School Board
The Cameron School Board met in regular session on Monday March 19 at the administration building.
Each department submits an overall report to the board before the meeting highlighting what is going on in their department.
In Assistant Superintendent Chris Shanks report to the board, he offered an update on the Missouri Model District (MMD). Shanks said they met twice in the past month with representatives from the Missouri Department of Education about the project and he shared some points with the principals about the project.
-MMD will be a professional development tool for us as we continue to grow our Professional Learning Community (PLC).
-We will do refresher PD through MMD on “collaborative work”.........PLC
-We will be receiving ongoing PD and support through MMD on developing Assessment Capable Learners (ACLs).
Four Essential Questions of PLC that should drive the work of your building daily!
What do we expect our student to learn? (standards, goals, expectations)
How will we know they are learning? (assessments)
How will we respond when they don’t learn (interventions, feedback to students)
How will we respond if they already know it? (enrichment)
In preparation for the MMD work next school year, Shanks has asked the principals to increase/renew their focus on the learning target use with students in the classroom.
Shanks also told the board there is a statutory requirement in place to require screening/testing of all students in grades K-3, and students above grade 4 who are “experiencing consistent difficulty” in reading. The district will need to have a plan in place for the upcoming school year.
Testing will begin soon for the end of the current school year. Students in grades 3-8 will be tested in English Language Arts and Math; students in grades 5-8 will have Science exams; and High School will have end of course exams in Alegbra I, English II, Biology I, and American Government. Each building will have its own schedule.
Principal Brett Jones submitted his report to the board which included information that the High School is preparing for end of course exams with practice tests. Algebra 1 and 2 end of course testing format has changed and students will be tested again later this month for readiness.
A draft of the master schedule has been created for the next school year by Jones and the counselors at the high school and work has begun on editing and finalizing the it for next year. There was a good turn out for academic advisement night.
STUCO members attended the state conference and have several ideas to improve school pride and leadership and would like to visit with the administration and possibly the school board about improvement ideas they have.
The high school anticipated service day is April 19.
Principal Tiffani Collins presented the board with the report from Cameron Veterans Middle School (CVMS). According to Collins Jane Jackson was at CVMS observing Language Arts teachers and then provided individualized feedback. Teachers will receive MAP training on April 5. Teachers have completed breaking down standards and will focus on writing scales specific to a learning target.
According to Collins, she and “Counselor McDaniel attended the Kansas City Bullying Symposium on Friday, February 23. CVMS currently uses many techniques discussed at the symposium. The new information will be reviewed by administration .”
There was an intruder drill on March 7 at 8:05 am. All CVMS students and staff participated. Feedback to staff was provided. Students and staff did an excellent job participating.
The Cameron Intermediate School (CIS) update was submitted by Principal Laurie Mefford. According to Mefford the professional development plan for the next school year has been secured and they will be focusing on MMD needs and surveying teachers to seek their professional development needs. CIS had the opportunity to review MAP practice assessment data and it offered information on what areas need review or reinforcement prior to the MAP assessment in April.
CIS State testing schedule will begin the week of April 23 with math for grades 3-5, followed by ELA for grades 3-5 and will end with science for 5th grade. The assessments will be kicked off with an assembly and incentives will be offered to students who remain on task and try their best on the tests.
Students in 5th grade were allowed to investigate and try several instruments prearing for the transition to 6th grade band on March 1 under the supervision of Mr. Duren and Mrs. Clark. 5th grade students will visit CVMS in May to assist with the transition to 6th grade. Students will be given the opportunity to tour the building and meet the 6th grade team.
In her board report, Mefford stated, “Family Fun Night: We held a fun evening activity allowing parents and students opportunity to work together to save “Sir Circumference” from the “Dragon of Pi”. Students and parents worked through logic problems earning clues and padlock combinations. The students and parent really seemed to enjoy the activities and those saving “Sir Circumference” were awarded with a mini pie!”
The Parkview board report was submitted by Principal Angie Ormsby. According to Ormsby’s report Jane Jackson also met with teachers at Parkview to provide guidance on whole group strategies and planning. The entire ELA team debriefed and received feedback on how to effectively plan for whole group instruction after observing one team member teach a group lesson.
Heatherlee Ryals attended the Kansas City Bullying Symposium with other district staff members and according to Ormsby the workshop addressed how bullying affects students and the overall school climate. It focused on prevention, intervention, and remediation as well as providing information about state laws, mental health, and the at-risk population.
As part of dyslexia training Jennifer Todd attended Reaching and Teaching Students with Dyslexia Level 1 and another session on Level II this month. The training covered understanding, reaching, and teaching that is necessary to assist students who show signs of dyslexia. This training will help the district be in compliance with legislation that goes into effect for the next school year.
Ormsby stated in her board report, “Our Title I Reading Event: Favorite Author Night was held February 26 in coordination with Read Across America Week and the Scholastic Book Fair. Students read their favorite books by their favorite author and then created an author poster that was hung in the cafeteria. We had 141 adults and students in attendance.”
Ormsby said after the event a survey was pushed out digitally and garnered many positive responses. When given the opportunity to provide suggestions for upcoming events, parents made no suggestions, only offering positive comments. When asked for ways parents would like to see Title II funding utilized those participating expressed an interest in seeing student/teacher ratio continuing to be reduced and more small group instruction offered.
Kindergarten Round up was held on March 13 with 88 of the 93 who were signed up in attendance. The event included a screening, enrollment paperwork, immunization review, summer school enrollment, school bus tour, a photo for student safety, and a free book and bookmark from the Cameron Public Library.
The Special Service Department submitted their report to the board, informing them Early Childhood and Preschool Schreenings will be held on March 19 and continue through the 22. As of March 14, 165 children were signed up for the screening, which is slightly down from last year.
Four students in the district are considered English Language Learners, as they speak two languages, or reside in home where more than one language is spoken. ELL students must take an annual assessment of their ability to speak, listen, read and write English. These assessments were administered in February. Scores will be available in late summer, early fall.
Teachers and students are preparing for the MAP and EOC assessments. Students on IEPs and 504 plans receive accommodations for assessments. Those accommodations must be identified in the testing system before administration of the assessments.
At the end of the board meeting, Dr. Douglas Wyckoff who choose not to run again for a school board position was presented with a plaque for his service to the district and time on the School Board. Dr. Matt Robinson thanked Wyckoff for his service saying, “We will miss you.”
Elections for two open seats on the school board will be held on Tuesday April 3 and the next School Board meeting will be Monday April 16 at 7 p.m.
