LEAD Innovation Studio

Website: https://lead.parkhill.k12.mo.us/
Location: 7201 North Line Creek Parkway, Kansas City, MO, USA
Phone: 816-359-4130
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/parkhillLEAD
Twitter: @ParkHillLEAD

• September 27: NO SCHOOL
• October 1: Sophomore Academic Awards, 11:00 AM
• October 2: Junior Academic Awards, 11:00 AM
• October 2: LEAD DEIB Council Meeting, 6:00 PM
• October 8: Senior Academic Awards, 11:00 AM
• October 16: Jostens Senior Class Meeting, 8:45 AM
• October 18: NO SCHOOL
• October 21: Parent Advisory (Virtual), 6:00 PM
• October 26: Bags Boo Bash, 1:00 PM
• October 31: Jostens Additional Cap and Gown Order Day

Attendance: 816-359-4131

School Phone: 816-359-4130

School Fax: 816-359-4139

Counseling: 816-359-4132

Health Room: 816-359-4134

LEAD Families:

One of these days very soon, I will be overwhelmed with joy to write a newsletter message that has nothing to do with Schoology! I feel like that day is coming soon, but we're not there quite yet.

Here's what I need you to know this week:

1. All classes have been migrated into Schoology, and all teachers should be using it. The only exception might be a course that was in the middle of a project in Canvas, in which case they will finish the project in Canvas and this start working from Schoology.
2. We are still working on setting up our gradebooks as closely as possible to the way they were set in Summit, but it's proving to be a challenge that requires a lot of assistance from our district technology department and a lot of testing. We currently have three teachers doing a test run of what we believe are the closest possible settings to Summit, as we believe the way Summit handled mastery grading served our students well and made things easier on our teachers. We want to shoot for that same kind of win-win. They will continue testing through next week, and then we will see if we're ready to push the settings out to the entire staff.
3. All that said, you can see your student's progress in Schoology right now! The settings we're working on right now have a lot to do with automation of processes on our end; only some of the settings will impact your child's grade. So while you might see their grade change a bit over the next week or so as we dial the settings in, I can assure you that you can check Schoology right now to see how they are doing overall and to see what work they are missing. If you have a question, then I would encourage you to reach out to the teacher of that class for a more detailed explanation.
4. All in all, your students are encouraged by Schoology. They might not love as much as Summit, but most agree that it's significantly better than the experience we had in Canvas. Right now, I'll take that as a win!

As I believe I've said in every newsletter I've published so far this year, I want to thank you for your continued patience as we work through this process. We appreciate you!

Have a great weekend!

Dr. Early

Our Parent Advisory group does many wonderful things for LEAD's staff and students throughout the year, but often, the work falls on a small core group of parents and they could use a hand! If you are willing to be on the contact list for helping out with events, please click here. Additional help from a wider base of parents can make more great things happen at LEAD!

Please keep in mind that being on the help list does not commit you to coming to meetings, though we would love to see you there!

Our next parent advisory meeting is October 21st at 6:00 pm. This meeting will be virtual in an effort to encourage more parents to attend. A Microsoft Teams link will be sent out to LEAD families earlier in the day on the 21st.

We hope to see you on Teams that evening!

LEAD's NHS group has partnered with the Community Blood Center for our fall drive on Oct. 11th at LEAD.

There is an emergency shortage of blood and platelet donations. Donating through the CBC allows the donation to stay local.

Parents and Guardians, would you like to donate too? We would love your support by donating directly at the CBC using code EH5Z. There is a Gladstone location, but any CBC is great!

Students interested in becoming a Gallon Grad can learn more here!

Please contact the NHS Advisor, Courtney Carter, with any questions. carterco@parkhill.k12.mo.us

If you are new to LEAD, you might not know about our annual cornhole tournament: Bags Boo Bash!

If you are familiar with it, you know that it is an absolute blast and a wonderful LEAD tradition.

Click here for more information regarding the event and how you can help make it happen!

Please see the resources below on setting up an account to view your student's progress in Schoology.

Do keep in mind though, that while our ongoing transfer to Schoology is nearly complete, we are still dialing in the gradebook settings to match what we had in Summit. Right now, there is a small team of teachers piloting a specific gradebook model that we believe will closely emulate the kind of automated grading that was done in Summit. If we can see that it's working the way we hope, we will share the settings with all teachers next week. In that process, you are likely to see some shifts in your child's grade, even if they have not submitted new work or completed a revision of an older PFA or project.

If you have questions during that process, please reach out directly to the teacher.

We hope to be done with this process very soon! Thank you for your continued support and patience!

LEAD is introducing a new capstone project during the 2024-2025 school year.

LEAD’s capstone will be an optional graduation distinction that celebrates and encourages student work and inquiry beyond traditional academics. The capstone is an independent, student-designed project outside the parameters of a student’s schedule, credits, or GPA. It is a passion project they will engage in on their own, with the help of a staff member assigned as a capstone advisor, not only for their intellectual pursuit and betterment, but also for the potential to stand out more in post-secondary and scholarship application processes.

LEAD is proud to announce the establishment of a capstone grant to support capstone candidates in their community projects with a vision to provide essential resources such as media equipment, printing, graphics, or web design. The initial goal is to raise $3,500. This will ensure funding is available to our students, ensuring their projects reach their full potential.

Click here or scan the QR code in the corner to donate.

We are hoping to collect some kind notes from our LEAD families to share with our LEAD staff members. If you would like to thank one of our staff members for their efforts, please take a moment to complete this short form.

These responses will be shared with our staff. Share the love and lift up a staff member who has a made a positive difference in your student's life here at LEAD!

