May 18, 2020

Concordia R-II Community:

The Concordia R-II School District will remain closed through the end of May.  All activities (summer sport camps, workouts, events, etc.) through May 31^st will continue to be canceled/postponed until further notice.  We will make a decision on the month of June in the next few days, with the intention of considering a week or two at a time.  Please continue to check the district website for an updated schedule of canceled/postponed/rescheduled events.

After visiting with our staff and other area officials, we will not be offering a face-to-face summer school program this year.  Instead, we will offer on-line credit recovery courses through Launch for high school students that have failed a course or need the credit to graduate on time.  School officials will contact these students and give them the timeline and process to register.

We will be meeting with city and county officials in the month of June to discuss the process and protocol for opening school in August.  We will do our best to be prepared for any scenario that may come our way concerning reopening.  I would like to thank all of the Concordia R-II Staff and Fowler Bus Service for helping us provide and deliver meals and academic packets to our students.  I would also like to thank Chief Mapes and his fellow officers, city administration, and all of the organizers involved in recognizing our staff and seniors with the community parades.  I believe all involved were very touched and appreciative of the kind gesture. 

As the school year of 2019-20 draws to a close, we wanted to make sure that Kim Roepe, CHS head cook and only district retiree, received recognition for her 22 years of outstanding service.  She will be presented a rocking chair, the traditional retirement gift of the district, and has agreed to attend our back to school dinner in August so that we can give her a more traditional send-off.  Please congratulate her when you get the opportunity, and be sure to wave at her if you drive by her home and see her rocking on her porch.

This has undoubtedly been the most trying year for all of us, but the overwhelming amount of community support has been phenomenal.  Working in a caring community that thrives in helping their neighbor is very rewarding and the precise motivation needed to persevere through any circumstance.  Thank you to all of the countless businesses, churches, organizations, and individuals that have offered/provided help to our school district and our community families.  We are forever grateful.  Have a safe and tremendous summer!

Mr. Cooper, Superintendent of Schools

-------------------------------------------------------------------

April 14, 2020

Concordia R-II Community:

The Concordia R-II School District will remain closed through the end of the scheduled school year (May 14^th) as recently ordered by the Governor of Missouri.  Again, all classes and activities through May 14^th will continue to be canceled/postponed including those scheduled to attend at Lex-La-Ray, Rainbow Center, and Cornerstone.

After confirming with city, county, and state officials, we intend to continue the free grab and go meals and weekly educational resource packets until we are instructed otherwise.  Please keep checking the school website for any changes that may take place to these programs to ensure the safety and well-being of all involved.  Currently, grab and go meals are available daily in front of both buildings (CHS/CES) between 11:00am-1:00pm, and delivery by bus is available for those that need it.  Starting April 20^th, this program will go to M/W/F availability only.  Although this service will only be provided 3 days a week, on Monday’s and Wednesday’s we will provide 2 days of lunch/breakfast at each location or through delivery, so the same amount of food will still be delivered each week. This change will help reduce the number of volunteers needed for this service and limit the necessary contact time for all involved.  The education resource materials will still be available Friday’s at the grab and go locations at the same time, or they are also available through the website.  Delivery of these items are available for those in need as well.

Currently, we are seeking information from seniors and their parents regarding Graduation through a survey.  Once we have determined whether the majority wish to postpone the event to a later date or consider a different format we will release that information.  Once that information is gathered, we will contact the ministerial alliance and see what options are available for their baccalaureate service – postpone to a later date or possibly a video presentation, etc.  Sponsors are currently working on options for Prom and Senior Trip and decisions concerning those activities should be forth coming.  Again, please keep checking the district website for weekly updates on these activities.

Having to close school for the remainder of the year is obviously frustrating and very disappointing, but I am sure everyone realizes the premise behind it and understands the necessity of that decision.  I truly feel for our seniors as they were denied an opportunity to expand on their academic successes this quarter, and were not given an opportunity to participate in the extra-curricular activities this spring that they love and have dedicated many hours of their lives to.  These are just a few of the opportunities they will never get back. 

