Maries Co. R 2 Community Newsletter

Lauren Prigge, a Belle High School senior, is the regional winner of a $1,000 scholarship awarded by FutureBuilders, the education foundation of the Missouri School Boards' Association. A $1,000 scholarship is awarded to a student in each of MSBA's 17 regions. From that group, a statewide winner will be selected. Applicants were judged on the basis of academic performance, extracurricular activities and the quality of an essay.

Lauren is one of three students from BHS to receive this award. Previous award winners include Max Thierry and Evan Thierry.

Pictured above: Kathy Speichinger, BHS Business Teacher, Mike Prigge (parent), Lauren Prigge, Dr. Lenice Basham (Superintendent), Garrett Haslag (HS Principal) and Garret Bialczyk (Maries R 2 Board of Education Member).

April 5: Kindergarten Roundup and Preschool Screening

April 5 - FFA Speaking Contest in Rolla

April 6: Midterm for Quarter 4

April 7: MSHP Sophomore and Junior Driving Presentation

April 9: Prom

April 9: Scholar Bowl Districts

April 11: School in session

April 11: Elementary STEM Day

April 13- Spring Sports Pictures

April 15: No School

April 24-April 29: Senior Trip

April 26-April 29: Elementary MAP testing

April 29 - May Day

The Board of Education approved the hire of Mrs. Amanda Seaver as the next Bland Middle School Principal at a special Board Meeting on March 28, 2022.

Seaver has served as a second grade teacher at Belle Elementary for the last 18 years. She lives in the community and has a son who is a Belle High School graduate and a daughter currently Belle High School. Her father and her grandfather are former teachers for Maries Co. R2. "After 18 years in elementary, I am excited for this next adventure as the Bland Middle School principal. I'm most excited to get to be with former students and see their educational progress. I am looking forward to collaborating with the teachers and staff to create a positive learning environment for all students. We are here to do what is Best for our students and I can not wait to get started," said Seaver.

"Mrs. Seaver will be the first principal of Bland Middle School who also attended Bland Middle School," said Dr. Lenice Basham, Superintendent. "This gives her a unique voice in the leadership of the building."

"Middle school is a tough age to navigate and find new interests, said Seaver. "One of my favorite memories as a former Bland Middle Schooler was getting to try out for Cheerleading and being a part of different organizations such as: Student Council, band, NJHS. So I encourage all students to get involved and find new interests to show that Bear Pride!

Seaver went on to say, "I would like to encourage all parents/families of a BMS student to be actively engaged in their child's education. As the new principal, I will have the best interest of your student in mind with all decisions made. Through communication and collaboration between school and home, together we can ensure our students are successful. I am beyond excited and blessed to be given this opportunity to serve our school, students, and community as the new principal at Bland Middle School."

At the March Board of Education Meeting, the Board approved an $1860.00 increase to the base salary (received by all teachers on the salary scale) and $500 to the Master’s column (received by teachers with a Master's Degree). It also included the step for experience in addition to the increase to the salary schedule. All employees not on the salary schedule will receive a 6% increase in next year’s salaries.

This will increase the Bachelor’s base salary to $33,000 and the Master’s base salary to $35,300. This will allow our district to have a comparable salary to Steelville, Bourbon and Viburnum (all schools in our GVC Conference).

The board hopes that this will encourage more applicants to apply for our open teaching positions and encourages our current staff to stay with the district. (We love our teachers!) "It is important that our salary schedule base salary is close to districts in our area and conference. If you are a new teacher, you start by looking at open positions for what you want to teach and than you look at the salary that is being offered," said Superintendent Dr. Basham. "The fact that we are a four day week school is an additional benefit when you begin looking for where to apply. I believe if our salary is comparable and our benefits are better - new teachers will apply. Once we get teachers to apply - we win them over with our amazing community, teachers and students. Maries R 2 is a GREAT place to work."

If you have not registered your child for summer school - there is still time. Limited transportation is provided pick-up in Bland and Vichy. Free breakfast and lunch are provided to all students.

Kindergarten Camp is provided for students entering Kindergarten in the fall of 2022. It provides incoming Kindergarten students with an easier transition to school in the fall. Students get to learn where their classrooms are, where the bathrooms are and what to do in the lunch room. Contact Mrs. Feeler (Elementary Principal) at vfeeler@mariesr2.org if you want to sign your students up for summer school.

The regular session meeting was held Thursday, March 31, 2022. All were present. The Consent Agenda was approved which included Approval of Agenda, Approval of Minutes of the February meeting, payment of bills and debits and transfer of funds.

CTA Report: The sixth grade team raised $490.07 to help pay for their field trip. Making this trip free for all students. Ms. Shipley’s and Ms. Adams classes are participating in The Pen Pal Project. Students write to other fifth grade students from a different region. Shipley’s class is corresponding with students from Maine and Adam’s class is writing to students in Florida.

Jennifer Bacon and Sunshine Shanks presented at Interface conference in February. Their presentation was about how Agriculture fits in every classroom. They presented a lesson called “Don’t be Sappy, Be Happy.” The lesson used maple syrup production from gate to plate to show how easy it is to teach kids about their food while also teaching hands-on-math, science, technology, and reading.

Students of the Month were recognized: Elementary: Emrie Fredendall; Middle School: Chloe Jones and High School: Alexis Kramer.

Mark McClane made comments to the board about the Belle Beautification Plans. He will attend our Board of Education meeting where facilities are discussed in the future.

