District Newsletter

The Pride exists to update, celebrate, and inform, the community concerning weekly events at Willard R-II

Willard R-II Central Office

Two years ago our district earned the status level of "Distinction" in the State of Missouri. This is given to districts that perform at high levels on academic testing, graduation rate, high level course offerings, as well as other criteria. It was announced last week that Willard has achieved Distinction status for the second year in a row. Immediately I try to evaluate and ask the question what helped us to improve to this level? At the start of the year I asked the same question to teachers and compared the possibilities to water. Water at 211 degrees is simply hot water, however, when one more degree of heat is added to that water something very dramatic occurs!!! Needless to say water turns to steam at 212 degrees. When this reaction occurs incredible amounts of energy are released. This energy is used to run power plants, engines, etc... The level of "Distinction" has been available to districts in Missouri for several years. Prior to two years ago we must have been approaching this level but just not quite breaking the bar. Our efforts over the past two years have added that one more degree to produce steam. It would be very difficult to pinpoint the exact effort that helped us to achieve this status. Our district maintains many improvement efforts on a continuous basis. Our leadership teams will be having this discussion work to continue and improve upon this level of performance. I would encourage all teachers, to keep working to find that one more degreeon an individual level. None of us realize when just a bit more attention to a student will turn on a light for learning. It may only require one more word of encouragement to help a young person to try again. When we add it all together, the sum of the effort is greater than the individuals combined and the result is exponential. I know this might not be mathematically sound but it is true.

Have a great week!

Kent

Dr. Kent E. Medlin Superintendent of Schools

Director of Operations

The new year is upon us and the Tigers continue their tradition of representing our community in outstanding ways!

A big congratulations to the wrestling Tigers on their 2nd place finish out of 22 schools in the Springfield Holiday Classic over break! The Tigers are undefeated in COC action after beating Nixa and Ozark and will wrestle at Republic on Tuesday. Also, welcome back to Coach Fletchall as he has resumed his coaching duties. His love for his kids showed while he was away and it's good to have him back!

The Tigerettes had a chance to shine as they represented our school in the Cotton Bowl parade and the halftime show of the game itself. From all reports, the girls worked very hard and had a great time. Congratulations to Lori Schultz and the whole Tigerette program on this great accomplishment!

The Tigers and Lady Tigers had mixed results in the Blue and Gold and Pink and White over the holidays. Both teams picked up one win in the tournaments and will look to rebound this week. The Lady Tigers will host Reeds Spring tonight with jv starting at 6:00. They will then travel to Lebanon on Thursday with the jv game starting at 6:00. The Tigers also host Reeds Spring on Tuesday in a 3-game night with the freshmen starting at 5:00. The boys will then host Branson on Friday with, once again, the freshmen getting it started at 5:00.

It's good to be a Tiger!

Jeff Staley, Director of Operations

Director of Curriculum

Willard R-II has earned the state's prestigious Distinction in Performance award for academic progress and achievement during the last school year (2006-07). A total of 294 school districts qualified for the annual recognition, which is determined by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Of this years recipients, 247 are K-12 districts; 47 are K-8 districts.

The Distinction in Performance award is based on the 14 academic performance standards that are now used in the accreditation of all public school districts. The standards are based on scores from the state-mandated MAP tests, graduation rate, attendance, ACT scores, and other indicators.

To qualify for the award this year, K-12 districts had to meet 13 out of 14 standards, including all of the MAP-based measures. Willard R-II met all 14 of the 14 standards.

Under the states accreditation process, known as the Missouri School Improvement Program (MSIP), each school district is evaluated at least once every five years. The Distinction in Performance award is based on the same criteria used in the accreditation process, but it provides an annual confirmation and recognition of a district's consistent performance.

Susan Marcum, Director of Curriculum

Director of Special Services

Willard Special Services would like to welcome substitute teacher, Jeff Jones, to our High School Staff. Jeff will be working in our MR Life Skills classroom due to the recent resignation of Laurie Stonebarger, who is moving out of state. Jeff has worked as a sub throughout the district and is already familiar with the students in the Life Skills room. He will remain in this position as we continue our search for Mrs. Stonebarger's replacement. We appreciate the efforts and dedication he has already demonstrated as we strive to make a smooth transition for our students with special needs.

