Dear USD #416 Wildcat Family,
I hope each student and family had an enjoyable Winter Break! It is always nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of everything for a few weeks. Before we know it, we will be at Spring Break and the end of the school year! I hope that all of our students are ready to go for the 2nd semester. School will begin on January 6, 2020. I know school and outside activities will pick up quickly and the fast-paced life we all live will resume! As a reminder, school will not be in session on Monday, January 20, 2020, in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. We will have to continue to watch the weather throughout the winter months. I was hoping we could make it to Winter Break without a snow day. We almost made it, but Mother Nature wanted to reward the kids with a couple of snow days before the break! As always, we strive to make the best decision regarding school and student safety. No two storms are alike! Once we make a decision, we work to get the information out as soon as possible so you have as much notice for a cancellation as possible.
At the December 2019 Board of Education meeting, the board approved the 2020-2021 calendar, as well as made a slight adjustment to the current 2019-2020 school calendar. For the current school year, a full professional development day for staff was added the Monday after Spring Break, March 23rd. Students will not attend school on March 23, 2020. 4th quarter will resume on Tuesday, March 24th. Both of these calendars can be found on our webpage. Please click on the calendar link to access both approved calendars.
As we enter the year 2020, I encourage all students to think of a New Year’s Resolution for the upcoming year. When we think of 2020, we usually think of ‘perfect vision’. The student’s resolution for 2020 doesn’t have to be perfect, but it should be an area that they want to improve upon for the upcoming academic year. As a school district, we are always striving to help each student meet goals along their journey in our district. Your support is always critical in the success of this mission.
Go Wildcats!!
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!
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Phone: (913) 837-1700 Fax: (913) 837-1701 usd416@usd416.org
Inclement Weather Procedures:
As we all know, winter weather in Kansas is never predictable! It is inevitable that we will be having some winter weather in the next few months. Please know that the school district staff take the responsibility for determining the closing of school very seriously. Student safety is our number one priority. The roads are driven very early in the morning to determine if they are safe for school bus and personal vehicle travel.
When weather threatens the safe operation of our buses, and the roads are not safe for students and staff, school may need to be canceled for the day. As soon as this decision is made, we will make efforts to notify parents, students, and staff.
When school is canceled, the district will communicate with families and employees in the following manner:
We understand the burden of not having school can place on a family as they must find appropriate daycare opportunities. We do not take canceling school lightly, but safety has to be our number one priority. We will try and give parents as much notice as possible if school will be canceled. Sometimes, Mother Nature does not cooperate and a decision has to be made with not much notice. Parents are the final decision-makers when it comes to sending their student to school on inclement weather days.
As a district and community, we want to keep everyone safe. We appreciate your support in helping us fulfill our number one priority in keeping our students and staff safe during inclement weather.
The 92nd National FFA Convention & Expo took place in Indianapolis, Oct. 30th - Nov. 2nd. Mr. Jim Morgan, FFA Advisor at LHS, and his students attended the convention. The Food Science team was made up of Shelby Grandon, Weston Guetterman, Konnor Vohs and El Willming. Grandon was the only Gold division (top 30%) Louisburg FFA member. Morgan said that Louisburg's goal going into the weekend event was a top ten finish.
Louisburg participated next in the team activity called Product Development. The students were given a scenario and are to develop a food product based off the scenario and food item list, come up with a promotional campaign, develop the food ingredients and nutrition facts label, have a plan on how a food processing plant would make their selected food item and then present this to a team of Food scientist judges. The Louisburg team scored a 364 out of 400 points on this activity and received the 2nd highest score. Their score landed them 8th place overall in the Gold division.
LHS Graduates Hallie Hutsell and Faith Seuferling were two members of the state winning Nursery and Landscape team that chose to go to Nationals. Emma Roy and Cass Brown current LHS students were willing to join Hutsell and Seuferling to round out the team. All four girls place in the Gold division. The Nursery competition is very competitive. North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, Missouri, California, Minnesota and others take this very serious and have ag programs who have a strong Nursery curriculum. The team placed 7th in this year's event. Hutsell won a $400 scholarship for placing 12th overall.
United Soccer Coaches announced the winners of the inaugural Team Pinnacle Awards on Thursday October 24, 2019. Thirty-four high school teams were the recipients of the award for the 2018-2019 academic year for achieving a high level of fair play, educational excellence and success on the pitch. Louisburg Girls Soccer team was among the winners.
You can view the full article at: https://unitedsoccercoaches.org/fifty-two-institutions-earn-designation-as-inaugural-team-pinnacle-award-winners/
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!
Megan Holloway, 3rd Grade Teacher at Broadmoor Elementary, was selected as the 2019-2020 Elementary Teacher of the Year! Mrs. Holloway started her teaching career in the Olathe School District followed by a 9 year break while staying at home with her kids. She returned to teaching with the Louisburg School District and has been here for 6 years. Mrs. Holloway was nominated by her teaching peers because she continues to make a difference in the lives of her students.
Rachael Terry, 6th Grade Math Teacher, was selected as the 2019-2020 Secondary Teacher of the Year! Mrs. Terry has been teaching in the Louisburg School District for 17 years. Terry's entire K-12 education as a student was also in the Louisburg School District. Mrs. Terry was nominated by her teaching peers because she goes above and beyond to reach and help her students. Terry is currently serving on the MTS Committee for LMS.
Mrs. Holloway and Mrs.Terry will now compete against other district teachers of the year in a regional competition to be held next Fall. The district wishes both of these excellent teachers the very best and appreciates their years of service to their profession and kids!
