The Rocket Review: March 2026
Dear West Nodaway Families,
As we move into March, we are entering an important stretch of the school year at West Nodaway R-I School District. March and April are big academic months in the elementary as we prepare students for the upcoming MAP assessments and make our final push toward the end of the school year.
đź“š Academic Updates & Conferences
The third quarter will conclude in mid-March. Parent-Teacher Conferences will be held during the third week of the month. These conferences are pre-scheduled, and classroom teachers will contact families if a meeting is needed. However, we strongly encourage any parent who would like to meet with their child’s teacher to reach out to schedule a time. Partnering together is one of the best ways to support student success.
đź“– Literacy Events & Celebrations
March is also packed with literacy activities designed to build excitement around reading:
Read Across America Week (March 3–6)
Each morning from 8:20–8:30 a.m., everyone in the building will “Drop Everything and Read.”
Students can also participate in themed dress-up days throughout the week.
We will wrap up the celebration with a Reader’s Theatre performance on Friday.Elementary Literacy Night – March 4 (5:30–7:30 p.m.)
Families are invited to join us for literacy games, activities, and snacks. We hope to see many of you there as we celebrate reading together.
📸 School Events & Opportunities
Casual Picture Day – March 5
Please contact the school office if you have any questions about picture orders.Preschool Screening – March 9
If you have a preschool-age child who will attend during the upcoming school year and you have not yet been contacted, please call the elementary office so we can add your child to our screening list.
🏀 Supporting Our Students
Spring is always a busy and exciting time at school. We encourage families to attend school activities and support our students whenever possible. Congratulations to our varsity boys competing for the district basketball championship in St. Joseph, Missouri. We are proud of all our student-athletes and appreciate the community support.
🌞 Looking Ahead
With the recent warm weather, it truly feels like spring is right around the corner. The coming months will be full of learning, activities, and celebrations of student growth. Thank you for your continued partnership, support, and involvement in our school community.
If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the school office. We are always happy to help.
Have a great March!
Sincerely,
Dr. Barnes
Elementary Principal / Superintendent
West Nodaway R-I School District
Hello Rocket Families:
Another month down! We’re getting closer and closer to the end of the quarter! Teachers continue to work hard and prepare our students for the end of year assessments! Our spring sports are gearing up to get started and coaches have started having meetings and working on schedules. Make sure to mark your calendars for these important dates:
- March 2-JH Wrestling @ RP
- March 3-JH Wrestling @ Tarkio
- March 5-HS Scholar Bowl @ Tarkio
- March 6-JH Wrestling @ Stanberry, Grade check
- March 7-Trapshoot
- March 9-FFA contest @ Savannah
- March 10-Mo Band Day Festival @ Tarkio, HS Scholar Bowl @ WN
- March 11-FAA contest, End 3rd quarter, BOE meeting
- March 12-FFA contest
- March 15-17-FCCLA state
- March 16-FFA contest, Parent-Teacher Conferences
- March 17-HS Scholar Bowl, Baseball Jamboree @ Tarkio
- March 18-FFA contest
- March 19-HS Scholar Bowl, Ag Club Contest
- March 20-Baseball @ King City, Grade Check
- March 21-School Play
- March 24-Baseball @ WN, Scholar Bowl
- March 25-Ironman Volleyball
- March 26-Baseball @ Auburn, HS track @ Worth County
- March 28-Trapshoot, Prom
- March 30-Baseball @ WN
- March 31-Ag contest, JH track @ Worth County
- FCA: Every Friday at 7:35 am in the HS Gym for grades 7th-12th. Breakfast is provided!
In addition, it's important you stay current on your students’ grades thru the parent portal in Infinite Campus. Grade checks will occur every two weeks. Below are the tutoring hours that are available for the JH/HS students.
