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

• 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

It's official, folks: after successfully piloting a series of gradebook settings that closely replicate the mastery scoring features in Summit, we had all of our teachers switch their gradebooks to the new settings this week.

While there is still going to be a learning curve for everyone (teachers, students, and parents), please understand that the grades you now see through Schoology are an accurate representation of your student's progress.

There is one very important thing that I need everyone to be aware of, though:

Summit essentially handled a lot of the math calculations that go into mastery grading "behind the scenes," so you wouldn't see the full process, but instead, you would only see the final result. That's not the case with Schoology. While we don't believe it will prove to be that big of an issue, it could be confusing for parents when it comes to PFA's (Power Focus Areas), which are an important part of our program because they allow students to learn content while self-directing.

All PFA's are 10 questions. Because we consider mastery an 8, that means that a score of 8 or 9 will actually equal a 10, and a score of 7 or below will equal a 0. When your student receives a score of 7 or below, they are expected to retake the PFA until they score at least an 8, at which time they will be given the perfect score of 10.

Essentially, PFA's are an all or nothing score.

While Summit automated the process of changing a 7 or below to a 0 or an 8 or 9 to a 10 without you necessarily seeing it, Schoology does not. Thus, for example, if your student scores a 6 on a PFA, you will actually see that 6 in the gradebook until your student retakes the PFA. On a traditional grading scale, you might think your child has earned a 6 out of 10 for 60%, but in reality, that 6 is a 0 until your student scores an 8 or above.

So please just remember this simple rule when looking at PFA scores:

8-10 = 10

0-7 = 0

We're working with Schoology to see if we can automate this feature, and we do believe it will happen in the future, but for now, just understand that what might appear to be a score of 70% on a PFA is actually a 0 until your student retakes it and gets the necessary 8 or above.

Finally--and this is very important--remember that students are expected to master all PFA's and complete all projects in order to pass a class at LEAD. This is not new or related to Schoology; this is an aspect of mastery learning. Since students have the advantage of resubmitting their work until it is mastered, they are expected to complete all projects and PFA's.

Students are aware of this policy and also aware of how PFA's are scored, so they understand that a 7 on a PFA equals a 0, and they also understand that if they end the semester with that 0, despite what their overall percentage for the class is, they will fail the course.

Thankfully, partially because the way LEAD is structured and partially because of our phenomenal staff, this doesn't happen often!

Other than the PFA scoring issue described above, which we feel is a small price to pay for having a true mastery gradebook, things are in great shape! We look forward to putting our LMS issues behind us and focusing on quality instruction and learning.

Thank you for your support though this odd and unexpected journey.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Dr. Early

Park Hill High School students who signed up for the PSAT will take it on October 16th.

Please make sure your student is at Park Hill High school by 8:20 am. They should report to the media center. Dr. Eisenmenger worked with these students this week to complete their digital readiness and had the students download the blue book application to their computers.

If your student is taking the PSAT, please make sure they go to Park Hill High School the morning of the 16th. Do not bring them to LEAD.

Dr. Eisenmenger has arranged a bus back to LEAD on the 16th if students need transportation. The shuttle will be in front of PHHS at 11:30 to bring LEAD students back. Students should return to LEAD in time for their afternoon classes.

Remember Park Hill South Students will take the PSAT on October 29th and the deadline for them to register is today! Students taking the PSAT at either high school will need their school IDs, a snack, a calculator that is on this list, and a water bottle.

If you have any questions about the logistics of the PSAT, please email eisenmengers@parkhill.k12.mo.us.

Please remember that students are not allowed to wear costumes on Halloween. If you have any questions about this policy, please reach out to Dr. Early.

It's not like you would show up at our awesome annual Bags Boo Bash on the 26th without wearing the merch, right?

Click below to order. Our store closes Tuesday.

https://ic.parkhill.k12.mo.us/campus/store/parkhill/school-store/26/products

Aspiring Professionals will hold a mock interview event for our students on Tuesday, November 12th, 2024 from 1:30-3:00pm.

We are looking for 50+ community members, from all types of businesses and backgrounds, to help us conduct mock interviews for our students. This experience directly helps our students gain confidence and the feedback they receive will help them on their professional journey.

Please contact Maddy Malcolm (malcolmm@parkhill.k12.mo.us) or Shannan Mulcahey (mulcaheys@parkhill.12.mo.us) if you would like to volunteer for this event. Thank you for supporting Park Hill Professional Studies!

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!

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!

The deadline for parents to sign up for the scholarship initiative is November 8th. Click here for a video that explains more about the initiative.

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!

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

Click here for this week's Park Hill High School newsletter.

If you have a student interested in the military, LEAD will be hosting the ASVAB test on March 21st, which is a non-school day.

The ASVAB test is for juniors and seniors only. It will begin at 8:00 am and run until 11:00 am.

Transportation will not be provided. However, please contact eisenmengers@parkhill.k12.mo.us if your student will not have a ride or does not drive and wants to take this test. We will be emailing the sign up form out to students at a later date.

School pictures are available on the photographer’s website. Type LEAD in the search bar. The required access code is your student’s ID (numbers only).

If you have questions, you may contact the LEAD office at 816-359-4130 or email grahamt@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!

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

Attention LEAD parents! Order your child's 2024-2025 LEAD Yearbook NOW for $30. Senior salutes can also be purchased for $50 for 1/2 page, $35 for 1/4 page, and $20 for 1/8 page. Purchase both using the link: https://yearbookforever.com/school-store/jXGW7Ce9nyOR4sxZst4IHPcW. Please reach out to Shannon Le Grand (legrands@parkhill.k12.mo.us) if you have any questions.

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.