Spoofhounds are back at it

Becky Albrecht

And just like that . . . We’re back, and another new year is beginning for the Maryville Spoofhounds.

I once read somewhere that the two most anticipated days of the school year are the first day and the last day.

That seems pretty accurate.

I, like most teachers, look forward to the first day of school because it is a fresh start. It is a time we take what we learned during the past year and use it to make changes for improvement this year.

This year, Maryville R-II did not experience as much staff turnover as it did last year. We have 19 new staff members joining our team, which is less than 10%, and only one is an administrator.

Some returning employees are moving to new positions, but overall staff isn’t changing much which should offer some consistency in programming and instruction.

The most noticeable changes for the new year are in facilities.

Last August we had just started extensive construction work at both the high school and elementary.

A year later, the elementary is finished and the space is usable; the high school performing arts center is in its final stages.

While the performing arts center work is wrapping up, construction on the FEMA saferoom is accelerating.

In addition to construction, much time has also been spent cleaning, repairing, and improving the existing facilities – thanks to our dedicated skills maintenance and custodial crews.

A high school space was renovated for a weight room which will allow classes to be moved from the multi-purpose building to the main building later this fall so kids will no longer have to go outside in rain or snow to get to class.

Many rooms were repainted and quite a bit of carpet was replaced.

Two new programs I am excited about for the upcoming year are our wellness initiative and myON Reader.

The wellness initiative is for staff and is the work of a committee under the direction of nurse Melissa Coffelt.

A plan is in place to encourage staff to participate in monthly social activities that also promote fitness and healthy lifestyles. The kickoff activity for August was a district-wide back-to-school picnic and sand volleyball tournament.

It was a fun night spent with family and friends that also got us moving.

myON Reader is a digital library being used for the GO program, but also available for all elementary and middle school staff and students.

On its simplest level, it is a library that kids can access though the internet on electronic devices such as smartphones, computers, and iPads.

They have an individualized log-in and can use the library anywhere – not just at school. On its deepest level, it is a researched-based literacy tool that measures lexile scores and promotes growth in such scores. It can be used for instruction and projects, especially interdisciplinary studies, and provides teachers with many literacy tools.

It has been a very busy summer – building, learning, and planning.

It is now time to put all of it to use to make this year the best year yet at Maryville R-II.

We will all strive to do this and use our newly developed Comprehensive School Improvement Plan as a guide.

This five-year plan was developed with a lot of patron and staff input, and it will help us not just chart a great upcoming year but also a great future.