MESSAGE FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT
The Fox C-6 School District is centered around a community of belief in the possibilities of our students. We believe in working hard for students and families and that in order to reach our goals, it requires love, service, and care.
The 2016-2017 school year illustrates just how much our community can accomplish when we come together and put the best interests of students first. In taking steps to implement our Comprehensive School Improvement Plan (CSIP), we presented more opportunities for our students than ever before. This would not be possible without the work and dedication of our staff and parents, who work tirelessly to see that the needs of all of our students are met.
This annual report provides a summary of the last year and the opportunities for the year ahead. We know that we must continue to be leaders in providing academic opportunities, support, and innovative experiences that will allow students to be success ready. The work we do now will set our students and our community up for success for many years to come.
The annual report is one of many ways the district communicates information about specific efforts and accomplishments regarding the Comprehensive School Improvement Plan and its motto of "Our Students; Our Community; Our Future." Together, we will work for and with our students in order to create opportunities for an even brighter tomorrow and keep #FoxC6Strong.
Jim Wipke, Ed. D., Superintendent
2016-2017 Administrative Cabinet
Fox C-6 Board of Education
Dawn Mullins (President); Chris Hastings (Vice President); Dan Kroupa (Treasurer); Sherry Poppen, Director (2015-2018); Carole Yount, Director (2016-2019); Scott Stewart, Director (2017-2020); Steve Holloway, Director (2017-2020); Sandy Menchella, Secretary to the Board
About Fox C-6
The Fox C-6 school district is composed of two high schools, four middle schools, eleven elementary schools, and one early childhood center. Supporting these schools are numerous departments and programs designed to encourage student achievement, character, and excellence.
The Fox Focus
Our Children. Our Community. Our Tomorrow.
Fox Focus is a five-year Comprehensive School Improvement Plan (CSIP) that outlines the goals and priorities for the entire District.
The Contents of Fox Focus have been developed by our community of parents, students, staff, and stakeholders. Conversations regarding our beliefs and values shaped the contents of the document.
2016-2017 Initiatives
The Fox C-6 School District covers an area of 75 square miles and utilizes 17 school buildings to educate nearly 11,500 students. As part of the Comprehensive School Improvement Plan, the community has identified the need to examine boundaries as a priority. In Fall 2016, an Attendance Boundary Committee was formed of parent representatives from each of the district's 19 feeder pathways.
Boundary Adjustment Goals:
- Balance Middle School Enrollments
- Balance Elementary School Enrollments
- Consider and Plan for Enrollment growth and/or Enrollment shifts
- Maintain or Improve Efficiency of Student Transportation
- Simplify the Feeder Pathways
Boundaries will be examined every five years in alignment with the CSIP timeline. Adjustments may or may not be made depending on the findings of future boundary committees.
Sixth Grade Transition
In connection with our Comprehensive School Improvement Plan (CSIP), which was developed by you, our community, several key priorities were identified by stakeholders. The following priorities all tie into opportunities that are presented beginning in sixth grade.
- Provide more course offerings to middle and high school students
- Provide more opportunities for students to take advanced and Advanced Placement (AP) courses
- Create distinct feeder school patterns by examining school boundaries
- Ensure students have the same access to opportunities to learn at all schools (including course offerings, intervention, and enrichment opportunities)
- Build equal opportunities for students
- Prepare students for college and career readiness
- Provide continuity of care for students’ emotional and social well-being
Facilities Improvements
In establishing a need to transition sixth grade students to our middle schools, the district made a commitment to ensure that the buildings would be comfortable and capable of accommodating additional students.
This summer, each of the district's four middle schools will undergo minor renovations to provide additional classroom space for students. These projects will be funded as part of the district's 2017-2018 school year budget utilizing funds that are set aside for capital improvements.
In addition, over the past year, several buildings have received much needed updates to their infrastructure, including new pavements or roofs. The Maintenance Department has established a committee that will work to examine the needs of all the district facilities to ensure things are kept up-to-date. Previously, many of these updates were not on a regular cycle, meaning the district has some distance to go in order to make sure all buildings have the updates and infrastructure needed to support teachers and students.
Early Childhood Expansion
With the transition of sixth grade to middle school, we will create space in elementary buildings throughout the district to allow for additional Early Childhood education classrooms. This means more access and more convenience for parents with Early Childhood students. Increasing opportunities for Early Childhood learners leads to many additional educational opportunities for students both in Early Childhood and beyond.
We already have opportunities for students to experience early childhood growth in one of two settings; Building Blocks Preschool or our Half-Day Integrated program.
We expanded both of these offerings this year by adding a Building Blocks classroom at Hodge Elementary and two Integrated classrooms at Hamrick Elementary. Next year we plan to expand early childhood offerings again by adding two more Integrated rooms and two Head Start classrooms.
Curriculum Updates
The Fox C-6 Curriculum and Professional Learning Department supports teachers in continuous improvement of their knowledge and skills in all academic areas. Our goal is to provide a rigorous curriculum supported with Professional Learning to ensure student achievement in both academic and character development.
Curriculum Advisory Committee
The Curriculum Advisory Committee is composed of parents, educators, and community members and meets regularly throughout the school year to discuss and plan curriculum for the Fox C-6 School District.
"Curriculum" refers to the expected goals, outcomes, and timing of instruction to create consistent efforts throughout the district. In alignment with curriculum are materials designed to support teachers and students in meeting the goals of the curriculum.
Over the past year, the Fox C-6 Board of Education has adopted new curriculum for various subjects and grade levels as well as approved the purchase of new materials and pilot programs to assist with instruction.
