Cougar Update
September Edition
Please read the message from Dr. Smith, Principal.
Congress Cougars!
I love the energy in the building and how students are excited to be at school. We are building our brand and our climate in the building. We understand we are helping to develop our leaders of tomorrow. However, we need a family partnership as we can not do it alone.
With that said, as we move into the 3rd week of school, I want to remind parents and students to review our district Parent/Student Handbook. Our handbook provides information about electronic devices, building disruptions, dress codes, and our middle school grading policy.
We hope you have a wonderful 3-day weekend, but we ask students to get enough sleep on Monday night and be prepared for our upcoming testing sessions. Our students will take the NWEA Test (Measures of Academic Progress) on September 6th, 8th, and 9th. During testing sessions, students will be asked to put their phones in their lockers until the test block has ended.
The adaptive achievement and growth test provides essential information about what your child knows and is ready to learn. It creates a personalized assessment experience by adapting to each student's learning level and measuring their progress and growth. If your child correctly answers a question, the computer assessment provides a more challenging question, and if they miss that same question, an easier question is asked. This provides essential information about your child's knowledge and readiness to learn.
Sincerely,
Dr. Smith
Parents We Need Your Help!!
Join Congress PTA
Parents, how exactly could a 100% participation hurt Congress Middle School? With after-school activities, working late while trying to prepare a meal for the family can seem unbearable, but if you cannot join us in person, join us online. We are having in-person and virtual meetings to accommodate our families. We would like to do so many things this year but need your support. Our Congress Middle School staff appreciates all you do for our students and staff. Our PTA ROCKS!! . It starts with your membership. Just joining you will help us provide needed resources for staff and students. Our first meeting will be on September 12th in the Media Center at 6:30 PM.
Become a member online at:
Please read the message from Mrs. Kahler, Assistant Principal.
Dear Congress Families,
It has been an amazing first two weeks of school. Our staff have spent time reviewing processes and expectations with our students to ensure quality learning is happening in our classrooms. Everything has gone smooth, calm and our students have fell into a great routine here at Congress. We appreciate your patience at both arrival and dismissal as we work through the long car rider lines. This will improve in the coming weeks.
Please help us continue to make sure our students are safe walking to and from cars by only picking up and dropping off in the front of our building. When families try to drop off students at our bus area, this presents severe safety concerns for our students. Today, we celebrated our first assembly at our district stadium and it was a huge success full of excitement, team building, and school spirit. Our students should have come home full of stories for you.
Please take a moment to read the attached letter about our SOS Signs of Suicide program here at Congress. Additionally, our district is hosting a Parent/Guardian Information Session on Wednesday, September 14, 6:00 – 7:15 PM. We will send more information about this event in the coming week.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Kahler
Suicide Prevention
Park Hill is improving our efforts to serve students' mental health and to prevent suicide. Our team of school mental health professionals and administrators partnered with Tri-County Mental Health Services and national experts to bring the national Signs of Suicide depression screening program to our K-12 schools.
SOS is important for students because it reduces suicide attempts, teaches the signs of depression and suicide, encourages supporting others' well-being and tells students to seek out trusted adults. If you want to opt-out your student from the program, visit our website to find the form or call us.
For more information, click here: https://sossignsofsuicide.org/parent
ARRIVAL/DISMISSAL
Car Riders Drop Zone - GREEN SPACE ONLY
Bus Riders - RED ZONE ONLY (For your Childs' safety DO NOT DROP IN THE BUS AREA.
Walker - GREEN/YELLOW ZONE
First All School Assembly Since 2018!
We want to thank our Student Council for our first successful all-school assembly. All of the activities were fun and engaging. The weather was beautiful, and we had several teachers busting out some of their old-school dance moves. Our students enjoyed themselves, and it was refreshing to host an all-school assembly. We would also like to thank Mrs. Faudere and Mrs. Shaw for this energetic assembly.
Dear Congress Families,
I am Mr. Brian Van Horn, serving the 6th Grade Teams Trailblazers, Explorers, and 8th Grade Challengers. I am also the athletic director for Congress, and students have been working hard during practice to prepare for the big day. It has been a great start to school, and I am excited about what's in store this school year.
Please check our school website, Get Involved at Congress, for all updated sports-related information.
