Rate Hearing Notice. Per Prop KIDS, the levy will be held even with last year's levy, except 45 cents will be shifted into Fund 4 to help pay for facility repairs and improvements. This 45 cents will generate about $150,000 per year and will be added to the district's transfer of operating funds and other allowable transfers into Fund 4. The board has authorized the development of a Master Facility Plan to identify and prioritize capital improvement needs from Fund 4.

6th Grade Orientation is Thursday, August 15th at 5:00 pm in the HS Auditorium *Meet & Greet with Core Teachers *Find your Locker *Pick up your Schedule *Tour of your classrooms *If you need to rent a band instrument-- ---Parents: Please be prepared with some form of payment to complete the rental process.

Fall Athletics Practice Schedules: High School practices will start on Monday, August 12th. Football: 3:30-6:00pm Volleyball: 3:30-5:30pm Cheer: 5:30-7:00pm Cross Country: 7:00am Junior High Athletics will start practice on August 19th

UPDATED SENIOR INFORMATION: The senior banner pictures will be held on Friday, August 16th at 1:30 pm in the Dome. We will be photographing all Fall and Winter activities as well as the group activity senior banner. Football, Volleyball, Cheer. Cross Country, Marching/Pep Band, Trap Shoot, Basketball, & Choir. If you have any questions, feel free to contact the High School office at 417-395-4191 or email tjblack@richhill.k12.mo.us

Attention Seniors and Juniors: Due to a new master schedule, we are adding a day of registration specifically for juniors and seniors. It will be held on Wednesday August 7th from 8:30 AM to 11:00 AM. The planned registration for Thursday August 8th will be for sophomores and freshmen from 8:30 AM to 11:00 AM and junior high will be from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM.

Rich Hill is seeking a bus route driver for the Foster route and Early Childhood for this school year. Download the Classified Staff application from the website or come by central office for a blank application. The route averages 5.5 hours per day. If the district cannot find a driver, we will look at the possibility of reducing from 4 routes to 3 routes. Thank you.

Class of 2025! Senior Banner Pictures to be held: Tuesday, August 6th at 2:00 pm in the HS Auditorium. Fall Senior Banner Photos: Football-Volleyball-Cheer-Band-Trap Your first senior banner is free (provided by the Booster Club) Additional Banner : $30 8x10 Prints available Seniors will need to make contact with their Coach or Sponsor if uniform or equipment is needed. Seniors may take one picture with all activities represented if they desire. *If you have questions please contact Tj in the office. Office hours will start August 2 from 7:30-3:30. tjblack@richhill.k12.mo.us

Our district has been awarded @EVERFIK12's 2024 Empowered District Seal! This award is given to 10% of districts for their exemplary commitment to whole-child education. @EVERFIK12 #EmpoweredSeal

Summer Food Service is available. Please see the notice at the following link: https://5il.co/2oiev.

Dear JH volleyball parents our new JH coach is Stephanie Cameron has set up Band App group. She will be using this app to send out information on summer activities as well as the upcoming season. Attached is the link for this app group. There is a volleyball camp in Butler June 18-20 that shenis interested in taking the altletes to, so if you kiddo is interested please contact her through the app, or contact Coach Green at his school email. https://band.us/n/a5ac0dLcl8Dd8

Varsity Football will be making a change to the Team Camp next week. Team Camp will be Tuesday 6/4- Friday 6/7 from 8am-10am.   

Open weight room with Coach Green will start Tuesday May 28th @ 7AM. Next week it will be Tue.-Thur. at 7-8:30AM, and most of the summer will be Mon.-Thur at that time. Coach Green will also be having summer running for Cross Country runners starting Thursday May 30th at 8:30AM. The rest of the summer XC running will be Mondays and Thursdays at this time. All schedules are subject to change.

summer newsletter by Tj Black