Hallsville R-IV Schools eNewsletter

Issue: 64

May 19, 2014

Welcome to the Hallsville R-IV eNewsletter. Stay in the loop with all of the latest news from Hallsville R-IV School District.

Head Girls Basketball Coach Named

Hallsville Athletics is pleased to announce the hiring of Mr. Matt Heet as the head girls basketball coach at Hallsville High School. Coach Heet has been an assistant coach with the girls program for the past five seasons. He was the head boys basketball coach at Hallsville from 2004-08. We look forward to watching the program grow under his direction.

Hallsville Elementary FUN RUN

The Hallsville Elementary FUN RUN is set for Thursday, May 22 on the school track. Runners are required to wear tennis shoes. All parents and community members are welcome to attend.

Tomorrow's Healthcare Elite Participant

Kayla Moore was part of a selective program called Tomorrow's Healthcare Elite. She is the first person in Hallsville to have been a part of this program, which is sponsored through the University of Missouri Healthcare. Fifteen students are selected to participate in this program every year. There were approximately ten evening sessions from October to January. Students were able to tour numerous programs/units within the MU Healthcare system.

Kayla's favorite program was the Orthopedic Institute. She plans to major in Occupational Therapy after high school. Kayla also just received her Certified Nursing Assistant through the Columbia Area Career Center. She will be attending Moberly Area Community College next year to pursue her Occupational Therapy Assistant degree.

Buy a Personalized Brick for the Donor Wall

Show your support for Hallsville Athletics!! Order your personalized engraved bricks for the "Donor Wall" at the Hallsville football stadium. The cost per brick is $125 and the proceeds will go to athletic facility improvements. Each brick may contain up to three lines of text with a maximum of 18 characters per line. Spacing between words and punctuation are considered characters. Send orders to Karen Sayre at kgsayre@gmail.com and make checks payable to HAB. Orders are due by May 30, 2014.

Primary School News

Karen Jimerson, Principal

Big Truck Night was wonderful! Our parking lot was covered with trucks, utility and emergency vehicles, a bus, and a helicopter. Children were allowed to sit in the drivers' seats and play with all the bells and whistles. It was a fun and interesting evening. Thanks to the owners of the vehicles and the planning of our PAT educator, Karen Smith.

Kindergarten enjoyed their field trip to Shakespeare's Pizza on Monday. The children learned to make pizzas and enjoyed eating them, too!

This will be a busy week for the Primary building. Kindergarten will have their annual Exploration Day on Tuesday, and both grade levels will participate in the Fun Run on Thursday afternoon. The Middle School Band will treat us to a concert on Tuesday afternoon, and first grade will enjoy Pizza in the Park on Friday. In the midst of all the excitement, we are completing year-end assessments and making plans for next year!

Intermediate School News

Stacy Fick, Principal

Our future second graders made a visit to the Intermediate this past week and enjoyed a tour and video that highlighted what second grade would be like! Thanks to our second grade team and especially our new second grade teacher, Mrs. Johnson, for her tech-savvy abilities to put such an awesome video together!

We want to welcome our new staff to Hallsville Intermediate School. Our new second grade teachers are Mrs. Johnson, who is currently a second grade student teacher and will be a Fellows teacher from MU, and Mrs. Hian, who currently teaches first grade. Our new fifth grade teachers are Mr. Reichard, who has been a substitute for a long time in our district and Ms. Amy Zahakaylo, who will be a Fellows teacher from MU. Finally, our new art teacher will be Mrs. McClaren, who recently completed her student teaching in Columbia. We welcome all of them!

This week, I am looking forward to our Annual Fun Run, Third Grade Concert, the Fourth Grade Famous Missourians Project, and a new event, Transition Day. Transition Day is a time for students to get to meet the teachers and hear from students at the next grade level about what to expect next year. It's sure to be a busy but memorable last two weeks of school!

MIddle School News

Clinton Hague, Principal

We finished up MAP testing and celebrated MAP Survivor Day last Friday! The Eighth Grade Recognition Ceremony will be on Monday, May 19 at 7 p.m. in the west gym. The final Eight Grade Dance will immediately follow the ceremony in the Intermediate Commons.

High School News

Scott Daly, Principal

Beginning next school year, the high school will have a new attendance policy in order to better comply with the State of Missouri Standards. Currently, a student is allowed 8 excused absences from a parent and then an unlimited amount of doctor's notes and other allowable absences. The current policy creates an atmosphere of acceptance for not being at school, and we have worked to change that culture. Next year, a student can only miss 8 or less days for any given class period in order to receive credit for that course. All absences will count the same whether they are parent excuses or doctor's notes. We will still encourage all students to bring in notes for doctor's visits, funerals and court appearances so that we can have documentation for the appeals process. If a student does go over the 8 allowed days, they will be invited to attend an appeals committee hearing. In that process, a student and their parent are allowed to explain all of the absences and present any evidence, such as doctor's notes. The committee will decide if the student will be allowed an exception for their absences and have an opportunity to earn credits. To help promote this change in attitude about school attendance, we will also provide incentives, rewards and recognition to those students with good attendance habits. For more details, click on the new attendance policy.