Parent Resources
ATTENDANCE - CRITICAL TO STUDENT SUCCESS
School attendance is a critical piece in ensuring that students are successful in school. Students are more likely to succeed in academics when they attend school consistently. It's difficult for the teacher and the class to build their skills and progress if a large number of students are frequently absent. When parents make school attendance a priority, you help your child get better grades, develop healthy life habits, avoid dangerous behavior and have a better chance of graduating from high school. ... As a parent, you can prepare your child for a lifetime of success by making regular school attendance a priority.
STUDENT ATTENDANCE
If your student is absent from school for any reason, a phone call, note from a parent or guardian, or an email from a parent or guardian is required for the absence to be excused. If your student needs to leave school early and will be driving themselves, or be picked up by someone other than a parent or guardian, a primary contact person will need to call the school IN ADVANCE for the student to leave early with that person.
CONCERNING ATTENDANCE/ABSENCES
Concerning attendance and early dismissal: If your student is absent from school for any reason, a phone call, note from a parent or guardian, or an email from a parent or guardian is required for the absence to be an excused absence. If your student needs to leave school early and will be driving themselves OR be picked up by someone other than a parent or guardian, you will need to call the school in advance for the student to leave early with that person. All students need to sign out at the appropriate office (high school or elementary) before they leave.
If you have any questions, please call either the high school office at 620-892-5215 X2 or the elementary office at 620-892-5215x1.
ACCESS YOUR STUDENT'S POWERSCHOOL
To sign up for Powerschool Parent, please call Joy in the school office 620-892-5215 x 2. Powerschool Parent and Powerschool Student are a web tool designed for parents and students to access student information online. Information included is : Attendance, Behavior, Calendar, Fees, Grade Card, Immunizations, Personal, Progress Reports, Schedule, Transcript, and Community Service.
TO CONTACT A STAFF MEMBER
Parents may email a staff member by clicking on the link underneath the staff member's name in the staff directory on the school webpage. Parents may also call the school office during the teacher's planning period to be transferred to the teacher. For grades PreK - 12, please call 892-5215 x 2.
COLLEGE AND CAREER READY STANDARDS - WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR MY CHILD?
Kansas College and Career Ready Standards (KCCRS) are the adopted Common Core State Standards. They are the kindergarten through 12th grade expectations which define what students should understand and be able to do in mathematics and English language arts.
These rigorous standards were adopted by the Kansas Board of Education in 2010 with enhancements to align important Common Core standards with the State’s.
The Common Core standards are not instructional materials or curriculum. The standards are a “common” set of benchmarks that ensure all Kansans and all Americans gain and achieve the same skills and knowledge necessary for success in career and college while teachers determine the strategies, techniques and material to reach those standards.
The development of the Common Core standards began with the States with leaders, parents, school administrators and teachers coming together. These standards are not a national curriculum or the product of the federal government. Kansans contributed extensively to the development of Common Core in the development and review process of the standards. In particular, Kansans contributed to the reading and math standards.
Parent Resources
Here’s Why Math is Taught Differently Now - We Teach Math Differently Now
Parents' Guides to Student Success (National Parent Teacher’s Association) - Student Success
10 WAYS TO PREPARE TEENS FOR COLLEGE AND THE WORKFORCE
FAFSA INFORMATION FOR PARENTS AND STUDENTS
If your child is a senior and is planning on attending any kind of postsecondary education after high school, a FAFSA application is in your future. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid is used by most colleges, universities, and technical schools to determine scholarships and grants to students. The deadline for submitting a FAFSA application is February 1, and the application window opens on October 1. Each year our school hosts a FAFSA information/ application completion night in the fall to assist parents and students with the FAFSA application process. Parents will need to bring their income tax papers from the previous year as information from the tax return is required when filling out the application. For more information about FAFSA, look on the For Seniors Only page under the Schools tab on the website.
KANSAS SCHOOL SAFETY HOTLINE
The Kansas School Safety Hotline (1-877-626-8203) became operative August 1, 1999, for use by students, parents, and community members in anonymously reporting any impending school violence. This hotline is a toll free number available 24 hours per day, 365 days per year to give students, parents, and community members the opportunity to report any impending school violence. As you may be aware, students usually have knowledge of potential school violence before it occurs. This hotline gives parents and students the opportunity to anonymously report any potential violence. If you suspect that a violent event may occur at our school, please call the number above to report it. Your call will be anonymous and may save lives.
