Frankford Elementary

BGR-1 Family. School starts two weeks from Monday, and we are busy getting ready to welcome our Bobcats back to another year of learning.  Our summer school attendance hit record numbers this summer and we are excited to see so many students continuing their learning over the break.  We are having great movement on all of our summer construction projects in our district, all while our custodians and facility staff are working very hard to prepare our buildings for students to arrive on August 22nd and teachers to return on the 15th.   Workers are finishing the floors in all of the HS and MS gym entrance bathrooms this week, and will set appliances and partitions next week.  New BGHS bleachers were installed with improved safety and functionality and MS and HS gym floors have been sealed and ready to go for another year.  BGE HVAC work is complete replacing 25 year old units, and new roofing at the elementary and middle school is finished.  The BGHS auditorium and entry roofs are complete, and workers are continuing progress on the BGHS North and South wing roofing over the next few weeks. Staff are working on our alarm system and the installation of the new speakers to augment our coverage zones on the BG campus and the Frankford FEMA shelter is coming along with plumbing all roughed in and walls starting to be constructed.  The additional road at Frankford is complete, and we plan to pave that road in the coming year. (As a reminder, we are shooting for a winter break completion timeline on this new facility and will house art and music classes and is large enough to hold the entire student body in case of emergency.)  The BGHS road should be ready for paving next week and the area in front of the field house before our first football game.  The field house roof and the staff daycare roof and fencing are complete and the drain/concrete repair in the BGHS courtyard done.  The benefits for this road are that it improves traffic flow and improves safety by directing traffic away from where students are walking on the sidewalk as student drivers arrive and dismiss, fixing the erosion on the back on the baseball/softball stadiums and correcting storm drainage issues, all while responding to overwhelming feedback on our surveys and focus group meetings from 2017 asking us to create a better, more accessible entrance to the high school, and helps to facilitate a possible future phase of an early childhood center and storm shelter with road access to where it would be placed.  This idea along with the creation of an expanded MS/HS library and storm shelter and finalizing our roof needs at Frankford and the BGHS gym and kitchen and playground upgrades at BGE and Frankford are all items our board is considering in coming phases and will be looking for more input related to these ideas. Our board is working hard to continue to take care of our facilities and provide safe and secure learning environments all while creating opportunities for our students to meet their potential.  They will continue this work at the August 9 work session planning for our future and additional stakeholder feedback opportunities.  In the past four years, we have maintained a balanced budget each year, improved student performance, added additional programs for our students and lowered teacher attrition.  In the last three years alone, teacher attrition has gone from 11% to 8% to 3.5% and is far below state and national averages of 8% and 11% all while maintaining five days a week and consistent learning environments for our students and families.  Our state highway patrol bus inspections assessment rates have gone from 56.5% in 2016 to 65.2% in 2018 to 72% in 2020 to 84% in 2022 as we have been working to gradually modernize our fleet.  (We have four more new buses that have been on order for half of a year and are due to arrive this Fall.)  Our preschool and staff daycare have doubled in size in recent years, and 100% of our seniors that started last school year graduated on time last May as we have worked to increase our graduation rate over the past few years.  We are very thankful to our Bowling Green family and all of those who work to support our students and look forward to input along the way to more continuous improvement from our community this school year.   It is a GREAT day to be a Bobcat! We look forward to seeing our Bobcats on the 22nd!  See pictures of our construction projects progress here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/ArcG...  Matthew L. Frederickson, PhD Superintendent Bowling Green R-1 School District 700 West Adams Street Bowling Green, MO 63334 Phone: 573-324-5441 Fax: 573-324-2439  http://www.bgschools.k12.mo.us/ Follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/BGSUPT or @BGSUPT For our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/bowlingreenbobcats/

BOWLING GREEN NIGHT AT THE CARDINALS! The choir students from our Bowling Green R-1 District schools will be performing at the Cardinals game the evening of August 26th. Tickets are available for purchase to sit with the BG Family until August 11 for $20. Please make plans to get yours and support our Bobcat Singers! #BGBOBCATPRIDE

Making progress on the new FEMA storm safe building at Frankford Elementary! The students are excited and they enjoy watching the construction process!