Student Advisor Report: Rachel Baretich had questions for the board about students wearing hats during school hours. President Joey Butler referred her back to Mr. Haslag as it is a BHS Handbook decision. She also discussed the noise level in the hallways at the HS and an increase in tensions between students that is both verbal and physical.

Superintendent’s Report:

District Goal: Promote community and parental involvement in support of the programs and academic performance of students in the district with a focus on the whole child/family.

A survey was sent to parents in February for an annual School Culture/Climate survey. The results indicated that both parents and students have the same concerns and perceptions in multiple areas. This information will be used in support of the development of our CSIP plan.

The 3rd grade held their Famous Missourians event – there was a huge turnout of parents and families. It was an excellent event. A big shout-out to the 3rd grade teachers and the parents who created the costumes

District Goal: Maintain and improve district facilities.

We have been very short on bus drivers. Tony and Travis have been covering the routes that we are unable to find a sub driver for. We are very grateful for their cooperation. They have also been getting buses ready for the annual bus inspection. The bus inspection was held on Wednesday, March 23. We received Fleet Excellence.

Callan Tackett and Brayden Cooper (new technology staff hired in February ) have both started working on the technology needs for the district. Callan is putting together a priority need list and will develop a longitudinal plan for technology in the district. Teachers have reported how thankful they are to have those vacancies filled.

The Board approved a one-year extension of the bank agreement with MidAmerica Bank.

This is the last possible extension. The bank bid will be rebid in the 2023 fiscal year.

The Board approved a one-year extension with OPAA for our Food Service Management. This is the last extension of this agreement. The food service management contract will be rebid in the 2023 fiscal year.

The Board approved the selection of Integrity Engineering Inc of Rolla to put together our Response for Proposals for the upgrade of our HVAC system.

The Board approved Summer School dates for May 31-June 15.

The Board approved the 2022-2023 salary schedule.

The Board were notified of the following resignations: Jacob Walton (Asst. HS Boys Basketball); Beckie Lansford (Asst. HS Volleyball); Hannah Faulkner (MS) and Shauna Daughtery (EL). They received notification that Kathy Speichinger will be retiring at the end of the current school year.

Belle Elementary will be hosting their 60th annual May Day program on Friday, April 29, 2022. To mark this celebration, they are inviting all May Day Queens from the past 60 years to a recognition during the May Day Program. They are encouraging any queen who still has their May Day crown to wear it that evening.

Kindergarten students will be introduced and lead the procession of the May Day queen candidates. The fourth graders will wind the May Pole as they have done for 59 years. A BHS student will be crowned as the 60th May Day Queen.

Look for more information on the district's website and Facebook page over the next few weeks.

We are pleased to announce that we have a new Vocal Music teacher for the Elementary and High School. Mr. Charles Butler will be revitalizing our vocal music options for the district. The district has not had a vocal music option in the High School since Mrs. Brown retired in 2019. Mr. Butler has 16 years of experience in vocal music and we are very excited that our students will again have a class and availability to Vocal Music contests. Mr. Butler has taught vocal music in both the Kansas City Region and the St. Louis region. He has been the Middle School Language Arts teacher for the current school year. "I want to once thank you for the opportunity to not only work with our students here but partner to build a strong vibrant vocal music program. It is very dear to my heart and I am grateful and excited to dig in and make it happen," said Mr. Butler.

The sixth grade team raised $490.07 to help pay for their field trip. Making this trip free for all students.

Ms. Shipley’s and Ms. Adams classes are participating in The Pen Pal Project. Students write to other fifth grade students from a different region. Shipley’s class is corresponding with students from Maine and Adam’s class is writing to students in Florida.

Jennifer Bacon and Sunshine Shanks presented at Interface conference in February. Their presentation was about how Agriculture fits in every classroom. They presented a lesson called "Don’t be Sappy, Be Happy.” The lesson used maple syrup production from gate to plate to show how easy it is to teach kids about their food while also teaching hands-on-math, science, technology, and reading.

All three Maries R2 libraries received a donation from the Friends of the Belle Library group. This group runs Barb's Books in town. The proceeds they make at the bookstore fund programs in our school libraries. These funds are being used to buy the Missouri state award books for next school year in all buildings and to support the little free library boxes that will be going up soon in Belle and Bland. We are so thankful for this great community partnership. Pictured are the Friends of the Belle Library members from left to right: Jason Ryberg, Jeremy Smith, and Mark McClane.

Maries Co. R 2 is seeking applications for substitute bus drivers, trip drivers and paraprofessionals for the current school year.

We are also seeking applications for the 2022-2023 school year: Elementary teacher (2nd grade); Middle School Science (7th and 8th grade), Title 1 Teacher (7th and 8th grade), High School Business (9th-12th grade); ELA teacher (7th and 8th grade), and various coaching opportunities. Applications are available on the district website.

We are currently underway in the Spring Athletic Season.

Belle High School Sports: Spring baseball; Girls Soccer; Track and Field; Boys Golf

Belle Middle School Sports: Track and Field

Events are available each day on the district webpage under Events. We hope to see you at one of the spring competitions.

The Board of Education has set a priority to move all of our buildings on to one campus. This is a long-term (25+ year) goal. More information will be shared with our community as decisions are made. At this time - we are at the very beginning of this goal. Plans are starting to develop with the input of all stakeholders.

1. The first phase in that process will be to build a new Elementary. The Middle School would then be relocated to the current Belle Elementary building.

2. The second phase would be to build a new Middle School on the same campus as the Elementary building.

3. The third phase would be to build a new High School on the same campus as the Elementary and Middle School buildings.