SCHOOLWIDE TITLE I - WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
South Haven Schools were designated a Title 1 schoolwide program this year. A Title I School wide program is a method of delivering Title I services by allowing the school to address the educational needs of children with comprehensive strategies for improving the entire school. Every student is then able to achieve high levels of academic proficiency.
Schoolwide programs have great latitude to determine how to organize their operations and allocate the multiple funding sources available to them. They do not have to identify particular children as eligible for services or track federal dollars separately. Instead, schoolwide programs can use all allocated funds to increase the amount and quality of learning time. They can embrace a high-quality curriculum, according to a comprehensive plan that ensures all children meet the state's challenging academic standards. Schoolwide programs serve all children in a school. All staff, resources, and classes are part of the overall schoolwide program. The purpose is to generate high levels of academic achievement in core subject areas for all students, especially those students most in need. This purpose is achieved through:
- High quality instruction
- Comprehensive reform strategies and methods that are based on the use of scientifically based research
- Strategies and methods to improve teacher quality and professional development
- Consolidated use of funds.
Who are Title I students?
They are students who will succeed when given some extra instruction. Their classroom teachers identify the students as needing additional help in reading and/or math based on their test scores and performance. Those who show the greatest educational need, and who are not receiving Special Education services, are served first.
How are parents involved?
Parents, teachers, and students sign a contract that spells out the goals and shared responsibilities of the child, school ad parents for student success. You will be asked to sign this at parent teacher conferences. Parents are provided information about Title I via school website or newsletters. Parents can request information on the professional qualification of their student’s classroom teacher, request access to state assessment scores (these were mailed to parents last semester) and to the district/state report cards (a link is provided on district website).
If you have any questions about School wide Title 1 please contact the Superintendent for more information.
LEXILE RESOURCES FOR PARENTS
A Lexile measure is a valuable piece of information about either an individual's reading ability or the difficulty of a text, like a book or magazine article. The Lexile measure is shown as a number with an "L" after it — 880L is 880 Lexile.
A student gets his or her Lexile reader measure from the AIMS web reading assessment, which are taken three times a year. For example, if a student receives an 880L on her reading assessment, she is an 880 Lexile reader. Higher Lexile measures represent a higher level of reading ability.
A book, article or piece of text gets a Lexile text measure when it's analyzed by MetaMetrics. For example, the first "Harry Potter" book measures 880L, so it's called an 880 Lexile book. A Lexile text measure is based on two strong predictors of how difficult a text is to comprehend: word frequency and sentence length. Many other factors affect the relationship between a reader and a book, including its content, the age and interests of the reader, and the design of the actual book. The Lexile text measure is a good starting point in the book-selection process, with these other factors then being considered. Lexile text measures are rounded to the nearest 10L. Text measures at or below 0L are reported as BR for Beginning Reader.
The idea behind The Lexile Framework for Reading is simple: if we know how well a student can read and how hard a specific book is to comprehend, we can predict how well that student will likely understand the book.
When you receive a Lexile measure, try not to focus on the exact number. Instead, consider a reading range around the number. A person's Lexile range, or reading comprehension "sweet spot," is from 100L below to 50L above his or her reported Lexile measure. Use this Lexile range to search for books. And don't be afraid to look at books above and below someone's Lexile range. Just know that a reader might find these books particularly challenging or simple.
Book shops and libraries use Lexile levels, using this weblink you can search for books at your students Lexile level and even target books in genres they are interested in!
KINDERGARTEN IN KANSAS
Want to know more about kindergarten and what you can do to help your child be ready for the kindergarten experience? Click HERE for a booklet explaining the kindergarten year, and what you child will be learning. Want to know more? Call the USD 509 district office for more information.
CAREER AND COLLEGE READY RESOURCES
DEALING WITH ATTENDANCE ISSUES
TAKING COLLEGE COURSES IN HIGH SCHOOL - THE WHAT, HOW, AND WHY
Interested in having your child take college courses in high school and earning both college and high school credit? How about your child taking some college courses where tuition is paid and transportation is provided to the college? Get the information your need about courses offered through South Haven in the brochure below.
QUICK LINKS
UPDATE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
Parents--Please make sure you have an updated, active email address on file in the high school office. This will ensure that you receive correspondence with staff members. Thank you!
KSDE PARENT GUIDES TO MATHEMATICS AND OTHER RESOURCES
The Parent Resouce Guides were created for Kansas parents by Kansas educators to help provide a clearer understanding of what your child will learn in a specific grade. Furthermore, these documents provide a few activities parents can do at home with their child to further support their learning of mathematics.