Tomorrow is Frankford Elementary's BOGO (Buy One Get One) Book Fair! It will be tomorrow ONLY so be sure to send money tomorrow with your student!

If your child is planning to attend Summer Journey and ride a bus, please enroll prior to Friday, April 22nd. https://forms.gle/KfMJ7f6uHW84TMwD9

Parent Club meeting Wednesday, April 13 @ 5:30 in the Library. Hope to see you there!!

Kindergarten screenings for the 2022-2023 school year will be held May 24th. Please read the flyer for more information about scheduling your soon-to-be-kindergartener for the screening.

Our Spring Title Night is just 2 days away! Come join us for a fun night and go home with a newly adopted stuffed puppy!!

It’s hard to believe we are starting the fourth quarter already! That means Summer School is right around the corner! There will be a couple changes to summer school for Frankford Elementary this year. Due to the construction that will be taking place, FE students will be attending summer school at BGE. Another change this year is the addition of transportation services for all students within the BG R-1 District! Bus routes and times will be determined after the April 13th enrollment deadline. We are also embarking on the Summer Journey program this year. This program is geared toward each grade level for academics and enrichment opportunities for incoming K-5 students.Packets are going home today with more information. You can sign your child up for Summer Journey by using this link: https://forms.gle/KfMJ7f6uHW84TMwD9. A video about the summer program can be viewed by clicking on this link: https://catapultmissouri.com/ We look forward to seeing you at summer school and can’t wait to share this exciting experience with our students!!

BGR-1 Families, At our February 24th Board of Education Meeting, the Board approved our 2022-2023 school calendar. After several months working with our calendar committee, we have developed a calendar that honors many requests and follows expectations by our Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and State Statute. Below is a summary of important dates for your planning purposes.​ First Semester August 1-12 New Teacher In-service Days August 15-19-Inservice Days August 22-First day of student attendance September 5th Labor Day/No School September 12-PD/PLC Day September 23-Full Day/Homecoming PD/PLC Day-October 3 October 21 - End of First Quarter October 27-Parent Teacher conferences/ 1 p.m.-7p.m. (No School) October 28 - No School November 7- PD/PLC Day November 23rd-25th- No School December 22nd-End of Semester December 23rd-January 5th Winter Break Second Semester January 6th-Teacher Record Day January 9th - Beginning of Second Semester January 16th- No School- MLK day February 6th-PD/PLC Day February 20th- No School- Presidents day March 6th-PD/PLC Day March 16th-End of Third Quarter March 17th-20th Spring Break April 7th-10th Spring Holiday April 17th-PD/PLC Day May 19th- Graduation- 7 p.m. May 19th-Half day/Last Day of Students/Teacher Records Afternoon Matt Frederickson, PhD Superintendent

The Bright Futures VIP Dance is still ON for tomorrow, 2pm-4pm at BGHS Auditorium. What a great way for students to spend some time with someone special to them!

Tomorrow is "Twosday" 2-22-22! Join in the fun! Wear a tie, a tutu, a tiara, something tie-dye, or find a friend and dress like twins!

There will be a public School Board meeting Thursday February 24th @6:30 p.m. In the central office building. Follow the link below to view the meeting agenda. https://go.boarddocs.com/mo/bgr1sd/Board.nsf/Public

This is a week for us to show appreciation to our counselors and social worker. Please help us in thanking them for all they do for our students every day, especially through this time of unique needs our students have. We have a tremendous student services team! #bgbobcatpride

As most of you know, construction on the new Tornado Safe Room at Frankford will begin soon. Over Christmas break, they will be doing utility work that involves the playground. We know some children use the playground when school is not in session and are glad they have a safe place to play. However, due to the utility work over break, the playground at Frankford Elementary will be closed to the public. We appreciate your cooperation as we begin this process.

Frankford Elementary held the ground breaking ceremony for the new FEMA Tornado Safe room that will provide additional classroom space and will be available for the community in the event of a tornado or severe storm threat. We were also presented with banners and a plaque for our US News Best Elementary School recognition we received this fall! #bgbobcatpride

Reminder - tomorrow is an All School PJ Day for students and staff!!! Looking forward to a comfy day for everyone!