- Math - Wed/Thurs 7:15 am-7:35 am and Tues/Wed 3:40 pm-4:40 pm
- ELA - Tues/Wed/Thurs 3:45 pm-4:45 pm
- Science - Morning 7:15 am & After-school Until 4:30 pm M-F
- Social Studies - Daily 7:15 am-7:35 am, Tues-Thurs 3:40 pm-4:20 pm
- Music/Band - Wed/Thurs 3:45 pm-5:00 pm
- College Apps and Scholarships - Daily 7:00 am-7:30 am, 3:45 pm-4:45pm
Mrs. Larabee’s News You Can Use:
- Next VR (Voc.-Rehab.) visit: TBD
- Upward Bound Tutoring: (Mrs. Larabee) *Tues/Thurs: 3:40 pm-4:40 pm.
- Upward Bound Saturday Academies: Bus pick up @ 8:10 am; Bus drop off @ 1:40pm
College & Career Mondays
- March 16 - Golden Triangle, United Electric, Empire Gas (½ day - morning only)
- March 23 - Fairfax Hospital PT Department, Clarinda Hospital Radiology Department, Iowa Western Community College Nursing Program
Finally, if you have any questions or concerns, please give me a call, email, or stop in
the office.
Mrs. Livengood
Please work on completing next year's immunizations! It helps us so much if you can get these done ahead of time. Our spring clinic to receive these here at school for MS/HS students is scheduled for April 8th at 1:00 pm. Paperwork will be mailed home. Pre K and Kindergarten must get these completed outside of school.
We are also working to get our spring physicals scheduled. These will take place at WN to keep it convenient. Paperwork will be available closer to the time in the office. These are due every 2 years, so if you need to check dates give Valerie a call. Please utilize these services to keep immunizations and physicals up to date!
A few upcoming events:
*Senior CPR prior to graduation- date TBD
*April 8th-Spring Immunization clinic
*TBD-Spring Physicals
Spring is in the air at this moment which means we are getting closer to senior graduation. It will be here before students realize! Please make sure you are working with your child on finalizing their after high school plans. Mrs. Jones is working diligently with seniors every quarter but family guidance is very important to make sure there is a smooth transition. I am excited to see and assist with a high number of students completing scholarship applications this year. As a reminder, I am here before and after school most days to help with this paperwork. *Calendar note: Senior Decision Day is May 1st at 3:15pm 🙂
As February ends, Elementary is finishing up their “honesty” lessons through Character Strong as well as mini lessons on famous African Americans. Upper elementary students completed their research reports and will be presenting information at lunch time during March. From athletes to musicians to scientists, students learned about a variety of people throughout history. Lower elementary students listened to stories and then role played what it would have been like to be the people many years ago when laws were different. From entry to schools to riding a bus, students have had great discussions on ways we should treat all people fair and kind.
8th Grade students are finishing up their 4-year high school plans. These items are used as a guide to choose classes, track credits, and revise goals over the next four years. Some students are interested in technical jobs such as welding and carpentry while others are narrowing in on careers for health care, business, or legal/law. It will be interesting to see how many of these plans change as the students venture through high school. They will all visit Northwest Technical School on March 6.
March starts another surge of career events for high school students. Sophomores will attend a career fair at Tarkio Tech on March 18. Students interested in VoTech next year will be touring the Maryville facility on March 6. There will be an application and interview process for those wishing to attend VoTech. A new career component this year is 11th grade job shadow experiences which Mrs. Jones is working on placing every junior in a career of interest. This has sparked many seniors to take note as well with seven completing a shadow experience.
College and Career Mondays have three more dates for this academic year. March 16 is a morning trip to various utility companies in Maryville and the ethanol plant in Craig. March 23 is a day trip focused on medical careers with a tour of Fairfax and Clarinda hospitals as well as Iowa Western Community College. The final date in April hasn’t been set yet but will focus on legal/law careers. Please encourage your child to attend these trips and come speak with me if there is a specific career they would like to explore next year.
Mrs. Clayton
lclayton@wnrockets.com
