The ILT Minute

The Student and Family Programs Department proudly hosted a joint Holiday Event with Urban Community Connections (UCC) on December 10, bringing meaningful support and holiday cheer to 45 families across the district. Families were welcomed with books, toys, winter and holiday clothing, Christmas gifts, and boxes of food—ensuring they left feeling supported and celebrated. Adding to the festive spirit, Board of Education members Nodie Newton and Edna Adelusola generously volunteered their time by serving as Santa and Mrs. Claus for the event. This celebration reflects the strong partnership developed by Raechel Lovingood, Coordinator of Community Resources, with UCC, which continues to provide clothing and food assistance to several of our schools throughout the year. We are deeply thankful for the Student and Family Programs Department staff, building social workers, and the Raytown High and Raytown South High National Honor Society students and teacher volunteers whose generosity and teamwork made this event a joyful success.

Academies of Raytown Designation Ceremony

On November 19 at the SHS Performing Arts Center, the district celebrated its designation from Ford Next Generation Learning as The Academies of Raytown. The event included performances from the Raytown South Choir, Raytown High School Theater Troupe, SHS and RHS cheerleaders and was emceed by RQS HS students. Additionally, we hosted dignitaries from Ford Next Generation Learning, community and business partners as well as key district stakeholders. A story that was featured on the district's Facebook page is linked here.

DESSA Universal SEL Screener

The first rating window for our new SEL Universal Screener, the DESSA, recently closed. The purpose of this screener is to identify student strengths and areas for additional instruction that align with the CASEL competencies. The information from this screener provides teams with additional data points to support student SEL growth. The DESSA provides specific, developmentally appropriate goals and instructional strategies to use to help build SEL skills in students. As we continue our efforts to embed social-emotional learning into all aspects of instruction, the DESSA provides teachers, administrators, and support staff with the tools necessary to ensure all students are provided with quality SEL instruction.

DESSA scores are reported using the following descriptive ranges:

Need for Instruction (this is not a deficit, the student just has not developed these skills yet)

Typical (the student demonstrates typical or expected SEL skills)

Strength (the student demonstrates above average SEL skills)

As a district, we rated 92% of our students. 64% of our students scored in the typical range, with 24% of our students scoring in the strength range! This data is encouraging, and we look forward to seeing continued growth in our students as we work to strengthen our SEL instruction district wide. Thank you to all of those who contributed to the success of the first DESSA rating window!

Secondary SOS Days

Our secondary buildings just completed our suicide awareness and prevention program, Signs of Suicide. This program provides students with information about recognizing the signs and symptoms of depression and suicidality in themselves and in their peers, and how to ACT: Acknowledge, Care, and Tell. After the lesson, students are screened for depression and asked if they need to speak with a counselor. On our SOS days, counselors and social workers from all over the district come together to support our students and provide care to those who may be experiencing depression or suicide. Many students are connected to resources to receive continued care.

This year, 411 students were screened for potential risk. Counselors were able to connect 14 students immediately to supports. We appreciate the efforts of all involved for implementing this important program for the benefit of our students.

Strategic Plan Update

The district site for the Strategic Planning Overview is linked here. The Strategic Planning Dashboard linked here provides an overview of the 41 Strategic Planning Projects that will occur during the 25-26 school year. Each project is aligned to a Board of Education Goal.

Strategic Plan Project Spotlight:

If you are lucky enough to get to work with one of the over 170 instructional assistants in Raytown, you should know that they have been actively investing in their own professional craft with in-person learning throughout the school year. We’ve met in person 3 times so far this school year, with 3 more learning sessions to go. At each one, we collaborate, add to our tool box of skills, hear from each other, and grow as professionals. Instructional assistants are some of the unsung heroes of our school district, interacting with students all day every day to maximize their success. if you see an instructional assistant tell them thank you for all they are doing!

