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 16: Parent Advisory Meeting, 6:00 - 7:00 PM
• September 18: Parent Information Night for Families of 8th Grade Students, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
• September 25 & 26: Parent Teacher Conferences, 5:00 - 8:00
• September 27: NO SCHOOL

Attendance: 816-359-4131

School Phone: 816-359-4130

School Fax: 816-359-4139

Counseling: 816-359-4132

Health Room: 816-359-4134

We have arrived at our new home!

We've moved into Schoology and we're almost completely unpacked. While we still have a few adjustments to make, we're ready enough that I have included instructions for creating a Schoology account below this message, along with a guide for using Schoology. If you don't already have an account, by creating one, you will be able to monitor your child's progress... FINALLY!

Please know, though, that we're still working through a few things and we're troubleshooting as we go. If you notice something shift in your student's grade, even though they haven't submitted any new work, it could just be because we're still dialing in some of the gradebook settings to match--as closely as possible--the settings we were accustomed to in Summit. Just last night, our building LEADership team met with district technology to adjust the gradebook settings. We also discussed the fact that our cognitive skills are not averaging exactly the way they once did in Summit, so we're recalibrating those averages as quickly as we can.

Some tips for looking at your student's progress:

1. Focus on the grade, not the percentage. Because of our modified mastery bands, you will sometimes see something that might not match up compared to what you are used to. For example, a parent of a freshman might see a low percentage paired with a relatively high grade. That's all part of mastery learning. We don't expect 9th graders to have it all figured out yet, so the mastery grade bands reflect that.

2. Focus on missing work, with the exception of PFA's and AFA's. If you see that an AFA or PFA is labeled missing, it just means that the student hasn't taken it yet or hasn't mastered it yet. That's not a reason to be concerned! If you see that another item is labeled as missing, though, it means your student might be off task. Please feel free to email that teacher to check in!

A Note on Conferences:

Conferences are September 25th and 26th. Obviously, grades have been impacted by the process of moving to Schoology. While teachers have been taking grades, now that Schoology is "open for business," they have to complete the time-consuming task of transferring everything into Schoology from Canvas and other sources.

All teachers have been told that they must have at least SOME grades in Schoology by Tuesday, September 24th, but please understand that they might not have everything in by conferences on the 25th, and this is absolutely not their fault.

Mentors will still be able to meet with you about your student and show you what grades are available, but it won't be until the next week that all grades will be entered and new grades will start to go in at normal intervals. Still, because you will be meeting with your student's mentor, you will get their insight on how your student's year has started, and we believe this will still be productive and helpful.

We appreciate your patience and understanding, and we look forward to seeing you next week!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Dr. Early

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!

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: Soph
• 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!

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.

Park Hill High School students and parents have already received an email about this test and the deadline to sign up to take it is today, Friday, September 20th. Check your emails if you are interested in this opportunity. Park Hill South has not sent any communication about the test; however, it will be out soon.

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

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

PHS Homecoming Dance Information:

• Please note that the Homecoming Dance is THIS coming Saturday, September 21st from 8 to 10 pm.
• Students need to use the Go Fan APP to purchase their ticket. They can follow these instructions to purchase a ticket in advance OR use the app to purchase one at the door. The cost is $20 either way.
• The ACCESS CODE is the student’s “S” number!
• As a parent/guardian if you don’t want your credit card information saved on the app, then you can delete it after helping your student purchase their ticket.
• Students MUST have their School ID to enter the Dance
• Guests will purchase their ticket at the dance IF the PHS student completed and turned in a guest form. Guests will be turned away if that form was not turned in.
• The Dance is scheduled to be on the PHS Soccer Field – NO STILETTOS or GUM! In the event of inclement weather, the dance will be moved inside.

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.

Parent Teacher Conferences are the 25th and 26th. Please remember that at LEAD, fall conferences are with mentors only. If you need to speak directly to another teacher, you can always reach out to them at any time.

Please click on the appropriate link below to sign up for a time with your student's mentor.

