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March 17, 2020

Dear USD #416 Parents/Guardians:

Due to an emergency declaration issued by Kansas Governor Laura Kelly, all Kansas Schools, including USD #416 Schools, will be physically closed for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year.  All school activities will also be canceled through the end of the school year.  All Louisburg Recreation Commission activities and community groups that use school facilities will also be canceled for the remainder of the school year.  

As we all know, the COVID-19, or Coronavirus, continues to place many new uncertainties into our daily lives.  These are unprecedented times that our country and community are facing.  Things seem to change, minute by minute, regarding the pandemic.  The new social distancing and quarantine rules make it impossible for schools to remain open in the same format as we have known them to operate.  

I know there will be many questions about how this impacts your student and family.  Next week, we will work with our teaching staff to develop a learning platform for the remainder of the year.  We will communicate what this platform will look like by the end of next week.  There will not be any learning expectations for the week of March 23rd to allow our staff to develop a learning plan for the weeks following.  You will be provided communication by each building principal on what the learning expectations will be moving forward.  They will also communicate with you on when your child can come up to the school and collect personal materials and school resources. 

We ask that you begin to make long-term childcare plans for your children as we will not be holding classes in our schools the rest of this school year.  

The district will be providing meals to any child, ages 1-18, on a daily basis, beginning on Tuesday, March 24th.  We will provide each child a sack for lunch and breakfast the following day.  The sack lunch may be picked up on the west side of Broadmoor Elementary School from 11:00 am until noon.  Children will need to be physically present in order for the district to provide a sack lunch.  We would encourage folks to stay in their cars and loop around BES to the west side.  We will have staff outside to provide the lunches to each family.  

Once again, these are unprecedented times in our country.  It will not be easy to navigate, especially with many uncertainties.  I am confident, just like past difficulties we have experienced, our community will bond together to help in a difficult time of need.  

Sincerely,

Dear Parents and the Louisburg Community,

We know that Kansas schools and districts are beginning to receive questions from parents and the media about the possible spread of COVID-19, more commonly referred to as the Coronavirus, in the United States.  

To assist school districts, the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) has collaborated with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) on the creation of some guidance for Kansas school districts and child care facilities.

Please be advised that in the United States the current risk of COVID-19 for the general public is low. It is critical to remain calm and to be vigilant in addressing any misinformation being spread. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website (cdc.gov) and the KDHE website (kdheks.gov) will provide credible and up-to-date guidance as it becomes available.  

COVID-19 requires we take the same precautions as with influenza (flu). Hygiene is key with any form of illness.  The key items to remind your children to do include:

1) Wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.  If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

2) Avoid touching the eyes, nose and mouth.

3) Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

4) Stay home if you are sick.

5) Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw away the tissue in a trash can.

As a school district, we take the safety and well-being of our staff and students very seriously.  We will continue to work on cleaning and disinfecting our classrooms, restrooms and other parts of the school on a regular basis.  We will also closely monitor the progression of the Coronavirus. Please review district illness guidelines for exclusion on the School Health tab at www.usd416.org  The district will be having ongoing conversations to develop plans if additional safety measures are needed.  

As always, the district appreciates parent support as we strive to keep each staff member and student safe in our buildings on a daily basis.

Dear USD #416 Wildcat Family,

As went enter the Month of March, I know all staff and students have their eye on the upcoming Spring Break!  As a reminder, Spring Break is March 16^th-20^th.  We also do not have school on Friday, March 13^th, as well as on Monday, March 23^rd.  The 4^th Quarter will begin on Tuesday, March 24^th.  Whether your family is traveling, or staying home over the break, I wish each student and family a restful Spring Break!  It takes all the energy our staff and students have to get us through the upcoming 4^th Quarter!

I wanted to call your attention to one of the newer articles on our website we recently posted.  As you may know, there are nine schools in the High School Frontier League.  We reviewed high school academic data from last year’s state assessments and ACT scores.  When comparing our assessment scores with the other eight schools in our league, Louisburg High School is ranked #1!  This is an impressive accomplishment and one that our community, staff and students should be proud of and celebrate!  We always know we have room for academic growth, but seeing these great results makes us proud of the work we are doing with our students!

As another reminder, we have information regarding the upcoming bond on our website.  When you go to www.usd416.org, please click on the “Bond 2020” tab.  On this site, you will find information regarding voter registration and bond information. 

I wanted to send one final Thank You out to the community for all the support that was provided with the loss of Mrs. Suzanne Reedy.  It was a difficult process to navigate, but the community’s support made this tough situation a little easier.  We know the healing process will take a long time for some staff and students.  She will be greatly missed, but we will continue to do what Suzanne did best…..educate each Wildcat to the best of our ability.  When times get tough, we know our Louisburg Community will support us through the most difficult times.  We appreciate your support.

Go Wildcats!!

The Kansas State Department of Education recently released their annual K.S.A. 72-5178 Accountability Report for the 2018-2019 school year for every school district across the state. Each longitudinal achievement report provides the achievement rates on the state assessments for English language arts (ELA), math and science for all students. When compared to the nine school districts that makeup the Frontier League, Louisburg ranked #1 on the state ELA assessment, #1 on the state math assessment and  #3 on the state science assessment. In addition, the ACT average score for the class of 2019 was a 22.5. This score ranked #2 in the Frontier League and was .9 points higher than the state average. When combining all four of these data points the Wildcats ranked #1 in the Frontier League.

Congratulations to all of our students and staff that challenge themselves everyday to reach their highest potential.

On November 23rd the Louisburg High School Cheerleaders participated in the 2019 KSHSAA Game Day Spirit Showcase. The Wildcats competed against 16 other Class 4A programs beginning with a fight song routine, followed by crowd leading and then the band chant. Their overall score in the preliminaries propelled them to the finals where they performed their all-cheer routine and a situational sideline routine with a chance to bring home the first ever LHS girls state title. When the results were tabulated, Louisburg High School was named the 2019 Class 4A State Champions. Congratulations ladies and Coach Jayna Guerra!

Recently, ACT released ACT scores for school districts and the State of Kansas.  The 2019 graduating class of LHS had an overall composite average of 22.9.  This was an increase from 22.5 the previous year.  The State of Kansas saw the state composite score decrease from 21.6 to 21.2.  This means that Louisburg went from being 0.9 higher than the state average to 1.7 points higher!  The high school saw gains in all areas.  Below, you can see the improvements.

English

District:  2018 - 22.3   2019 - 22.9   increase of 0.6

State:     2018 - 21.0   2019 - 20.5  decrease of 0.5

Math

District:  2018 - 21.0   2019 - 21.5  increase of 0.5

State:     2018 - 21.1   2019 - 20.7  decrease of 0.4

Reading

District:  2018 - 23.7   2019 - 24.0  increase of 0.3

State:     2018 - 22.3   2019 - 21.8  decrease of 0.5

Science

District:  2018 - 22.5   2019 - 22.9  increase of 0.4

State:     2018 - 21.6   2019 - 21.2  decrease of 0.4

We are proud of these increased scores and appreciate the hard work and dedication of our students and staff for making this improvement.  We know the work is not finished, but it is nice to see solid improvement in the ACT scores!

 Each semester, Emporia State University sends school district progress reports on graduates attending ESU.  This year, our former graduates continue to do well in their studies at ESU. 

For the 2019 Spring Semester, the average Louisburg High School graduate earned a 3.51 GPA for the Spring Semester.  This is compared to a 3.10 GPA for all other ESU Undergraduates.  We appreciate hearing about our former Wildcats and the great job they are doing to further their education and life careers!