CMS Cross Country Schedule
CMS Volleyball Schedule
CMS Football Schedule
First Hand News Header:
Transportation Update
Like other school districts and organizations around the region, Park Hill is working through bus driver shortages and transportation efficiencies.
As we navigate the first two weeks of school, our transportation provider, First Student, will be evaluating the routes, ridership numbers and timing for efficient arrival and dismissal at our schools. Depending on our bus driver numbers and ridership numbers, they may have to adjust routes, stops and timing after the first two weeks of school. We commit to consistent communication about these adjustments as we gain more accurate ridership information. And remember, you can track your child’s bus in real-time by using the FirstView® Bus App. Visit the School Bus Information page of the district website for more information.
Specific adjustments could be:
- Longer routes
- Increased distance between bus stops
- Altered bus stop locations
- Altered bus stop timing
Additionally, First Student is actively looking for bus drivers to support our extra-curricular activities and athletic trips after school. We simply do not have enough drivers to support some of our after-school events.
With this, we may need to ask our parents to help arrange their child's transportation to and from an event. This may include a parent transporting their child or arranging for their child to be transported to or from the event by another student or adult. This is not necessarily new, as we had some forms of this already happening for our events in the spring.
We may also use charter buses and other forms of outside transportation to help fill the gap of any First Student bus driver shortages for after-school activities and athletics.
Can you help?
Again, First Student is actively looking for bus drivers. Would you like to spend time driving our students and athletes to practices, games and events? First Student is ready to provide paid training for adults who’d like to be part of our fleet of professionals taking care of student transportation needs. Please contact First Student at 816.359.4560 or visit WorkAtFirst.com if you can help.
Message from Sprigeo
We created Sprigeo so people would feel safer at school. When a person really needs help or there is a safety threat at school we hope you will step up and send in a report. Sending in a false report makes it harder for your school to help the people who really need it. If necessary you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. You can find out more about Sprigeo and the School District Safety Evaluation at Sprigeo.com. Thanks for using Sprigeo!
Joe Bruzzese, Founder of SprigeoIf you feel unsafe or know someone who feels unsafe, please report it here. After you fill out the form below, Sprigeo sends an email to a school administrator with all of the details from your report. You can also download one of our apps from the Apple Store or the Android Marketplace to submit a report.
- Safety threats, bullying, harassment or intimidation at school
- Safety threats, bullying, harassment or intimidation outside of school
- Cyberbullying; Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, etc.
- Fights, drugs, alcohol or weapons at school
- Friends who talk about hurting themselves
7th and 8th Grade Female Students Invitation
PARK HILL STAR AWARDS
Our employees are the reason we are so successful here in the Park Hill School District, and we would like to recognize them for all they do for our students. That is why we present the Park Hill Star award once a month to a pre-K or elementary teacher, a secondary teacher and a support employee. Anyone can nominate an employee for this award by using the form below.
Our District is Hiring!
Are you or someone you know looking for a well-paying job that allows you to make a difference for students?
If so, join our team of dedicated Park Hill School District staff members. We have full-time and part-time support staff positions open, including nutrition services, childcare and substitute teacher positions.
We recently increased the pay for these positions, and our Adventure Club school-age childcare program and nutrition services positions will get a $1-an-hour bonus twice a year, paid on January 15 and July 30.
If you know of someone who would make a great addition to our Park Hill School District family, please let them know about these opportunities.
Apply here: https://parkhill.tedk12.com/hire/index.aspx
22-23 Nutrition Application
22-23 - NO FREE LUNCH
IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
Meal pricing as of July 1, 2022 is provided below. Free and Reduced Meal Applications for the 22-23 school year will be available after August 1, 2022.
Elementary school meals Prices
Breakfast $1.50
Lunch $2.70
Middle school and high school meals
Breakfast $1.75 (regular)
$1.90 (premium)
Lunch $3.10 (regular)
$3.50 (premium)
Beverages
Milk $0.70
Juice $0.40
Athletics Information
Students seeking to participate in any of our sports this year must have a current physical and ImPACT test on file. All information related to our sports may be found on our school website under the Get Involved Tab. If you have questions or concerns, please reach out to Assistant Principal Athletic Director Brian Van Horn (816) 359 – 4230.
Read more about ImPACT testing.
The IMPACT test is valid for 2 years so if your athlete took it last year, they do not need to re-take it this year. Please have them double check if they are unsure.