Cardinal Connections Newsletter

Have you ever wondered what a first day of school looks like in the Clinton School District?

From community volunteers giving our students a first class welcome, to warm smiles and familiar faces that await our Cardinals once they enter our doors, first days are something special.

Enjoy these pictures we captured on the first day of school. We are certain that these moments are just a preview of the great things that lie ahead this school year.

Our schools athletic teams will be hitting the road in style and school spirit this year with the district's new Spirit Bus!

The football team took the inaugural ride to Versailles last Friday evening for their yearly football jamboree. Season officially opens tomorrow (8/30) at Boonville.

A full athletic calendar for all sports can be found here.

On Tuesday, August 13, members of the Clinton FFA Chapter joined more than 725 FFA members and agricultural leaders at the Missouri State Fair for the Missouri State FFA Food Insecurity Day of Service. The event is held in conjunction with the Missouri Farmers Care Foundation Drive to Feed Kids, a year-long effort to stand in the gap for the one in seven Missouri children facing food insecurity.

During the eighth annual Day of Service, FFA members joined agricultural leaders to pack family-sized portions of single dish meals to help neighbors in need. Together, members packed 193,084 meals for food insecure Missouri families.

See more pictures here.

Third graders in Mrs. Engeman's class had fun last week getting to know one another and learning an important lesson about choosing your words carefully.

Students first enjoyed playing a game of "Get to Know You Bingo", and then things got a little messy with toothpaste.

Teams of students were given a tube of toothpaste and instructed to squeeze the toothpaste out as fast as they could. The messy part came into the picture when students then had to try and get the toothpaste BACK into the tube. This lesson helped demonstrate to students that our words are hard to take back once we say them!

See more pictures here.

At the August 14th Board of Education meeting, the district formally accepted the generous donation of a decommissioned ambulance from our community partners at Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare.

This ambulance will provide amazing hands-on learning opportunities for students in the district's Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) program. This program, taught by Megan Weiss, is in its second year at Clinton Technical School. Like all programs at CTS, students enrolled in the EMT program are given the skills they need to be gainfully employed right here in our community, or to further their education upon high school graduation. Every spring, eligible EMT students can take an exam to earn their EMT certification.

We are thankful for the strong partnership our district has with GVMH, and the great opportunities it provides our students.

More information is available here.

Last week, during the first week of school, kindergartners in Mrs. Potter's class were busy learning the most important lesson of all—how to work together as a family!

The class read the book, Our Class is a Family and brainstormed ways they will work together to be a family this school year. Students made friendship bracelets and signed their class chart showing they are committed to helping each other and working together.

See more pictures here.

Clinton Middle School students in Mrs. Blackwell's math class put their brains together to discuss and revise strategies as they worked on a number activity. Students looked for patterns, adjusted their strategies, and then tied all of this into characteristics of effective teams.

Not only did students work on the important life skills of collaboration and cooperation, but they also became more comfortable and confident discussing math concepts with their peers.

See more pictures here.

Is there any better way for an educator to begin a new school year than with the school band, cheerleaders, and community volunteers showing their support and encouragement?!

On Wednesday, August 14, Clinton School District staff gathered together for the 3rd annual Back to School Rally. Thank you to the CHS band and cheerleaders who helped welcome staff with great music, energy, and smiles. Thank you to community volunteers (Rotary, CSD School Board members, Bright Futures members, and retired teachers) who lined the sidewalks with words of encouragement, high fives, and hugs.

Following this warm welcome, staff gathered in the Performing Arts Center for introductions of new staff, board of education members, and words of encouragement from Board of Education President, Cody Westendorff and Superintendent, Dan Brungardt.

Staff also enjoyed the many raffle prizes that were donated courtesy of: Henry County Health Center, Integrity Floors, Crave Boutique, Hawthorn Bank, PLZ, Schreiber, Taylor, Nold, Kenney, and Mitchell, Walmart, and C-Squared.

Shout-out to Mid-Day Optimists for surprising teachers with school supplies!

See more pictures here.

Clinton Schools will not be in session on Monday, September 2nd in observance of Labor Day

School picture day will be here before we know it!

Please see the school picture day information below (as well as online ordering information) and contact your child's school office or teacher with any questions.

• Clinton Early Childhood Center - 10/3 (online ordering code-COMING SOON)
• Henry Elementary School - 8/30 (online ordering code-87735F)
• Clinton Intermediate School - 8/30 (online ordering code-87775T)
• Clinton Middle School - 8/30 (online ordering code-87806V)
• Clinton High School - 9/12 (online ordering code- 87737N SENIORS-89514R)

Mark your calendars for October 11th for this year's HOMECOMING festivities! More information will be forthcoming!

FirstView is a bus tracking and communications app, offered in partnership with First Student, the district's transportation provider. The FirstView app offers parents live bus tracking with custom alerts and notifications.

To get started using FirstView, please use this link. If you should have questions, please contact Transportation at 660-885-2644.

Want to catch our Cardinals in action this year?

You can view a full athletic calendar on our website at this link.

To accommodate students who purchase school meals, payment options include an online payment system (found here) that will take credit and debit cards, or cash and check payments may be made at all school sites. We ask that lunch accounts do not incur a negative balance.

If you have not already completed a Free and Reduced Meal application for the 2024-2025 school year, we encourage you to do so. This application can be found here on our website, or you may request one from your child’s school office.

Please be aware that even if your child qualifies for free/reduced meals, there are still circumstances where they will be charged full-price for food/drink items.

• A la carte items (CMS/CHS)
• Choosing extra entrees as they go through the lunch line (CHS)
• Getting a second chance breakfast after having a regular breakfast earlier in the morning (CHS)
• Extra milk with lunch/breakfast (all schools)
• Snack milk (Henry Elementary)

Parents of students who attended CIS and CMS last school year will soon be receiving an Individual Student Report (ISR) for the MAP tests students took last spring.

• CMS students-These reports will be mailed home this week.
• CIS students-These reports will be provided at Parent Teacher Conferences in October.

Should you have questions regarding the results, please contact your child's school.

The Cardinal Compliment program is back!

This program is a way for you to salute any Clinton School District employee who goes above and beyond what is expected. Whether you're a parent impressed with that special touch your child's teacher added to a moment, a coworker who thinks their colleague doesn't hear often enough about the great job they are doing, or a community member who witnesses a staff member’s commitment to kids - you can send a Cardinal Compliment!

Supervisors, including the superintendent, will see your submission. The employee will receive a certificate of gratitude and a token of appreciation that lets everyone know he or she was given a Cardinal Compliment.

Every month, Cardinal Compliment recipients will be listed on the district website and posted on the district Facebook page to let others know the names of the district's difference makers!

NOMINATE HERE

The 2024-2025 school year calendar can be found below.

You can find a printable version on our website.