The Bird Call

Hapy New Year, Clever Bluejays! Welcome to another edition of the Clever High School monthly newsletter which aims to keep our community informed about all of the happenings at our school.

First, I want to thank everyone for the continued support of our school as we turn the page to a new semester. The list of accomplishments our students have achieved to this point is staggering. The bar has been set high for the second half of the school year but I am confident we are up to that task. As we transition into a new semester, let's focus on the opportunities ahead. January allows us a chance to set new goals and embrace fresh beginnings. With the right effort and attitude, the sky is the limit.

Please continue to stay connected by following our high school and district Facebook pages for timely announcements and updates. If there have been any changes to your personal information (email address, phone number, emergency contacts, etc.), please update those details in Lumen.

Thank you, again, for your unwavering support. If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to reach out. Here’s to a successful and fulfilling new year!

Go Jays!

Joe Casey

High School Principal/A+ Coordinator

Email: caseyj@cleverbluejays.org

Each month, we will provide a brief update on the projects taking place at the high school. Use the link below to visit the District's "construction" page for more information as well.

Next Step:

Pending the weather, dirt work will begin the week of January 20th.

Stepping outside lately has given a not-so-subtle reminder that Winter is here! We would like to share some information about inclement weather days. Please read the following information carefully, and reach out to your building principal or the central office if you have any questions.

This year, the first two snow days which occur are already built into the calendar. They will not have to be made up. The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) allows schools to create AMI (Alternative Method of Instruction) days during inclement weather, and the Clever School District will implement AMI for snow days 3-7.

By taking advantage of AMI days, we reduce the amount of time the school district has to make up at the end of the year. Students will be counted present as long as their work for the day is completed. Students who do not complete their assignments will be counted absent.

Should we go beyond 7 snow days, subsequent days will be made up in May.

In summary, snow days will be addressed in the following manner:

• Snow days 1and 2 are built into the calendar and will not be made up

• Snow days 3-7 will utilize AMI

• Additional snow days will be made up in May

For any student who does not have a Chromebook, another device, or internet at home we ask that you notify the office ASAP. Every effort will be made to provide paper copies of review material and assignments in advance.

Character Education in the HS

Our character word of the month for January is Tolerance. A tolerant Clever Bluejay encourages understanding and acceptance for beliefs or practices differing or conflicting with their own. They demonstrate empathy and compassion through their words and actions. A tolerant Bluejay uses appropriate language including words, content, and voice level and is non-judgmental towards others.

Athletics

Courtwarming is Friday Jan. 31st vs. Hollister. Academic All State and Individual Athletic All State will be recognized during halftime of both games.

Spring Sports are just around the corner at the High School and Junior High. Please make sure that Final Forms has any updated information for your athletes.

Mrs. Waisner is here to help students with their college and career plans. She will help them develop a postsecondary plan. Deciding what to do after high school can be hard, so I'm here to provide support on all but not limited to:

• Career Exploration

• Researching majors and programs

• Assisting with college applications

• FAFSA

• Financial Aid / Scholarships

• Military

• Workforce / Apprenticeships

• Develop a postsecondary plan

• Develop a financial plan

• Provide resources & support

We support ALL pathways: College, Workforce, and Military.

Seniors need to complete their FSA ID for their FAFSA. FAFSA is open, but you will need your FSA ID set up prior to completing your FAFSA. Go to studentaid.gov and go to create an account to start your FSA ID. This ID will take several weeks to verify. Once seniors create a FSA ID, they can show me the creation email and receive a little Debbie snack cake. A FAFSA contest will run from now through January 31st. Any student who completes their fafsa and shows me the email of completion, will go into a drawing for prizes. The prizes include, senior sweatshirts and stanley cups. If we get to a 20% completion of seniors completing their fafsa, we will also raffle off AirPods.

Mr. Schmidt's talented art students braved the cold to share their festive spirit through window art.

Huge shoutout to all our amazing student organizations who lit up the Clever Christmas Parade! Special congrats to Clever FBLA for their 1st place win with their Christmas Tree Farm Snow globe float!

Congratulatios to our HS Math Team! They competed at OTC Richwood in Nixa last month and had a great day! For the second year in a row, the whole team has qualified for State due to being one of the top-performing teams overall at the contest! All of our team members performed admirably in their individual tests as well. Top-finishing results are listed below:

Max Jennings: 2nd Place Sprint; 3rd Place Target (12th Grade)

Tyler Noe: tied for 5th Place Sprint (12th Place)

Clever High School: tied for 3rd Place Team

In the words of our students, CHS “slayed” at the Speech and Debate tournament in Monett last month. It was a long two days, hard fought against 16 schools. In speech events, we brought home a 6th place, two 3rd places, and two 2nd places. For the first time in over a decade, CHS also had a top 4 finisher in Lincoln-Douglas Debate. We are super proud of these kids and their amazing coach, Ms. Higgins! Excited to see what happens at the next tournament later this month.