Check out our learning topics so far this school year:

• Active Supervision
• Behavior De-Escalation
• Strong Communication

FOCUS Update

As we head into the Winter holiday season, the end of quarter two and semester 1 is quickly approaching. The FOCUS team wants to send a couple of links to support staff storing their report cards over the next couple of weeks. The grading cycle was opened on December 17th and will close on January 5th. Here are some links to videos and quick guides to support the process.

• Instructions for Elementary Schools: Video

• Instructions for Middle Schools: Video and Quick Guide

• Instructions for High Schools: Video and Quick Guide

Enrollment Study Plan Update

The Instructional Leadership Team has begun work supporting the school board's decision to implement Cropper GIS’s Orange Enrollment Plan. The Enrollment Center has started to update the school district’s address bank in FOCUS with the appropriate feeder schools on the nearly two thousand addresses that are changing in the coming year. Student Support Services, the Special Education Office, the FOCUS team, and Central Middle School have started working on developing a tentative master schedule early (roughly two months earlier than normal) in order to more clearly predict student classes' needs in the coming year. Finally, The FOCUS team has created a student group in FOCUS to accurately document the students that will be moving to a new building next year. Students will automatically get added and removed from this group based in the following criteria:

• Address (if it is an orange impact address)

• School (currently attending the Success Academy)

• Program (enrolled in Missouri Options, R Cubed, or self-contained classes at Central Middle School)

• Transfer Status (students with an approved transfer)

The District and Buildings will be able to use this student group to send timely information and updates about the enrollment plan. Students in this group will be automatically transferred to the correct school in next year’s fileset in FOCUS, in order to ensure they are scheduled properly.

Google Sites Access

To maintain a focused and secure digital learning environment, our Tech Department will be adjusting access to Google Sites, as we've noted recent instances of students accessing unauthorized content through them. We recognize that many staff rely on Google Sites for class materials and activities, and we have a way to easily allow access to instructional sites. If you use a Google Site with your students for classes, clubs, or activities, please take a moment to fill out the Google Sites Form so we can ensure your students retain seamless access. Thank you for helping us balance security and support your classroom efforts!

Profile of a Learner – A K-12 Prospective

RQS’s Profile of a Learner is more than just a poster on the wall; it is an intentional way to prepare students for the characteristics we believe they will need to be successful as they transition from Elementary to Middle School, from Middle School to High School, and into post-secondary pursuits. Our work this semester to make this happen began with developing a collaborative team of teachers, counselors, and administrators from all levels with the task of creating developmentally appropriate benchmarks aligned to the RQS Profile of a Learner to clearly define what students should know, be able to do, and value as they progress toward graduation. The Profile of a Learner characteristics: academically sound, reflective, able to relate, contributors, and professional are grounded in the district’s vision that serves as a shared framework that unites educators, families, and the community around a common definition of student success. Through a three-year process of development, curriculum embedding, piloting, and implementation, the team will create a learning continuum and scoring guide that describes student growth from emerging to accomplished. The first draft of these benchmarks and a developmental rubric will be completed by the end of January, providing teachers with a practical tool to monitor progress, guide instruction, and evaluate the effectiveness of essential skills and competencies needed for college, career, and life.

• January 2nd - No School
• January 5th - Teacher Work Day, no students
• January 5th - Secondary APs PD
• January 5th - Grade Stored
• January 8th - Learning Walk at Central Middle School
• January 8th - CPL Meeting
• January 12th - Board Meeting
• January 12th - Sped Learning Lab, Job Olympics Night at Culvers (Independence location)
• January 12 - 16 - Access Test
• January 14th - Teacher Leader Meeting
• January 19th - No School (MLK Day)
• January 20th - 21st - District Writing Benchmark Window
• January 20th - Learning Walk South Middle
• January 21st - Instructional Assistant In Person Learning
• January 22nd - Mentor/New Teach meeting
• January 27th - Equity Council Meeting
• January 29th - Sped Learning Lab
• January 30th - Three Trails Learning Walk