Sandy Gold, Director of Special Services

Willard High School

Teamwork:

I wanted to take a minute and share a success for students, teachers, and staff at the high school. We wanted to formulate a finals schedule for the 1st semester that would allow students ample testing time, provide teachers with feedback of student learning, and maintain high attendance. We focused on past successes and attacked previous "snares" and developed a 3 day testing schedule that benefited students and staff. The teaching staff is gathering data from the final exams, our attendance average was 96.0% for the 3 days, and we had several students indicate they were pleased with the 3 day schedule. When parents, students, and school work together & success is inevitable. Stewart Pratt, Principal

Willard Middle School

After a successful first semester, the Middle School is looking forward to the New Year. Some of the activities that will be big part of our schedule during the second semester include: end of basketball season, musical, track, band and choir contest, MAP testing, Growl Nite, and much more. Along with these many activities, Communication Arts and Math departments are working hard on breaking down the curriculum to continually focus on the learning goals that students need to achieve.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Amy Sims, Principal

Willard Intermediate School

The Intermediate School gym has a new look this year . . . thanks to CONCO Quarries, we are excited to unveil a new "ROCK WALL" that will become part of the physical education curriculum for our 5th and 6th grade. We appreciate CONCO's generous donation to help purchase the materials for this project, and we're excited to see the kids reaction to this new equipment in the gym! Happy New Year to all!

Julie Germann, Principal

Willard Central Elementary

I hope everyone had a blessed Christmas and restful holiday break. As our teachers participated in Missouri Reading Initiative (MRI) professional development on Friday, it was easy to see that they were well rested and ready to tackle the 2nd semester of the school year. Here are some upcoming events for New Year:

Jan. 7th 2nd quarter grade cards go home

Jan. 11th 2nd quarter Terrific Tiger Celebration @ 2:45

Jan. 14th PTO Meeting @ 6:00

Jan. 21st No School

Jan. 31st Family Math Night @ 6:00

Willard Central is ready to Reach for the Stars in 2008. May it be a blessed, memorable, and successful year!

Shane Medlin, Principal

Willard East Elementary

Happy New Year!!! As we kick off this New Year we are looking forward to our annual February Fling. Willard East February Fling is a collaboration between the school and our community as a way to showcase all our community has to offer. This year we are scheduled to host our festivities Saturday Feb. 23 from 9:00AM - 12:00PM. If you own a business locally and would like more information please feel free to contact our school office. It takes a while to plan and organize so as soon as you can let us know, the better!!!

Melinda Miller, Principal

Willard North Elementary

It was wonderful to have time off! Today we are going strong and its great to be back in our normal school routine! Willard North now has a rock climbing wall in our gymnasium for our P.E. students! I wish to thank Conco Quarries for making this project possible. I tried it out on Friday and I must say the kids are going to love it! Look for grade cards to come home with your students today. Happy New Year!!

Rhonda Bishop, Principal

Willard South Elementary

It is hard to believe that we are at the half way mark of the 2007-2008 school year. The first semester was over in the blink of an eye. When I think about all of the accomplishments here at Willard South Elementary I am truly amazed. I have seen close to 50 new students enroll in our building since August, the eager and excited kindergarten students and parents on the first day of school and the outstanding test scores of last years third and fourth grade students. We also recognized numerous students at our first quarter Tiger Pride assembly, held a fall benefit chili supper for our fourth grade teacher Mrs. Teel, celebrated World Peace Day, and held our annual garage sale. We also welcomed three new baby girls to our Willard South family this year! Congratulations to Mrs. Julie Vaughan, Mrs. Angela Stevens and Mrs. Sarah Sims. I could go on and on with all of the outstanding experiences I have had the opportunity to be a part of this year! I know that 2008 will be filled with just as much excitement and entertainment as 2007.

UPCOMING EVENTS: January 7th-PTO meeting in the library at 6:00 January 11th-2nd Quarter Tiger Pride Assembly at 2:00

Kara Crighton-Smith, Principal