Alton R-IV Public School

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"All Students Can Learn And Be Successful"

Annual Performance Report- A+

The 2011 preliminary Annual Performance Reports (APR) for Missouri schools have recently been released by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). The APR is an evaluation tool that focuses on fourteen different areas in school performance. Six of these areas are related to the Missouri Assessment Program, or MAP test scores. The other performance areas include ACT scores, numbers of students taking advanced and career education courses, college and career placement, graduation and attendance rates. The APR examines many different performance areas of a school’s progress and is the major factor in determining the accreditation level of a school district. The report highlights the overall performance of schools. The Alton R-IV School District received fourteen points (out of a total possible of fourteen points) on their Annual Performance Report. This is very good news for the Alton R-IV School District! The District met ALL of the performance areas related to the MAP tests, which are the achievement tests given each spring. The District also earned two additional bonus points on the MAP standards. The Alton School was able to use one of these bonus points to meet the Attendance Rate standard, which is the only performance standard the District did not meet. Congratulations to the faculty, staff, students, parents and community for earning this great report. We are fortunate to have such dedicated staff, committed parents and students who are willing to put forth good efforts.

Student Attendance

Good attendance by students is crucial to their success in school. The benefits of classroom instruction, once lost, cannot be entirely regained. If it is necessary for your child to be absent, please contact the school office as to the reason for the absence. During the 2010-11 school year, student attendance at the elementary school was 94.6 % and at the high school 93.3 %. With your help, we can better help the students by improving on that attendance percentage for this year.

2012 High School Graduation

The 2012 Alton High School graduation date has been set. The 2012 senior graduation will be held on May 11th at 7:00 p.m. in the Alton High School gymnasium.

Summer Food Service Program

Who says there’s no such thing as a free lunch? There is this summer! During the school year, kids get nutritious meals at school. But kids are just as busy, and just as hungry, during the summer break. Books and teachers may be replaced by playgrounds and games, but kids’ stomachs don’t take a vacation! The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) helps kids get the vital nutrition they need when school is out. This summer, a nutritious lunch will be served to kids free! Lunch is open to all the children, up to age 18, in our area.

Where: Alton Elementary School

Dates: May 29th – June 22nd (Monday-Friday)

Time: Breakfast 7:40 am - 8:00 am

Lunch 11:30 am– 12:00 pm

Cost: Free!

Tobacco Free District-New Policy Approved

The Board of Education recently approved a new policy. In the past, smoking and use of tobacco products was prohibited in all school facilities. That policy has now been revised to include all district property. To promote the health and safety of all students and staff and to promote the cleanliness of district property, the district prohibits all employees, students and patrons from smoking or using tobacco products in all district facilities, on district transportation and on all district grounds at all times. Students who possess or use tobacco products on district grounds, district transportation or at district activities will be disciplined in accordance with Board policy. Smoking or tobacco use is not permitted at ball games or other school activities. Your support and adherence to this policy is very much appreciated.

March Talking Points

Congratulations, Junior High Comet Chorale! All three choirs, mixed, boys' and girls', received I (Superior) ratings at the Junior High Choral Festival in Lebanon on Saturday, March 10. All three ensembles, mixed double, 8th grade girls, 7th grade girls, received I ratings, also. Soloists who received I ratings were Drew Hufstedler, Mary Alice Oesch, Bailey Johnston, Michaela King, Emily Hower, Kaley Kepplinger, Timber Willard, Ashlyn Hufstedler, Ethan Granger. Soloists receiving II (Excellent) ratings were Trevor Campbell and Ashton Foes. In addition, congratulations on excellent behavior!

CONGRATULATIONS to the following Alton FFA members that competed in the Area 16 CDE contest: ADVANCING TO DISTRICT COMPETITIONS: Parliamentary Procedure Team - 1st Place: Rachael Swindell, Chairperson, Jessic Grenz, Frank Alford, K. Friesz, Cory Simmons, Allison Wright, Tori Holman - Alternate Division 2 Public Speaking - 2nd Place: Jena Woodside Extemporaneous Public Speaking - 2nd Place: Carlee Buckner Creed Speaking - 3rd Place: Kaitlin Jones Knowledge Team - 4th Place: Kaitlin Jones, Noah Williams, Allena Vonallmen, Tonya Brewer COMPETING AT AREA: Chapter Scrapbook – 3rd Place: Abby Holman Completed Ownership Record Book – 6th Place: Cory Simmons ADVANCING TO STATE: Carlee Buckner - 1st Place Completed Placement Record Book Shelby Cooper - 1st Place Beginning Ownership Record Book Cassie Springer - 1st Place Beginning Placement Record Book Megan Orr - 1st Place Secretary's Book Elizabeth Church - 1st Place Treasurer's Book Bryce King, Noah Williams, and Dustin Shaw have been selected to be members of the Missouri State FFA Choir and will be singing at the State FFA Convention in front of 7000 people.

Frank Alford and Carlee Buckner have earned their State FFA Degree and will receive their degree at the State FFA Convention.

On March 20, our HS JV Quiz Bowl Team of Noah Williams, Caty Chilcutt, Dakota Keeney, and Michael Barton took 1st place at the Big Springs Tournament. Noah got an astonishing 45 questions correct and won both Conference Champ and our team's MVP award.

On March 13, the JH Quiz Bowl Teams competed in the Big Springs Conference Quiz Bowl Tournament held at Couch High School. Without losing a single game in the double-elimination tournament, both Comet teams, consisting of eighth graders Ashlyn Hufstedler, Drew Hufstedler, Mary Alice Oesch, William Brown, Tony Cupp, Joseph Storr, Bailey Johnston, Logan Wilkerson, and Brent Murphy and seventh graders Emma Rector, Torsten Whetsell, Ethan Granger, Taylor Barton, and Lawrence Murphy, dominated the conference, taking home first place plaques in both grade levels. High scorer for the 7th grade team and MVP of the 7th grade tournament was Torsten Whetsell. Tony Cupp, with 13 questions answered, and Drew Hufstedler, adding 12, also earned all-conference honors.

We would like to congratulate our Transportation Department as they received 100% on the annual bus inspection. That is quite a feat and worthy of bragging about!

The Alton R-IV School District was one of the districts receiving the award for 2010-11. The Distinction in Performance award is one of the state’s most prestigious honors for local school districts. It is based on the district’s performance relative to student performance standards that are used to determine state accreditation through the Missouri School Improvement Program. Superintendent Sheila Wheeler said, “Our students, faculty, parents and community can be very proud of this achievement. I appreciate everyone, from the students to the teachers and school staff as well as the parents, for their hard work. It is wonderful when our students achieve success!”