We are looking for a parent/guardian and their student to serve on the district's A+ Advisory Committee. This committee meets virtually a few times a year and gives feedback on our current A+ program. If you would like to be a part of this team, please contact Dr. Laura Hartman: hartmanl@parkhill.k12.mo.us

One of our goals at LEAD is to provide detailed and authentic feedback on student work in an effort to support mastery learning. Unfortunately, the opportunity for authentic feedback gets compromised when students turn in revised work on the last day of the semester.

Last year, we deployed a school-wide policy to prevent a logjam of revised work from being submitted on the last day of the semester, as that had been a problem for many teachers in the past.

What we learned, though, is that a school-wide policy might not be necessary for all subjects. For example, in ELA, where a teacher might find themselves grading many revised essays and thus reading through potentially hundreds of pages on the last day of the semester, this policy might be absolutely necessary. However, in some subjects, where the nature of the content might make the grading faster, this policy might not be needed.

In the interest of improving our practices, we're going to try a modified version of this policy this year.

In fact, this year, it is not a school-wide policy, but more of a protocol that teachers can choose to deploy if necessary. This year, the cutoff date for previously due projects and other assignments--for those teachers who wish to use this protocol--will be three days before the last day of the semester, which will be December 18th. If a teacher is using this protocol, they will advertise it immediately; thus, your students should know which classes will cut-off submissions for revised work on December 18th and which ones will accept revisions through the last day of the semester.

Please understand, though, that the cutoff does not include PFA's. PFA's can be taken through the last day of the semester for all classes.

Also understand that students with an IEP or 504 extended time accommodation will be able to submit previously due work through the the last day of the semester.

If you are the parent of a 10th - 12th grader who is receiving an academic award, you will soon receive a letter in the mail. Academic awards will be held from 11:00 - 12:00 on the following dates:

• Oct 1: Sophomores
• Oct 2: Juniors
• Oct 8: Seniors

Parents are welcome to attend. Please note: because we do not have an auditorium, we will host the awards in our commons. Because the commons is also used for lunch, we will utilize cafeteria style seating, which means that some parents, depending on the turnout, might need to stand. We apologize for the inconvenience, but we know that many parents don't mind standing if it means they get to see their student accept an award!

In the next several weeks, LEAD will be implementing the Signs of Suicide (SOS) program.

This program teaches students about this difficult topic and encourages them to seek help. We encourage you to visit www.mindwise.org/parents for information on the warning signs for youth suicide, useful resources, and some of the key messages students will learn during this lesson.

For more information about the SOS program at LEAD, or to opt your student(s) out of this program, please see the information in the LEAD SOS Parent Information and Opt Out Letter.

For more information about the SOS program, please contact Dr. Laura Hartman at hartmanl@parkhill.k12.mo.us

Park Hill Homecoming Information – Click Here

Click here for our counseling department's September newsletter.

Click here to nominate a LEAD staff member for a Park Hill Star Award.

If you have a sophomore or junior student, they are eligible to take the PSAT. This test is optional. Below is why your student might consider taking this test:

• For juniors, it is the test to qualify for National Merit Scholarship designation.
• For sophomores, the test is for practice and students will not be eligible for scholarship consideration until they take the test again during their junior year. However, the results will provide students with AP potential feedback (a list of AP courses that might be appropriate for the student based on this test).

LEAD students will take the test at the home high school and will start the test in the morning. The test takes about 3 hours. Park Hill High School students will take the test on October 16th and Park Hill South Students will take the test on October 29th.

The deadline to sign up for the PSAT at Park Hill High School has passed. However, Park Hill South just sent their communication out this week. Check your emails if you have a LEAD/South student that is a sophomore or Junior. The deadline to register for the PSAT at Park Hill South is October 11th.

Dr. Eisenmenger will work with our LEAD students that have signed up to inform them of their testing location. She will also help coordinate transportation for students that need a bus. If you have any questions about the PSAT and how it will work for LEAD students email: Eisenmengers@parkhill.k12.mo.us

LEAD does not have a PTA; instead, we have a parent advisory committee that helps shape our school community. We appreciate support on special occasions for both students and staff, such as providing meals for parent teacher conferences and pancake breakfasts for students. We will be looking to partner with our advisory committee to plan other events and activities to allow families an opportunity to be involved in the LEAD community.

Our advisory committee will meet on the following nights from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm in the LEAD commons or virtually, as indicated below:

9/16: LEAD

10/21: Virtual

11/18: LEAD

1/27: LEAD

2/25: Virtual

4/21: LEAD

5/19: Virtual

So far this year, we have given over 447 rewards to our students for positive behavior. Our PBIS program has been such success!

This is because of your generosity. With that being said, we are running low on inventory. We will take any snack item you think a teen would like (including drinks).

If you would rather make a monetary donation, you can do so through our positive impact grant. We would love to have some businesses help sponsor this program as well.

LEAD Positive Impact Grant.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

Please visit the attendance page on LEAD's website for information on student absences.

If you have questions about our attendance policies or procedures, please contact Adelaide Wills (816-359-4131, willsa@parkhill.k12.mo.us).

Free and Reduced applications will be available after August 1, 2023. We encourage families to complete and submit an application for free and reduced price meals to see if you might qualify. See information about meal charges on the menus and nutrition homepage. A new application must be completed each school year. Online applications are available through the SchoolCafe portal and is the most efficient way to submit an application.

For more information, please click here.

We will frequently use social media to send out reminders about important events and to share information about the great things going on in our school. If you haven’t already done so, please like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter for updates.