I am glad it has warmed up and grateful for spring!

We have had a great winter full of learning growth, successful activities, and too much winter weather! On Thursday March 3rd our elementary students celebrated our 100th day of school and that means we have already completed two thirds of the school year. As we look forward to Spring Break and reflect on our first 100 days of our school year we have a lot to be grateful for. All of our schools and district buildings will be closed MARCH 17-21st for Spring Break. We hope everyone will take some time during this break to get outside and take to be grateful for all of your many blessings.

This past week March 6-12th was School Board Recognition Week in Missouri and we have a wonderful Board of Education whom we celebrated for all they do for our district. If you see one of our great School Board members please let them know how much you appreciate all they do. Additionally, after nine faithful years of service Chris Macy (not running for his current position for another term) officially had his last Board meeting last Wednesday at our March 9th Board meeting. If you see Mr. Macy in town please tell him how much you appreciate his dedication the past nine years. We will hold Board elections for his position and Kay Culbertson’s current position on April 5th. The following are candidates for two positions for three terms; Eric Transeau, Kay Culbertson, Travis Ingle, and Jennifer Buening Howard.

We are very grateful for all of our incredible Wildcat students, support staff, teachers, administrators, and Board of Education members who have worked hard all year to BE THE CHANGE. As I walk through our schools and classrooms each day, I continue to be reminded that I am extremely blessed for the opportunity to be your superintendent and for the privilege, responsibility, and duty we have to provide a high quality education for our Diamond R-IV students.

One of our CSIP goals is to recruit, hire, and retain high quality teachers and today our administrators attended the MSSU Spring Career Fair (thank you Dr. Weaver for organizing our table) and met several quality teacher candidates! Please continue to follow our Facebook pages, Twitter, and website (new website is live) for updates and information. Below you will see a few examples of the many great things going on in our district. We look forward to a continued great school year this spring and finishing the school year strong to improve daily for each Diamond R-IV student and staff member to CONTINUE THE CHANGE!

Dr. Keith White, Superintendent

Congratulations to Emily Baker (Elementary First Grade Teacher) who was recognized by a student's parent. The parent took the time to send an email to Dr. White and Mrs. Northup and among many nice comments wrote the following statement which is a testament about the importance of positive relationships. “We can tell that she truly cares about her students and wants them to succeed”.

Congratulations to Diamond High School senior wrestler Landon Clement who finished as the Runner-up at the Missouri State Wrestling Tournament held in Columbia at Mizzou Arena February 17-19th. Landon finished his career tied for the most wins in Diamond School history with 151 wins, was a two-time state medalist (All-State) in Class 3, and many other awards and accomplishments.

Congratulations to Diamond High School senior softball player Madison Bentley who signed her national letter of intent on February 15th to attend Southwest Baptist University in the fall and to play softball for the Bearcats! Madison helped guide last years Lady Wildcat Softball team to a Fourth Place finish in the State Tournament and was recognized as an All- State pitcher among several other awards and accomplishments.

The Winter season was busy and successful for many of our Diamond R-IV activities. Below are pictures of some of the highlights. Our Spring activities have started already and we look forward to cheering on our students. Please keep supporting our Wildcats as we continue to have high hopes this spring for great results for our activities and school organizations to be Wildcat Strong!.

Our Wildcat Basketball team finished the regular season 15-13 and as the Class 3 District 12 Runner-Up in a thrilling but heartbreaking 44-43 loss to Ashgrove with over 800 people in attendance for the championship game. We had 1,988 admissions for the Boys and Girls district tournaments which led to a great experience for all who attended.

Karl Culbertson-Innovation Plan

Isabella Lankford-Innovation Plan-3rd

Jacob Atkinson-Business Solutions

Katy Primm-Community Giving-3rd

Ty Douglas-Start up Business Plan-1st

Monica Harter and Janalyn Kralicek- Travel and Tourism Team Decision Making-3rd

Trinity Bunn-Principles of Hospitality

Campbell Frazier and Sydney Cook-Hospitality Service Team Decision Making-1st

Megan Giles-Automotive Marketing-1st

Chandler Ramm-Automotive Marketing

Zoey Rowe-Professional Selling-1st

*Those that are advancing to State are Campbell Frazier, Sydney Cook, Ty Douglas, Zoey Rowe, and Megan Giles!

At Districts on March 4th Lillian Leake and Serenity Greathouse qualified for state in two events - duet acting and prose/poetry. Bella Lankford placed 7th in dramatic interpretation.

We had new digital scoreboards installed at DHS and the FEMA gym this winter which helped make our fan experience better. We updated our Board of Education meeting room with our approved CSIP priorities, mission, vision, and beliefs. We have also completed some needed improvements (Moved the left field fence back to 200' and installed warm up areas) to our softball field to make it better for our Lady Cats and a playoff regulation field. Also new bull pen warm up areas were completed, with new bleachers (baseball and softball), a 35' flagpole, and new foul poles should be arriving soon. Progress as promised!

Do you know someone interested in becoming a substitute teacher and do not have 60 hours of college courses yet? No problem as DESE has modified the requirements due to COVID https://dese.mo.gov/educator-quality/certification/substitute-teachers. If you are interested in daily making a positive difference in our schools for students go to diamondwildcats.org and click on the JOB OPENINGS tab. Follow the instructions and fill out an application for SUBSTITUTE TEACHER. You will be able to attach your sub certificate from DESE to the application. Once the application is complete, well will send the applicant an employment packet and once returned, they will be added to the district sub list.

If you are interested in being a bus driver or custodian for the Diamond R-IV School District, please follow this link: https://diamond.tedk12.com/hire/index.aspx.

Our positive COVID-19 numbers and excluded students have continued to be very low districtwide the past couple months with no current positive student or staff cases. You can check our current numbers at the following COVID-19 District Dashboard which is updated regularly.

Diamond R-IV Superintendent

Email: kwhite@diamondwildcats.org
Website: https://www.diamondwildcats.org/
Location: 401 South Main Street, Diamond, MO, USA
Phone: 417-325-5186
Facebook: facebook.com/DiamondWildcats
Twitter: @DiamondSchoolD1