Nest News

The 2024 AP Exams will be administered in schools over two weeks in May: May 6–10 and May 13–17. To see the full schedule click here.

This schedule is important for all students with LATE START, EARLY RELEASE, or SPECIAL PROGRAMMING (CAPS, MEGA TECH, ETC.). The times may impact your typical school day and require you to make some adjustments. Visit with your AP or Counselor if you have questions.

Dear Parent/Guardian:

This spring, your student will participate in the Missouri Assessment Program End-of-Course Assessments. Designed to measure academic progress and proficiency, these standardized assessments are administered to students taking Algebra I, Algebra II*, Biology, English II and Government (*not all Algebra II students will take the EOC --- Please contact your teacher to find out if you have to take the test).

The End-of-Course Assessments evaluate student progress toward the Missouri Learning Standards. Missouri Learning Standards define the knowledge and skills students need in each grade level and course for success in college, careers, and other post-secondary training. These expectations are aligned to the Show-Me Standards, which define what all Missouri high school graduates should know and be able to do. Find more information about the standards at https://dese.mo.gov/college-career-readiness/curriculum/mls-for-parents.

The results of the End-of-Course Assessments are used to identify areas of strength and growth for each student, and provide information to help guide the instruction and curriculum in classrooms. In addition, the results are used to create a school and district accountability report published by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).

At Liberty High, we strive to provide our students with the best possible educational experience. The End-of-Course Assessments provide an important snapshot of each student's academic progress and can help inform our instruction.

To help your student prepare for state assessments:

• Read! Read a variety of books and magazines. Build your child's reading stamina. Help your student to read like a writer. Reading takes skill and practice. One of the best and easiest steps to improve the reading ability for students is to provide sustained periods for kids to read. Reading improves students writing, and writing improves reading. Assessments contain a variety of text including short stories, poems, dialogues, magazine articles, charts, and tables. Students need to be able to read a wide variety of texts ranging from road signs to restaurant menus, comic books to classics.

• Teach your student that visuals are part of the text. Students are often required to gather information from photos, captions, drawings, charts, and graphs. You can help by teaching your student to look at all of these materials as part of the total text.

• Help your student know how to use text-based support in written responses. Some items on the assessments have multiple parts, or require students to explain or show how they arrived at their answers. Students may receive partial credit for answers to items that are not supported with specific details or that do not contain an explanation.

• Teach your student to identify all parts of a question. Teach your child to identify exactly what each question is asking. Some questions have multiple parts. Not answering all parts of a multi-part question is a common error.

• Teach your student to paraphrase test items, turning questions into statements. For example, the question, "Why did the main character play with the ball?" could be rephrased as "The main character played with the ball because..." This practice allows the student to phrase the question in a way that makes the most sense to them. They are then ready to read the passage and look for answers.

• Prepare students for the testing day. Be aware of the testing schedule and be certain that your student has had adequate rest – this may mean getting them used to an earlier bedtime before the week of testing. Avoid scheduling appointments during days your student is scheduled to test. Make sure your child has a book to read when the testing session is complete, as chromebooks/phoes are prohibited.

If you have any questions about the assessments, please do not hesitate to contact your student’s teacher or our school office.

Thank you for your continued support of Liberty and our students.

Senior finals will be distributed by teacher discretion.

Some teachers may give their finals over the last two days of school (May 23rd & May 24th). Others may choose to complete their final during an EOC block day and have seniors turn in final projects/papers on the last day of school.

Teacher will communicate their final expectations to each class individually. If you have specific questions please contact your child's teacher.

Through Varsity Tutors, every student in the WSD can take advantage of powerful learning resources, at no cost, including weekly Live Online Classes, On Demand 24/7 Chat Tutoring, Essay Editing, Celebrity-Led StarCourses, and Self-Study resources like recorded content, practice problems, and adaptive diagnostic tests.

This tutoring resource is now FREE to our students. In order to access it completely free, students use their ClassLink on their chromebook and will find the Varsity Tutors app.

Ed Nelson, Building Principal edgarnelson@wsdr4.org

Assistant Principals

(A-E) Steve Pryor, stevenpryor@wsdr4.org

(F-K) Lindsay Kiely, lindsaykiely@wsdr4.org

(L-R) Matt Kiesel, matthewkiesel@wsdr4.org

(S-Z) Stan Schumacher, stantonschumacher@wsdr4.org

Counselors

(A-E) Alicia Sheffield, aliciasheffield@wsdr4.org

(F-K) Chad Cunningham, chadcunningham@wsdr4.org

(L-R) Mary Ellen Riley, maryellenriley@wsdr.org

(S-Z) Paige Blackford, paigeblackford@wsdr4.org

College, Career, A+ Shelley Gerringer, michellegerringer@wsdr4.org