A look into the day-to-day here at CHS!

In order to set a high standard of excellence and encourage students to actively engage in their learning, the following policy is in place.

In accordance with existing School Board Policy, personal electronic devices - including cell phones and wearable devices - will be prohibited during instructional time. Instructional time is defined as the time spent in a classroom during 1st – 7th hours and P.R.I.D.E. time. Instructional time includes the use of restrooms, water breaks, etc. Devices will need to be set to silent during instructional time and placed in the designated pouch assigned by the classroom teacher. At no point during a class period should a student access their personal electronic device. Additionally, students may not use their cell phones at any time during the school day to take pictures, record videos, and/or record audio. Furthermore, cell phones are strictly forbidden in the following locations: restrooms, locker rooms, and other district schools (i.e. during A+ tutoring, internships, etc).

In the spirit of compromise, utilizing personal electronic devices during the following times throughout the day will be acceptable:

• Before 7:38 and after 3:25 while on campus
• Between classes during passing times
• During the student's assigned lunch period

The inappropriate use of any personal electronic devices will result in disciplinary action. Exceptions need to be approved through building administration. Parents and students are reminded that the school office phones are available for parents and students to contact each other for legitimate reasons, i.e. illness or personal matters. You can reach the main office by calling 743-4830. Beginning this school year, consequences for violating the Personal Electronic Device policy will be as follows:

• 1st Offense: Device is confiscated and turned in to the main office. Administrative conference and phone call home. Student can retrieve device at the end of the school day.

• 2nd and Subsequent Offense(s): Device is confiscated and turned in to the main office. Administrative conference and phone call home. Parent/guardian will be required to pick up device on a day school is in session between 7:00 am - 4:00 pm.

Absent Work

The number of days allowed for making up/turning in work due to an absence will be equal to the number of days missed. For example, a student who misses two days of school will have until the end of the school day on the second day he/she is back to turn in missing assignments.

Assignments not completed within the allowed timeframe will be recorded as Incomplete ("I") and will then follow the guidelines for missing assignments.

Missing Assignments & Re-Do Procedure

All Formative and Summative activities not turned in on time will be recorded as an Incomplete ("I") in the grade book. This will be calculated as a zero in the student's overall grade. For assignments completed on time, the original grade will be recorded. Turning in incomplete work or re-doing an assignment will be allowed and the new grade will be recorded as long as the following timeframes are met. If the timeframes are not met, the grade will remain an Incomplete or the original grade will be the final grade.

Formative: Due no later than the beginning of class the following Tuesday*.

Summative: Due no later than the end of the school day 7 calendar days* from the original due date (missing) or the day the graded assignment was recorded in Lumen (re-do).

*If the final due date is a day that school is not in session (inclement weather, breaks, etc.), it will extend to the next day school is in session.

It is recognized that unforeseen hardships will arise which might result in the need for flexibility within this policy. In those circumstances, individual exceptions will be considered at the discretion of the teacher or building administration as long as the student or parent/guardian communicates in a proactive manner.

Access to Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming more available and easy to use for students. More specifically, AI is commonly used by students to write essays and answer school-related questions. These AI capabilities encourage academic dishonesty.

As a result, the academic dishonesty policy in the high school handbook now includes a statement specifically prohibiting the broad use of AI tools to complete assignments. As is the case with any new technology (calculators, search engines, etc.), there are practical uses that will increase efficiency, prompt deeper levels of understanding, and more. Our hope is to work together to find the balance while deterring students from relying on AI to think for them.

Student grades will be updated weekly by teachers and can be accessed at any time by logging into the Lumen portal. Academic eligibility checks will take place once every TWO weeks this school year beginning on the fourth Wednesday of each semester. If a student has two or more failing grades at the time of an eligibility check, he/she will be academically ineligible until the following eligibility check at the earliest. Ineligible students will not be permitted to participate in or attend any extracurricular activities. This includes all athletic events, clubs, and activities as well as attending any school-sponsored events outside of the school day, such as Homecoming or Prom.

Eligibility checks will take place on the following days during the school year:

• September 11, 2024

• September 25, 2024

• October 9, 2024

• October 23, 2024

• November 6, 2024

• November 20, 2024

• December 4, 2024

• December 18, 2024

• January 29, 2025

• February 12, 2025

• February 26, 2025

• March 12, 2025

• April 2, 2025

• April 16, 2025

• April 30, 2025

• May 14, 2025

Every Wednesday, a tutoring bus will be available to students who need a ride home. The bus will leave the high school around 4:40 pm. If you would like to take advantage of this opportunity, Mrs. Larson (larsong@cleverbluejays.org) in the main office needs to be notified by noon each Wednesday so that final plans can be made with the transportation department.