Decatur County Community High School
605 E Commercial St, Oberlin, KS 67749
August 27, 2023 (Schedule at the bottom, Skip What You Want)
Follow us on Twitter at @DCHSREDDEVILS or
Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Oberlin294/
Decatur Community,
It's rare first at this point in an educational career to hit a first, but a full week of school as the first week of school was a first for me. That may also be the first time that I have ever used the word first four times in a sentence.
I'm not sure how the students and staff felt, but I didn't mind it. Sure it was rushed, and there were several things that I was having to deal with on the fly that I typically would have handled over that first weekend, but, in reality, it was a great week. There was a lot accomplished, it already feels like real school, and the the students were amazing.
Of course, now we follow that first full week with two straight four day weeks.
Shoutout to all the new teachers. As I mentioned last week, we have half a dozen new faces in the building. Mr. Azada will start this week, but every other new teacher was very active and asking all of the right questions. I would actually be worried if they weren't. I have been in teaching many years, and I don't know that I have ever been this excited about the new additions that have been added to a staff.
Shoutout to a storybook ending. Mr. Ken Erickson is one of our paraprofessionals, a group that brings a ton of experience and consistency to our staff. When Mr. Erickson was in high school, he met and began to date a foreign exchange student. This past summer, decades later, he traveled to Chile and spent the summer with her. Long story short, the relationship was rekindled, and Mr. Erickson's new wife Marcela will be arriving here in Oberlin in the near future. Congrats.
Shoutout to Mr. Azada and his family on a safe arrival. After arriving on Wednesday evening at around 9:30 at McCook Airport, the Azada's were able to settle in to Oberlin this past weekend. Thanks again to all of the people that have chipped in to help make their arrival a success, and we look forward to them becoming a part of the community this year.
Shoutout to the students. The students have started off strong this year. You only get one chance to make a first impression, and the year is off to a great start. Parents that are reading this should be proud of how your students have come to school and performed. Admittedly, the weeks will only get harder, but you can't ask for much better a start from the students.
Shoutout to our STUCO president Michaela Wasson and the rest of the STUCO. The STUCO chose a 70's "Groovy" theme for this school year, and several students came in before school started to help decorate. On top of that, they also planned our Back to School Bash for the first day of school. This year was a little different, as there was bocce, basketball, cornhole, board games, and swimming all during the afternoon portion of the day. Michaela did a great job of moving around and making sure that everything was going well. She is off to a great start as our first JR STUCO president, setting herself up well for a second term.
Back to School Bash: Pool
Go Vote!
If there is one thing that I would take away from a bond issue it is simply this: VOTE! Every eligible voter has been given the opportunity to gather and hear information from multiple sources. Each has the right to go behind the curtain and cast the vote that they want. The worst thing at the end of any vote is seeing all of those that just didn't participate. You want to know that any result is a genuine pulse of your community.
No School Wednesday
Attendance Policy
1. Research shows that the single greatest factor contributing to student achievement is attendance at school. Although we realize there will be occasions when students legitimately need to be gone from school, it is the combined responsibility of the school officials and parents to see that these absences are kept to a minimum.
2. Approval for an absence by a parent does not necessarily mean that the absence will be excused. School administrators will make the final determination as to whether or not an absence will be considered excused.
3. A student is considered absent when he/she is not in regular school classes or in a school-sponsored activity. Upon an absence, a student must have a written or verbal excuse from a parent or guardian. If the parent fails to call the school, the school will make an attempt to reach the parent via an automated Skyward attendance message.
4. Each semester a student has 6 absences that can be excused by a parent. All other absences must be excused by a doctor. Absences that are accompanied with a doctor's note do not count toward the 6 absences that student can have excused by a parent. Parents should call the school on the morning that they know their student is not going to be in attendance, regardless of why their student is not going to be there. Only a doctor’s note or special administrative approval can excuse a student beyond 6 absences per semester.
5. Once a student has 6 full excused absences per semester, any additional absences that are not accompanied with a doctor's note will be considered unexcused and be treated according to school and state truancy policies. Administration has the discretion/flexibility to excuse an absence if deemed necessary due to extenuating circumstances. Examples could be accidents, extended illnesses, or surgeries that require the student to miss more than the days allowed.
TRUANCY POLICY
Students accumulating three consecutive unexcused absences, five unexcused absences in a semester, or seven unexcused absences in a year will be identified as truant. In accordance with the Kansas Compulsory Attendance Law (K.S.A. 72-1113), students under the age of 18 will be referred to the county attorney. Students 18 years of age or older can be dismissed from DCHS. Re-admission will be determined by a hearing with the student and parents/guardians.
FastBridge Testing
What is FastBridge? As a universal screener, FastBridge is a test that is taken 3 times a year, fall, winter, and spring. It is a combination of reading and math tests taken by students throughout the country. Whereas state assessments compare students in Kansas and only include how well a student performs on content taught at grade level, a universal screener compares students to others throughout the country and measures their level across a grades.
Upon completing the test this week and the closing of the testing window throughout the country, student results will be available, and each student will be identified as either advanced, on-track, some risk, or high risk.
Parents and students, it is important to discuss doing your best on these tests. Without top effort, it is very difficult to use the information to help our students and teachers improve in the appropriate ways. It's also possible that students would be identified as needing assistance when they don't.
I will speak more on FastBridge as the year goes on.
Musical Tryouts This Week
Tryout Schedule:
Monday 8-28 @ 7:00
Tuesday 8-29 @7:00
Synopsis:
Set against the dramatic background of an idyllic South Pacific island during WWII, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific intertwines the themes of romance, duty, and prejudice to create a story that is all at once hilarious, heartbreaking, and thought-provoking. Based on the anecdotes of a real-life U.S. Navy commander who was stationed on an island, the musical follows two intercultural love stories: Nellie, a spunky nurse from Arkansas, falls in love with Emile, a French plantation owner on the island who has two children from his late Polynesian wife; at the same time, U.S. Lieutenant Cable falls for a beautiful island native named Liat. Both Americans find themselves struggling to reconcile their own cultural prejudices with their amorous feelings, all the while under the dark cloud of a war that is coming ever closer to their island paradise.
The Weekly Message
There will also be links to the Twitter account, Facebook account, and school calendar as well found down at the bottom.
As time goes on, please feel free to send me any emails of family members that would also like to follow along, and I will make sure to include them in the Weekly Message.
This week will only be a four day week, but it's a doozie. Volleyball, football, cross country, musical tryouts, testing, and an emotional bond vote, all during a summer that decided to wait to flex it's muscles until school started.
It's a big week, and no matter what news this hump day brings, we are all Red Devils.
Enjoy your Labor Day Weekend!
Until next week,
Jeremy Holloway
Go Big Red!
Decatur County Community Junior/Senior High School
Email: jholloway@usd294.org
Website: https://www.usd294.org/vnews/display.v/SEC/DCHS
Location: 605 East Commercial Street, Oberlin, KS, USA
Phone: 785-475-2231
Twitter: @DCHSREDDEVILS