We will be going to BGHS again Monday, December 13 to practice for the music program. Buses will leave at 8:50 and return to FE about 11:15. If your child will be arriving after 8:50 or if you need to pick your child up before 11:15, call the office to make arrangements. Have a great weekend!

NOTICE OF FILING FOR TWO BOARD OF EDUCATION DIRECTORSHIPS The Bowling Green R-I School District encourages qualified persons interested in running for a position on the School Board to file to be a candidate in the April 5, 2022 election. There are two positions available with three-year terms. Interested persons may file at the superintendent's office located at 700 W. Adams St., Bowling Green, MO 63334. For more information, contact the superintendent's office at 573-324-5441. Filing will begin on December 7, 2021, at 8:00 a.m. Filing will end on December 28, 2021, at 5:00 p.m. and will continue during the district's regular business hours, which are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Candidates may obtain the official candidate filing packet of forms and instructions in advance from the superintendent's office. Except for the first and last day of filing, filing will not occur on days that the school district's central office is closed due to inclement weather or health-related reasons. Filing will also not occur on the following holidays and breaks when the school district is not in session: December 24 and December 27. The names of the qualified candidates will be placed on the ballot in order of filing.

BGR-1 Families, As a follow-up to my communication yesterday, I find that a need for an additional update is needed in light of continued anxiety and rumors. To reiterate, there has been no threat uncovered of any sort or type of shooting and no list with any names on it and no date identified for anything like this to take place. What has been fabricated from a simple “hitting” type of communication between two students has been augmented and changed and passed around creating anxiety. We have gotten permission from the family to share this information (since we typically do not share information related to student discipline). But we need our families to help stop the spread of these rumors and refrain for posting them on social media. This continued focus causes anxiety in our students and staff and disrupts the educational process. People speculating at every little item they notice and turning these into something they are not is not helpful for any of us. Safety has and continues to be one of our district’s top priorities. Over the last five years, we have taken many important steps to help further safeguard our school community and ensure a safe learning environment for our students, staff, and visitors. Some of these improvements have been the addition of card readers and airphone/buzzing in system at school entrances, safety film added to exterior glass, a School Resource Officer, and two new guidance positions (and we are planning to add another counseling position for next year paid for by a grant we recently were awarded). We have also increased the availability of counseling services through partnering agencies. The BGR-1 Schools regularly participates in drill exercises and advanced training to ensure everyone is able to respond swiftly and appropriately if an incident occurs. Table-top simulations with local first responders, reunification plans, unified threat-response plans, and ALICE (Active Shooter Civilian Response) trained expert led training have been a very important part of our prevention plan. While we hope we will never need to deal with the worst imaginable situation, we train in hopes of minimizing or even preventing incidents. One of the common threads of recent national and state safety audit reports for schools points out that “A risk assessment can identify vulnerabilities and enable the development of a strategy to address any security gaps,” and that “effective security plans use a layered approach across all three areas of a school: entry points, the building envelope, and the classroom.” Both reports go on to emphasize the need for school resource officers, additional counseling resources, and training. Many have noticed new entrances we built with Prop S funding and buzzing in capability at every entrance. These entrances are monitored by staff to ensure only those who are supposed to be in the building enter. We have enclosed our courtyards, so students have places to experience them without exposure outside. Additionally, our classroom doors that were still hollow core type doors were replaced with intruder prevention approved solid doors and locking systems. These and other improvements mentioned before, and most importantly, training have been instrumental in our prevention. We do and have shared real threats when we unconsider them to be viable with our community. We do not, however, share every little discipline event where there might be a physical altercation event or suspision of one with our public. After hearing that this had grown into something unrecognizable from its orgin by Tuesday night, we had messages to our community the next morning. This update is another attempt to ask for help in squelching the misinformation. Being vigilant, while very important, is very different from expanding and sharing ideas that are not founded in truth. We teach students to think critically about every claim or counter claim, and we ask for your help to make sure this is an area of focus. Matthew L. Frederickson, PhD Superintendent Bowling Green R-1 School District 700 West Adams Street Bowling Green, MO 63334 Phone: 573-324-5441 Fax: 573-324-2439 http://www.bgschools.k12.mo.us/ Follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/BGSUPT or @BGSUPT For our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/bowlingreenbobcats/