Maries Co. R 2

The regularly scheduled monthly meeting was held on September 28, 2021 in the Board Room . The meeting started at 7:00. All Board of Education Members were present.

Mrs. Feeler and Mr. Haslag were present to give their board reports.

Belle Elementary: Student enrollment is 284 students in grades PreK-4th grade. Student attendance was 90.78%. School is underway and the year is off to a great start! Prevention Consultants finished their ten days of lessons. Students are completing their beginning of year i-Ready Diagnostic and the majority of students should be finishing at the end of this week. The Title I Informational Meeting was held at the Elementary cafeteria on Thursday, September 23rd at 6:00 pm. Students and their families were invited. The Belle Elementary Parade was held on Friday, October 1st at 9:00 am. The Trek for Tech is being held on October 5th - 8th. (Rain dates will be announced as needed.) Each year the Trek for Tech raises money to purchase technology equipment for the elementary. Discipline for Elementary: Bus Incidents -5; Disrespectful Speech - 5; Hitting - 2; Students that did not receive a discipline referral for the month of September - 279.

Bland Middle School: Student enrollment is 220. Student attendance was 96.84%. NJHS 2021-2022 Officers were selected for BMS. They are planning a Pink Out game for October 22, 2021 at the basketball game. Student Council and the Yearbook group have started meeting. Discipline for Middle School: Bus or Transportation Incidents - 17; Disrespectful speech or conduct - 28; Insubordination - 5.

Belle High School: Student enrollment is 247. Student attendance was 94.41%. Congrats to JV Volleyball on a 2nd place finish at Linn JV Tournament. Congrats to Varsity Volleyball for a 2nd place finish at the New Haven VB Tournament. ESports recently competed in their first JV scrimmage. The scrimmage took place with 83 competitors in 17 different pools. Congratulations to Jeremy Stewart who took first place in his pool. Congratulations to Aiden McMullin on a second place finish. Congratulations to Jacob Buehrlen, Doug Walters, and Ryan Mantle-Paulson for third place finishes. Our eSports team has 13 members currently. They will compete at the JV level this season (fall) and will start competing at the varsity level next season (spring). Discipline: 30 referrals (1.7 per day). Disrespectful speech/conduct - 10; Vaping - 5; Tardies - 5; Dress Code - 3; Insubordination - 2; Theft -1; Bullying - 1; Alcohol - 1; Dishonesty - 1; Fighting - 1.

The bus routes and snow routes were approved by the Board. The information about snow routes is now on the district webpage under Transportation and Maintenance. https://www.mariesr2.org/page/transportation-and-maintenance

The board approve the purchase of a 10 passenger van for district use. We will be looking to replace the minivan with a passenger van.

The board accepted a bid for the sidewalk project for a sidewalk between the Elementary and Catholic Church parking lot to replace the sidewalk stones and gravel. We are hopeful this will be safer for student use and for ease of snow clearing in the winter.

The board approved the surplus of 5 Lincoln Power MIG 260 Welders and a wooden desk (located in the admin office). Bids will be due on October 20 and will be opened at the October meeting.

The board approved the hire of additional substitutes.

The next meeting is October 26, 2021.

Parent-Teacher Conferences are being held November 8 from 11:00 to 7:00 in all three of our buildings. In the Elementary, teachers will be sending home information about appointment times for your students. High School teachers will be available in their classrooms. Middle School will be sending out additional information in the next few days. More information about Parent-Teacher Conferences will be shared in the next few weeks. Please reach out to a teacher you would like to visit with about your child's academic performance. We look forward to seeing families in our buildings.

