This Friday night at 7:00 pm!This event supports your JH/HS Cheer Club.What to bring: $10 for admission (ages 5 and under are free), come ready to dance, neon clothes are encouraged!
The PTA fundraising packets should be returned no later than Monday, November 11th. If you have not returned your packet yet, you still have a few more days to help us raise money for the Missoula Children's Theater and the many other ways the PTA gives back to our students, school, and community. Your support is greatly appreciated!
Veterans Day CelebrationPlease join Cascade Public Schools for our annual Veterans Day Celebration. There will be an assembly in the north gym on Monday, November 11, at 9:00 AM to honor all who have served in our armed forces. Please use the north entrance to the school and make sure to leave time for cake and coffee immediately following the program. We look forward to this patriotic, heartwarming event and hope to see you there.
November Dear Cascade Families, I would like to start by thanking you all for welcoming me into the community. Your children are creative, talented, smart, funny, kind, and a joy to work with every day. I’m grateful every day I get to come to work. We have seen amazing data results in attendance and academics. The four-day week for students is addressing areas of concern. The ICU system is helping us ensure students don’t “fall through the cracks.” This system is designed to help students develop healthy habits such as asking for help when you need it, get work done on time so it doesn’t cut into your personal time, and just because work is not completed on time doesn’t make it disappear. This system of learning and accountability mimics the real world. Anyone late on your taxes? The IRS doesn’t just forget about it, you get extra time and owe extra money! Teachers have been working so hard on PIR Fridays. We’ve been analyzing student data, discussing student supports, and examining what the state requires students to learn. I’m honored to work with such phenomenal, caring, and hard-working adults. I would also like to thank the community for all the school supplies donated. It’s amazing how a box of fresh crayons can brighten your day. The supplies went to help many children in the school start their year positively. Our Veteran’s Day celebration will start at 9:00 on November 11th. Please join us and help us show appreciation for those who have served our great country. We have Turkey Bingo on November 21st starting at 6:30 and ends when the birds are all gone! Come join in on the fun! Also, on the 21st, our winter sports season kicks off for basketball and wrestling. The Junior High and High School staff will be hosting Social Studies Family Night on November 26th! Bring the family and play games from around the world. Dinner will be served for a small fee to help send next year’s Seniors to New York! Again, thank you for the opportunity to serve you and your children. Sincerely,Nichole Pieper
It’s hard to believe that the first quarter has ended. I would like to share with you some of the accomplishments so far this year. The mission of Cascade Public Schools is for all students to learn and learn at high levels. In order to accomplish this, the school has begun to work on improving the school and our students learning. Cascade is on a four-day schedule this year. The main purpose of switching to the 4-day week is to benefit our students. If you were at the community meetings last year, you know that the district identified two areas of importance: that the teachers would work the same number of hours and that the district would work on student and school improvement. According to numerous sources, teachers have the biggest effect on student learning. In order to truly improve learning in a school, the district has to work together with the teachers to improve instruction. Cascade Schools is currently doing this by providing professional development to our teachers, led by the principals. Currently, the focus of professional development is to answer the question, what should our students know and be able to do? With the guidance of the principals, the teachers are identifying the most important expectations for the school, for each grade level and for each subject. Another area of focus has been to reduce the number of absences for students and teachers. The preliminary data on absences is even better then we hoped. The chart below shows how many absences each school had in the first quarter over the last 3 years First Quarter Absences School Year 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 Elementary 463 348.5 187 JH 110.5 107 64 HS 614 379.5 269.5 Totals 1187.5 835 520.5 As you can see, the elementary has dropped to 187 absences in the first quarter. That is an improvement of 276 fewer absences from two years ago and 161.5 from last year. Our elementary enrollment has increased over the last 3 years as well. The comparison for the Junior High is as encouraging. The absences from two years ago has improved by 46.5 and from last year by 43. The Junior High enrollment has stayed pretty much the same over the last three years.For the High School, the numbers are even better. Our number of absences has decreased by 344.5 from two years ago and by 110 from last year. That’s an incredible decrease of 667 from two years ago and 314.5 from last year when you add all three schools together.Decreasing student absences is so important because we have to have students in class in order to teach them and allow the students to learn at high levels. Another area the district has made major improvements is teacher absences. By the end of the first quarter in the 2017/18 school year, there were approximately 165 teacher absences. In 2018/19, the district had 137 teacher absences and in the first quarter this year, the absences are 53. At Cascade Schools, we have great substitutes but nothing beats having the classroom teacher present. Decreasing teacher absences by over 80 from last year, not only saves the district money but also allows our students more time with their classroom teacher. To us, that’s a win-win. The district is also concentrating on student improvement by focusing on completion. Students are not allowed to take a zero anymore. Every student must complete every assignment and complete it at a 70% or better. In the first quarter, through the hard work of the staff, the students turned 1386 assignments from zeros and failing grades to passing grades. Our 1st quarter GPA by class has increased substantially. Here is a comparison of this year’s GPA to the last four years. Grade 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 7th 2.5 3.3 3.1 3.1 3.6 8th 3.0 3.2 3.4 3.0 3.6 9th 3.1 3.1 3.2 2.9 3.5 10th 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.8 11th 3.5 3.5 3.2 3.5 3.6 12th 3.4 3.5 3.7 3.5 3.8 And a chart that shows the same data:As you can see, our preliminary data is very promising. This could not have been accomplished without the guidance and support of the school board, the hard work of our students and the commitment and positive attitude of our teachers and staff.
Kaitlynn LummerShe pushes herself academically by taking Dual Credit courses. She is part of BPA and FFA. She is a state qualifier for cross country and runs track and field. She aspires to be a horse trainer and riding instructor. She is a wonderful young lady, both in and out of the classroom.
Maddie SchrecengostShe is such a hard worker and has never been on the ICU list. She shows effort and grit with assignments, and is respectful and gets along with everyone.
Thursday is our Elementary Halloween celebration. We will be having a parade of costumes beginning at 3:25. Students will have an opportunity to change into costumes in their classrooms before the parade. Send the costume in a labeled bag. Please, do not wear the costume or any accessories (including face paint) to school. Please, no weapons. The parade will begin in the lower elementary wing and proceed up through the high school. Parents and community members are welcome to come watch the parade. Each classroom will be having a classroom party. The classroom teachers will send home information concerning their parties this week.
Please attend the 30 minute informational meeting tomorrow night with Mrs. Pieper. We will meet in the Junior High Computer Lab at 6:00 pm. This will be an amazing trip, and if you sign up within 48 hours of the meeting, you get a $50 discount on your trip price!
Tomorrow, Cascade High School will participate in a Ghost out that will lead up to an assembly at the end of the day.One name is drawn randomly every 20 minutes and removed from class. Their face is painted and they return to class with instructions to speak to no one but teachers. A BPA member is chosen to be a reader at the assembly.The ghosts sit among the members of the audience and have flashlights. The reader announces the name, the grim reaper escorts them to their grave (spot on the floor) the reader reads and a candle is lighted along the stage. This continues until all ghosts are lined up on the floor. The grim reaper stands at the head of the first ghost called out, the ghost stands up and his/her candle is extinguished as they are escorted out.When all ghosts are gone and candles are out someone addresses the kids, encouraging a drug and alcohol-free lifestyle.This is an opportunity to discuss the potential dangers of using drugs and alcohol with your child. Please contact the school if you would like additional resources.