Seniors, although this ending is far from the conclusion we had planned with you for your K-12 education, please realize that our district staff, board of education, and community will always be here to support you in anyway needed. We will do our best to make this as positive of an experience that we can for you as you approach graduation.  Please don’t hesitate to ask for help with anything, we will always be here for you.  In fact, we will be touring the town on Thursday at 5:30pm this week hoping to see your bright shining faces again.  We wish you the best in life and success in your future endeavors.  Finish Oriole Strong!

 

Sincerely,

 

Brent Cooper
Superintendent of Schools

---------------------

 

March 31, 2020

Concordia R-II Community:

The Concordia R-II School District will remain closed through April 30^th due to the Lafayette County Stay at Home Order that was initiated today.  According to the Lafayette County Officials, “we will remain closed through April 30^th or until it is extended, rescinded, superseded, or amended.”  All classes and activities through April 30th will continue to be canceled/postponed including those scheduled to attend at Lex-La-Ray, Rainbow Center, and Cornerstone.

After confirming with city and county officials, we intend to continue offering the free grab and go meals and weekly educational resource packets until we are instructed otherwise.  Please keep checking the school website for any changes that may take place to these programs to ensure the safety and well-being of all involved.  Currently, grab and go meals are available daily in front of both buildings (CHS/CES) between 11:00am-1:00pm, and delivery by bus is available for those that need it.  The education resource materials are available Friday’s at the grab and go locations at the same time, or they are also available through the website.  Delivery of these items are available for those in need as well.

I hope that you have received a call from a staff member during the last couple of weeks to check in with your family and address any other needs or concerns that you may have.  If you have a student attending our district and you have not received a call, please call their school or central office and let us know – we want to make sure we are reaching out to every student and their families and addressing any needs.  We are working diligently to make this transition during the extended closure as smooth as possible and appreciate your patience and timely responses by phone and survey.  They have been very helpful in making this venture more successful.

At this point, we are still planning to have graduation on May 8^th as originally scheduled, but we are also aware that it may have to be postponed or other formats considered.  Obviously, we are going to do everything we can to recognize our senior graduates in some fashion, but unfortunately we can’t predict what the circumstances will consist of in 5 weeks.  Keep checking the district website weekly for an update concerning Prom, Graduation, and any other activities you may have questions about and don’t hesitate to call or drop us an e-mail in the meantime.

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we tackle these unmitigated circumstances together.  We realize there are many unknowns and unanswerable questions at this time that can be very frustrating for all involved.  As decisions are finalized, we will continue to communicate any changes as quickly as possible.  We will keep the utmost regard for the health of our students, staff, and community while making all decisions.

Sincerely,

 

Brent Cooper
Superintendent of Schools

-----------------------------------------------------

March 19, 2020

Concordia R-II Community:

Per the governor of Missouri’s decree today, we will continue to keep the Concordia R-II School District Closed through April 3^rd.  All classes and activities through April 3^rd will continue to be canceled/postponed including those scheduled to attend at Lex-La-Ray, Rainbow Center, and Cornerstone.  To keep from canceling on vendor’s last minute, we have also decided to postpone Prom as well.  We hope to reschedule it later.

To ensure that our students that depend on the school district for nutritional services are provided for, we are in the process of organizing free grab and go meals that would be available beginning Monday, March 23^rd at CES and CHS (drive through at front entrances, West to East) from the hours of 11am-1pm for all of our students that request it.  This would be in addition to the back snack program already instituted. 

We will be posting a survey on the school website and social media this evening that we would like each student’s family to fill out to express interest in the grab and go meals, location to pick up, and to help us determine what technology is available in each home.  Each family will also have a staff member that will be in contact early next week to make sure they had a chance to fill out the survey and to address any other needs or concerns.  We hope to have the information we need from the surveys by next Wednesday to help us streamline the process.

Now that the extension of the closure is imminent, we will be pushing out academic resources as well.  We anticipate having weekly packets available for pick up Friday, March 27^th during the grab and go meal pickup times.  Obviously, this will be a large undertaking, so please be patient as our staff prepares the meals and materials, and we work out any kinks in the procedures.  We are working diligently to make this transition during the extended closure as smooth as possible.  We will inform you of any changes/alterations through this same method of contact.