9th grade https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080A49ACAD2BABF49-51149772-fall

10th grade https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080A49ACAD2BABF49-51149060-fall

11th grade https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080A49ACAD2BABF49-51149711-fall

12th grade https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080A49ACAD2BABF49-51146290-fall

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!

We had our students sign up for clubs they are interested in. Unfortunately, due to low interest, some clubs did not make.

The following clubs are what will be offered this school year. If your student is interested in one of these clubs, have them reach out to the sponsor to see when they will be meeting. Most clubs will meet on our designated dates. However, we may have a few that meet at other times.

Here are the designated dates for our clubs: Sept. 16, Oct. 7, Oct. 21, Nov. 4, Nov. 18, Dec. 9, Jan. 13, Jan. 27, Feb. 24, March 10, April 7, April 21 (ALL MONDAYS THIS YEAR).

Clubs and sponsors for the 2024-2025 school year:

BSU, Ms. Smith

Gaming Club and Chess Club combined, Mr. Motta

HALO, Ms. Pacheco

Creative Writing Club, Ms. Jenkins

Gardening, Ms. Stolle

Dungeons and Dragons, Mr. Miscavish

Coloring and Drawing, Ms. Todd

NFL Club, Mr. Lee

Crepe Club, Mr. Fisk

Broadcast Club, Ms. LeGrand

The A+ Scholarship Program was created as a part of the Outstanding Schools Act of 1993 as an incentive for improving Missouri’s high schools. The primary goal of the A+ Scholarship Program is to ensure that all students who graduate from Missouri high schools are well prepared to pursue advanced education and/or employment.

The A+ Scholarship Program is designed to accomplish that imperative. “The A+ Scholarship Program will mobilize an intensive partnership among high schools, community colleges, students, teachers, parents, labor, businesses, and communities to give these students the motivation, skills, and knowledge to graduate from high school. It will create an innovative and well-designed path from high school to high skill, high wage jobs.”

Students that complete A+ are eligible for 2-years tuition* at any MO vocational/technical school or community college. Many MO 4-year universities offer scholarships based on A+ criteria as well.

LEAD works closely with both home high schools to support students wishing to participate in the A+ program. You can learn more about the A+ program at your home high school: Park Hill High School and Park Hill South High School.

If you have questions about A+, please contact Dr. Hartman (816-359-5875,

hartmanl@parkhill.k12.mo.us).

If any of the following courses are on your student's schedule for the upcoming school year, your student has the opportunity to earn dual credit. Dual Credit courses allow students to earn high school credit and college credit at the same time. We partner with Metropolitan Community College for our dual credit offerings. Students must meet certain requirements to qualify for the college credit and complete the Intent to Enroll form each semester if they wish to receive dual credit. MCC visited classrooms this week to help students enroll and explain dual credit requirements. See below for more information.

What courses this year at LEAD are dual credit?

College Algebra

Comp & Read

AP Psychology

Spanish III and Spanish IV

Child Growth and Development

AP Biology

AP Environmental Science (Tentative)

What are the requirements for dual credit qualification?

This varies by your student's grade level. Sophomores need a cumulative, unweighted GPA of 3.0+ and a qualifying Accuplacer or ACT score. Juniors and Seniors can use their unweighted GPA of 2.5+ to qualify. Other GPA requirements listed in the chart below.

To take the Accuplacer exam, please follow the steps below:

• Students must have an MCC ID to test.
• Go to http://www.mcckc.edu/apply and APPLY in order to get an MCC ID
• Must have a valid photo ID. Testing is offered on a walk in basis on Monday, Thursday, and Friday until 4:30 and Tuesday and Wednesday until 7pm. No appointment is needed. The entire test takes 2-3 hours to complete.
• The MATH section takes about 90 minutes to complete. Please allow the appropriate amount of time for the test.

The testing center is located at:

Learning Resources Building (room 174)

2601 NE Barry Road

Kansas City, MO 64156

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.