Lion's Link #lionpride

Dear Tuscumbia School Community,

It is an honor to introduce myself to you as the new K-12 principal. I am extremely excited to be joining the Lion family and am looking forward to getting to know all of the students, staff, and community members throughout this school year. I truly believe this is going to be an amazing year, and I cannot wait for the school year to begin!

I began my education career in Camdenton teaching middle and high school English. I received my bachelor’s degree from Central Methodist University in middle school language arts, my Master’s degree in curriculum and instruction, and my Specialist’s degree in administration from William Woods University. In addition, I am currently working on my Doctorate in educational leadership, curriculum, and instruction from Evangel University.

Something I am extremely passionate about is having open communication with all stakeholders. I believe that relationships, trust, team work, and the overall culture of a school and community is best when communication is open, honest, and frequent. My goal is to not only have this type of communication with the students and staff members, but with the community members as well.

As we get closer to school being back in session I know parents are starting to plan how the first day of school will go when it comes to getting students to class. If you have a student in kindergarten through 4th grade we welcome you to walk your student to class on the first day of school. If you plan to walk your students to their class on the first day please review the following guidelines. There will be building administrators outside to help direct parents and students where to go.

• Parents with students in kindergarten should enter the door by the kindergarten class.

• Parents with students in 1st - 4th grade should enter the door by the nurse’s office. This is the closest door to these classrooms.

• Parents may walk students to their class between 7:30am - 8:00am.

• Please do not park or drop students off in the bus lane. This needs to be kept clear so buses can get in and out easily.

• If you need to speak with the nurse or drop any medication off, she will be available at 7:30am.

The first day of school will be here before you know it, and we are excited to welcome students back into the building!

In closing, please know that my door is always open to you. I look forward to meeting and working with everyone throughout this school year!

Sincerely,

Kyla Kirtley

Principal

Like many schools across the state and nation, our district has struggled to hire staff in the midst of a nationwide educator shortage. We were very fortunate to be able to hire many quality educators, and I'm very pleased with the staff we have in place as we go into this school year. However, one position we were not able to fill was high school math, but due to the options that have become available to schools with virtual programs in recent years, this is not the crisis it could have been a few years ago.

We are joining LAUNCH, a virtual program run by Springfield Public Schools, to provide high-quality math classes, taught by Missouri certified teachers and aligned with Missouri Learning Standards, to our 9-12 students. During the hour they are scheduled for their math courses, students will be in our math classroom working on their coursework under the direction of Mrs. Annie McGowin and Mrs. Lisa Sparrow. Mrs. McGowin and Mrs. Sparrow will share the supervision of these classes and will be trained by LAUNCH to monitor student work in these courses and provide students a variety of learning experiences through their virtual program.

Parents can expect the LAUNCH teacher to reach out with a phone call prior to August 22nd, to introduce themselves and answer any questions you might have. These teachers will be available to students with live office hours after school through Zoom to provide individual assistance with any questions that students have about the coursework. Parents will also be able to access the courses to monitor student progress and communicate with instructors.

We will continue to work to hire a certified math teacher as soon as possible, but in the interim, this option will allow our students access to highly qualified teachers and an excellent math curriculum. For more information about LAUNCH, please look at their website.

Our Open House, Back-to-School Fair, and Extracurricular Fair will all be held as one event this year on Thursday, August 17, from 5:30 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. Please join us! Teachers will be available in their classrooms to meet parents and students, Community Betterment will have basic school supplies available, free athletic physicals will be offered, and there will be information about our extracurricular activities.

We also have a new math series this year for K-6, iReady, and teachers will be sharing information in their individual classrooms with parents beginning at 6:00 p.m. This is a good opportunity to see the curriculum materials and talk to teachers about what to expect as students go through the school year.

We have done a considerable amount of work on the building this summer, and we look forward to sharing the changes. We have a new floor and a fresh coat of paint in our gym lobby, we've painted several classrooms and our main high school hallway, and we've worked on the high school floors to brighten them up. We've also put new flooring in the elementary library and done some less noticeable but necessary work on the outside of the building, repairing roofs and sealing outside walls. Be sure to visit the ag classroom and shop, meet our new teacher, Ms. Austin, and see the changes there.

Come see all the changes and meet our new staff--it's going to be a great year for our students!

K-5 Supply Lists (we are not collecting fees this year)

6th Grade Supply List

We do not have any other supply lists available at this time. We will send them out as teachers turn them in to us.

Community Betterment will also have a table at Open House with basic school supplies, and if your family needs assistance with supplies, please let one of the administrators or your student's teacher know.

If you need reasonably priced accident insurance to cover your student, we are able to offer this through K&K again this year. Use the link in this flyer to apply online.

Prior to the beginning of school, please go over the student handbooks (you can find links to them at the bottom of this page), be aware of the policies, and discuss them with your student. There are a few changes, the result of a careful review of the handbook by administrators and a team of teachers and made to improve our learning environment for students.

One change that I know everyone is buzzing about is the cell phone policy. Overall, we have cooperative, respectful students, and I expect the adjustment period to be short as they get in the routine of not having their phones throughout the day. The goal of the changes to this policy is to decrease discipline issues while improving student focus on academics and instruction.

We also have a food and drink policy that has previously existed but not been strictly enforced, resulting in extra work for our custodians cleaning up food and drink spills outside the cafeteria. Students may only have see-through water bottles with water in them throughout the day, and all other food and drinks will only be allowed in the cafeteria at meal times. Please keep this in mind as you're doing your school shopping if you are buying a water bottle for your student to carry.

Our handbook rules and discipline code are reasonable expectations put in place with the goal of providing a safe, clean, supportive learning environment with consistent expectations of all students and staff. We appreciate your support as we work with our families and community toward achieving this goal every day.

RSMo 160.077 requires school districts to test all drinking water sources for lead content beginning with the 2023-24 school year. Miller County R-III School District has complied with this requirement, and all of our drinking and food service water sources tested under 5 parts per billion (ppb), which meets the standard for safe drinking water. The full results of the report can be found here.

The Miller County R-III School District has the following openings available:

• 9-12 Math Teacher, 2023-24 school year. Would hire a retired teacher on critical shortage. Forward resume' and letter of interest to tspencer@tuscumbialions.k12.mo.us.
• K-12 Music Teacher, 2023-24 school year. Will hire during the school year if a certified teacher becomes available. Forward resume' and letter of interest to tspencer@tuscumbialions.k12.mo.us.
• Substitute Teachers, as needed, $90/day, must have substitute certificate and pass a background check.
• Substitute Bus Drivers, as needed, $31.60 per route (a.m. or p.m.). If you do not have a CDL, we have an on-site trainer who will train you if you commit to substituting for our district.

Interested parties should contact Dr. Spencer at tspencer@tuscumbialions.k12.mo.us, or come by central office during working hours for an application.

It's always a great day to be a Lion! Come join our Pride!

2023-24 Meal Prices

2023-24 School Calendar

Purchase student accident insurance from K&K

Calendar of All School Events

K-8 Student Handbook

HS Student Handbook

The mission of the Miller County R-III School District, in partnership with our students, parents, staff, and community, is to promote PRIDE and provide a quality education that inspires our students to be lifelong learners.