As a district, we spend a great deal of time encouraging our students to be active in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. There are STEM activities conducted in all of our buildings each week. STEM is important because it teaches critical thinking skills and instills a passion for innovation. STEM activities help our students build problem-solving skills and exploratory learning that sparks success across many other content areas. Jobs in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics are growing every day. Jobs in these areas pay well and are interesting to the employee. We want our students to have the opportunity to enter one of these fields. We know that it is important that our students be able to apply essential concepts in science and math in real-world situations. We know that it is important for our students to use scientific and mathematical problem solving skills to produce viable solutions to problems. We know that our students need to use critical thinking skills to translate, interpret and summarize their research and data. STEM activities help our students learn how to do all of these things.

The Board of Education recognized High School student Thomas Tilton and Elementary student Hunter Boyer at the September Board of Education Meeting.

Thomas goes above and beyond in school. When given jobs in the community garden, he doesn’t stop until they are done. He is respectful to his peers and teachers. Congratulations Thomas and very well deserved!

Hunter is in Mrs. Hinson's 4th grade classroom. The teacher shared what an amazing young learner Hunter was and that he has a positive impact on their classroom every day! Hunter was nominated by the fourth grade teachers for being a positive role model. Hunter is dedicated to his learning. Hunter's teacher says two of his greatest qualities are that he is persevering and kind to everyone. Belle Elementary is so happy to have Hunter Boyer represent our building as the Belle Elementary Student of the Month.

Since the pandemic started in 2020, we have heard a lot about the Digital Divide across the United States. Those who have adequate internet and those who do not have adequate internet. In our district, we have many places where there is NO internet and minimal cell phone service. We found this to be particularly true while we were closed in March to May 2020. We also found that many families did not have a device to use for student learning.

Since we returned in August 2020, the district has put resources into making sure that we have enough devices in our classrooms and buildings so that every student who needed a device could take one home in case they were on quarantine or their classroom was in quarantine. The other focus was on finding a way for students to reach the internet in their homes. Mrs. Maurer, the High School librarian, received a grant for hot spots. These hot spots can go home with students with the device if they are quarantined. It runs off cell phone service. We have found they work in many homes - but not all.

The district continues to work on ways to increase broadband access in our community. The Phelps Regional Planning Commission has established a broadband advocacy committee in 8 counties - including Maries, Osage and Gasconade. The committee is discussing broadband needs of residents and is looking at where internet coverage will be expanded through federal partnerships. Our district is working with this committee to find ways to expand broadband to all of our students homes.

We have increased the internet bandwidth in all three of our buildings. We believe we have made some small steps in improving the digital divide but know that we still have things that can be improved.

If your child has to be quarantined and you do not have internet - please ask your building principal about a hot spot check-out.

Do you have children 5 and under that haven't started Kindergarten and live in the Maries County R 2 Schools? Please check out our Parents As Teachers (PAT) program. PAT supports all parents in their role of being their child's first, and most important, teacher. Parents as Teachers can provide you with practical and effective ways to help in your child's growth and development by sharing information and giving you hands-on activities to make sure your child reaches all of their developmental milestones. It is all free of charge to families. For more information, please contact Patti Durbin at pdurbin@mariesr2.org or by calling 573-859-3800 and asking for PAT.

We will be hosting a community coffee chat on October 27 at 9:00 at the Admin Office of Maries Co. R 2. All coffee chats are free and open to the public. This is a great way to learn more about what is going on in the District and ask questions. We want to encourage you to sit down for information conversations with school leaders to share ideas, ask questions and hear about important things happening in the district. Please RSVP through this link:

https://forms.gle/gvyB8CpPYAuAqTDc6

If you have not yet downloaded our district app - please do so today. It is available for both apple and android.

October 5 - 8th Elementary Trek for Tech

October 14 - Elementary and High School Picture Day

October 19 - End of 1st Quarter

October 26 - October Board of Education Meeting 7:00

November 8 - Parent/Teacher Conferences in all buildings

November 22 - School in Session on Monday

November 24-26 Thanksgiving Break (No School)

Email: socialmedia@mariesr2.org
Website: www.mariesr2.org
Location: 503 West Third Street, Belle, MO, USA
Phone: 573-859-3800
Facebook: facebook.com/mariesr2