Grade 6 - 9 Math
4 year scope and sequence with four or five units each year. Each unit focuses on:
- number sense
- problem solving
- communicating reasoning
- in one of the four domains of mathematical reasoning.
To support the 6-9 Grade Math curriculum, the district is purchasing materials such as new student text, Carnegie Online Resource Center access, and MathiaX to provide support to students. Teachers will continue to pilot resources to provide feedback on the best options for students and teachers throughout the district.
K - 5 Literacy
Supporting K-5 Literacy provides benefits throughout a child's educational career. In providing buildings with "leveled libraries" to help students pick books that are appropriate for their reading level and encourage a love of reading, the district is able to better support teachers develop better readers.
A Differentiated Plan for each building grade level team will focus on the following areas:
- Writing Units
- Reading Units
- Small group reading
- Vocabulary Word Study
Middle School Opportunities
Middle School Academic Literacy will allow students to find content-rich nonfiction books to help prepare them for more rigor in their classes in high school and beyond. With a focus on independent reading, students will learn the autonomy necessary to be successful across all of their courses.
Course Description Guides were developed to align with the sixth grade transition to middle school. These guides provide building and district level elective courses that will allow students the opportunity to find subjects they love, increase the rigor of their learning, and have even more opportunities to find success in the classroom.
Additionally, with opportunities for both grade-level and advanced courses in key subject areas, students in middle school will be exposed to more opportunities to take upper-level courses and prepare for AP classes in high school. This will open a world of new possibilities for students and their families.
Updates to Family and Consumer Science (FACS) labs at the middle schools will make it easier for students to learn skills they love. Exposure to these elective courses in middle school will then give students the opportunity to expand their knowledge in high school with other career and technical development classes such as child development, digital media, and business management.
6 - 12 Grade Science
Physical Science will take place in 9th grade, giving students more opportunities to expand into other science classes throughout their academic career.
Starting in the 17-18 school year, classrooms will begin piloting materials to support science education.
6 - 12 Grade Social Studies
U.S. History will become a 9th grade course, once again providing students more opportunities to take higher-level courses as they progress through high school.
Additionally, classrooms will begin piloting materials in order to make the best decisions about how to support student learning in the area of social studies.
High School Schedule
Since the beginning of the Comprehensive School Improvement Plan (CSIP) process, a committee has been working to examine the high school bell schedule. Nearly two years later, the committee has created some recommendations for changes that would take place beginning in the 2018-2019 school year. Changes to the schedule would focus on the following four areas:
- Connection to CSIP - As part of the Student Achievement Goal, the Comprehensive School Improvement Plan, created by Fox C-6 stakeholders, identifies instruction time and schedules as an area to examine and revise to make the most successful environment for students.
- Alignment with Curriculum - As our Curriculum and Instruction Department has worked closely with its Curriculum Advisory Committee to align our courses to provide greater rigor and inquiry, our schedules must reflect the needs of courses. More opportunities in middle school and more rigorous courses throughout high school mean our students need the appropriate structure and time in place in order to be ready for success.
- Professional Learning Communities (PLC) - In order to meet the growing demands of the education profession and the increased rigor of our courses, our teachers need the time to collaborate with one another. This time will allow them to offer individualized learning for their students as they work as a team to design and develop the best approaches for educating students.
- Response to Intervention (RTI) - In order to support every student in our building, it is important to have a structure that provides time for students to be able to get the help they need within the school day. In looking at schedules, one of our primary goals is to include a minimum of 85 minutes every other day to students so they can work on the academic areas where they need the most support. Whether a student is struggling in a subject area and needs some extra time with an instructor or whether they are an athlete who needs time during the week to work on homework, this time built into the schedule will help any student find success.
Parent Involvement = Student Success
In its inaugural year, the Fox C-6 Parent Summit welcomed over 600 parents to the Fox campus to discuss important issues in education. With nearly 50 breakout sessions, parents had the opportunity to choose which sessions they wanted to attend to learn more about the district and trends in education.
It is clear that increased parent involvement leads to greater student success and we hope this new tradition will be another opportunity for our parents to learn, engage, and collaborate with their peers as well as educators. As a district, our goal is to ensure all students graduate as experts in something they love to do, and our parents play a pivotal role in ensuring that reality comes true for all students.
Outstanding Educators
With dedicated teachers in every building, the Teacher of the Year nomination process is designed to highlight those who have gone above and beyond to provide extraordinary service and support to students.
Outstanding Community
This year, the district has initiated a new tradition to recognize any staff member, parent, student, or community member for demonstration of love, service, and care to Fox C-6 students and the community at large. The MASTERPIECE AWARD recognized nine individuals for their dedication, passion, and selfless service to our students.
Outstanding Students
Each year, the district recognizes students who have achieved distinction in academics, athletics, extracurricular activities, or excellence in service to the community. With students consistently going above and beyond and receiving state and national attention for their efforts, it is impossible to list all of them here. Visit us online at www.fox.k12.mo.us to stay up to date on our students' latest achievements.
Budget and Finance
The Fox C-6 School District annual budget funds the instructional and co-curricular programs for students, transportation to and from schools, the maintenance of school buildings and grounds, and the nutrition program. In addition, the budget is utilized for special education programs, English Language Learner programs and other support programs. It is used to pay teachers and support staff, provide employee health and retirement benefits and support additional training and professional development. You can keep track of the budget and any updates by visiting Board Docs.
All budget decisions in the organization are focused on making certain students have the means needed to succeed. The district is committed to ensuring that taxpayer dollars are well-cared for and will continue to be vigilant in providing accountability and transparency when it comes to school district funding.
