School is back in session and the staff at Keokuk Community School District have been working hard getting things ready for the return of our students. Here are a few of the great things that are happening around the district as we begin the new school year.
We are expanding the IJAG (Iowa Jobs for America’s Graduates) program to the middle school. This high quality drop-out prevention and school to work transition program has been at the high school for several years. Keokuk has been selected as one of only a handful of schools in Iowa to expand this program to the middle school. Ann Vandenberg will be running this program at KMS and we are excited to see this come to fruition.
We have adopted a new math curriculum at the high school. This is the roll-up of a program that was adopted by the middle school math department two years ago and is based on real world problem solving strategies. We are also working on developing and providing math interventions for student needing extra help learning math concepts.
We have adopted new English/Language Arts curriculum in grades 6-12. The new curriculum has a strong 21st century technology component which allows teachers to develop reading, writing, speaking and listening skills in our students with a blending of current and classical literature.
There is a change in the previous early release schedule on Wednesdays. Students will now attend all day on Wednesdays, but will have one Monday per month off. This will allow our teachers extended time to look and respond to student data and give them the supports and interventions needed to grow.
Our elementary buildings will be utilizing PikMyKid software for parent pick up. This software connects schools, teachers, and parents through real-time tools to make dismissals safer and more efficient. It also allows parents to change pick-up information through the app, rather than relying on phone calls and paper notes. We are hoping to improve the student pick-up process at the elementary buildings with this tool.
We are very excited to be working with the US Dept of Labor’s Apprenticeship and Training office to develop a high quality apprenticeship program at the HS in conjunction with area employers. This is in the planning stages, but we look forward to rolling it out in the very near future.
And finally, our district will be completing a facilities analysis this year. It will allow us to develop a strategic timeline for completing necessary repairs and projects within the district. We will publish dates for community meetings regarding this project in upcoming months.
Thank you for your continued support of our district! We are blessed to have so many committed students, staff, parents and community members in our district. Here’s to a great school year! Go Chiefs!
Sincerely,
Christine Barnes
Superintendent
Keokuk Community School District
christine.barnes@keokukschools.org
319-524-1402