The commissioner of education, Margie Vandeven, just informed us this evening that public schools will not have to make up days missed from the COVID-19 virus and that all required state assessments have been canceled for the remainder of the year.  This should help ease the burden on everyone should we be able to return to school this year.  I anticipate continuing to make those decisions on a bi-weekly basis unless government or public health officials tell us differently.

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we tackle these unmitigated circumstances together.  We realize there are many unknowns and unanswerable questions at this time that can be very frustrating for all involved.  As decisions are finalized, we will continue to communicate any changes as quickly as possible.  We will keep the utmost regard for the health of our students, staff, and community while making all decisions.

Sincerely,

 

Brent Cooper
Superintendent of Schools

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

March 15, 2020

Concordia R-II Community:

As a school district, our top priority is doing what is best for our students.  This includes taking any and all measures to ensure the safety of our students and staff.  As our Spring Break comes to a conclusion and with the knowledge that several students and staff have traveled throughout the U.S. the past few days, we believe it is most responsible to take precaution and extend Spring Break for another week.  All classes and activities during the week of March 16-20 for the Concordia R-II school district will be canceled/postponed including those scheduled to attend at Lex-La-Ray, Rainbow Center, and Cornerstone.  

All sports practices, club meetings, field trips, competitions, etc. will be canceled for the entire week and all facilities will be closed.  This will allow added time to gain a better understanding of this unprecedented situation, while ensuring that all of our students, staff, and community members are as safe as possible.  We need to encourage our students and community members to remain in our district as much as possible, any unnecessary trips to outside communities and facilities will negate the purpose of this action.  I know it will be difficult, but please help encourage our students to stay home if at all possible.

We will continue to work with local and state agencies to monitor the situation and make decisions that we feel are best.  While we understand that this decision may be burdensome to many families, please realize that this decision was not taken lightly and without looking through many different options.  Further communication will be provided as it becomes available.

Sincerely,

Brent Cooper
Superintendent
Concordia R-II Schools 

--------------------------------------

March 14, 2020

Our district is currently using the guidance of the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS), Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for our decision making in regards to COVID-19. In the State of Missouri currently, all decisions regarding school closures are being made locally. At this time, Concordia R-II will return to classes on Monday, March 16th, including Lex-La-Ray, Rainbow Center, and Cornerstone as originally scheduled.

 

All non-critical activities are postponed until Friday, March 27th. These include:

● Student Field Trips out of the District

● All extracurricular student contests and competitions (Academic, Fine Arts, and Athletic)

● All out of district professional development for staff

● In district banquets/meetings involving food prepared off campus (athletic banquet on 3/19/20 will be postponed, rescheduled date TBD)

● Perfect attendance award recognition ended March 11th (Please have students stay home if they are ill).

(please note that all decisions are subject to administrative review of the individual district)

 

We urge all families to continue the practice of maintaining habits necessary to stay healthy during any cold/flu season. Steps you can take to prevent the spread of Covid-19, the flu and the common cold are:

● Wash hands often with soap and water for a minimum of 20 seconds

● If soap and water are not available, use hand sanitizer

● Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands

● Avoid contact with people who are sick

● Stay home while you are sick

● Cover your mouth/nose with a tissue or sleeve when coughing or sneezing

● Students should be kept home until they are fever free (100.4 or less) for 24 hours without fever-reducing medication such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen

● Clean and disinfect frequently-touched surfaces, especially when someone is ill

● Not sharing drinks, water bottles, eating utensils, or cell phones with others

 

For more information about the symptoms, treatment, and prevention of COVID-19, go to www.cdc.gov/covid19.

 

Please be assured that we will continue to share updated information with our Concordia family moving forward. We are taking extra measures to ensure that our facilities and buses are being cleaned frequently to try and help prevent the spread of any illness.

 

Thank you for your help in keeping our community healthy.

 

 

What is COVID-19 and what symptoms to look for? Visit Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  

 

COVID-19 fact sheet is available on the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services website 

 

Suggestions on how to discuss COVID-19 with your child, the National Association of School Psychologists has a great resource.

 

Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE): Coronavirus Information