Rocket Review
Monthly Newsletter Update: December 2024
Greetings All,
I hope you all enjoyed the Thanksgiving break and were able to spend time with loved ones. This year seems to be flying by as we approach Christmas break and the half way point of the school year.
The State of Missouri recently released to the public (APR) Annual Performance Report scores for school districts. The APR measures a districts Academic as well as Continuous Improvement standards. Below you will find a chart. I am pleased to say that the district continues to improve its APR score. The overall score is made up of 2 parts, academic and continuous improvement points. Academic points count for 70% of the score while continuous improvement accounts for 30% of the score.
The chart below is of area and conference schools. It contains 3 data points. The blue line is the 2024 overall APR Score. The red line is the 3 year average APR score, this is what the state uses to determine a districts accreditation. The green line represents the percentage of points gained from academic scores, the higher the green score the better.
If you have any questions in regard to this information please contact your students building principal. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Dr. Barnes
Hello Rocket Family,
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We are now on to my favorite time of the year. This means we only have a few weeks until winter break, and the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is very busy at West Nodaway Elementary School.
As I say nearly every month, please make sure to send students in appropriate warm clothing during the winter months. We will go outside as much as possible and any time the wind-chill is above 25 degrees. Please make sure students have coats, hats, gloves, and are wearing pants.
Unfortunately, I need to ask that parents who bring snacks for the class or for class parties, please take the time to check the expiration date on those snacks. Recently we have had several incidents of class snacks being out of date. We can not serve out dated snacks to students. Please take the time to check the expiration dates before you send them to school. I greatly appreciate everyone's generosity with purchasing snacks. We just need to make sure they are not outdated.
On December 17th there will be a small mall for students. This is a fun event for the elementary kids to buy a small gift for a loved one. They can bring in one quarter to 'buy' a gift, wrap it, and take it home for Christmas. Just one gift per student.
Wednesday, December 18th is a big day in the elementary school. We will have our elementary Christmas formal lunch. This is for students only. We dress nice, decorate the gym, and students have the opportunity to eat lunch together in the gym and enjoy one another's company and celebrate a great first semester. Later on that evening we will have our Christmas concerts in the high school gym beginning at 6:30PM.
Friday, December 20th is our last day before break. We will hold Christmas parties on this day as well.
If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to the classroom teacher or myself and I will do my best to help you.
Have a great month,
Mr. Conn
As we head into December, the character word elementary students will be focusing on is empathy: understanding and connecting to other people’s feelings. There is a big difference between sympathy and empathy and when we connect with the concept of being empathetic, it is easier to consider other’s points of view. As a youngster, this is hard since everything they think about is “I, my, or mine”. However, what has been seen in counseling classes this school year is that the Character Strong lessons do a very good job reaching students at their grade level and making concepts attainable and relatable.
A+ mentoring started a couple weeks ago and has blossomed into a great morning program. Come December 3 there will be 24 high school mentors working with over 30 elementary students. The program runs daily from 7:35 to 7:50am and involves students eating breakfast together, doing some recreational activities in the elementary gym, reading books, drawing, etc. High school students interested in participating need to email me the days they would like to assist and then I will partner them up with an elementary buddy.
“College and Career Monday” events will conclude for the semester on December 2 with students exploring conservation and wildlife occupations. We will head to Peru State College in Nebraska for a campus tour and learn about their wildlife ecology program. This campus is 45 minutes away and is often missed by our students, however, the town and campus environments are similar to Burlington Junction with a small-town vibe which allows students to flourish. Afterwards we will spend the afternoon at Bilby Ranch with Missouri Department of Conservation agents and discover various career opportunities. Trips for next semester are being developed. I’m working on a day for construction and another on physical therapy/athletic trainer. My goal is to create events which students are interested so let me know if there is a particular career for focus.
7th Grade students have counseling class each Tuesday during 1st Hour of 2nd Quarter. We have focused on study skills, critical thinking, and career options. Some of the tasks are quite challenging for the students as they have to use their brain power to solve problems, investigate their own strengths/weaknesses, and plan for the future. We will finish the semester with career research and assessments.
Scholarships are updated every couple of weeks on the school website. There are over 200 scholarship opportunities listed thus far with more to be added. A handful of seniors have been completing applications and I expect there to be more interest after the new year when students start finalizing post-high school plans. Please come see me if you need an application reviewed, help with an essay, or clarification of requirements.
District Information
Website: wnrockets.com
Location: 17665 US Hwy 136, Burlington Junction, MO 64428, USA
Phone: 660-725-4613
Twitter: @WNrockets