BY ALICIA FEYERHERM<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Student success is on the rise at USD 489.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Superintendent Ron Wilson discussed recent post-secondary progress reports at Tuesday\u2019s Board of Education meeting.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Each year, the National Clearinghouse creates a report based on students two years after high school graduation. The Clearinghouse determines any student who has enrolled in any certificate programs or is currently enrolled in a post-secondary school as \u201csuccessful.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2020, the graduation rate was 91.1 percent. Students from the class of 2020 currently have a 76.3 percent success rate.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s unbelievable. If you go back here just a year we were at 74,\u201d Wilson said.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Success rates have continued to improve each year, even during the pandemic.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe graduating class of 2020 would\u2019ve had such a tough starting and we\u2019re still seeing our highest numbers in the most challenging year of our world,\u201d Board Member Tammy Wellbrock said.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Assistant Superintendent Shanna Dinkel emphasized these successes are the culmination of years of dedication from lots of individuals.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEverybody plays a part in our successful high school graduate, so this is a celebration from Pre-K all the way up to high school because all of those pieces put together are what really helps kids be able to be successful,\u201d Dinkel said.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wilson also discussed Hays High\u2019s Career Exploration program which currently has 97 students. Through the program, students are able to go to local businesses and medical offices to shadow during the school day.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s one of our goals is to get kids out and give them opportunities to see some work and careers that they may be considering,\u201d Wilson said.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inside the classroom, students are also given opportunities to enroll in concurrent credit classes. These classes count for both Hays High credit as well as college credits, allowing students to enter post-secondary school with a head start.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over 250 students are enrolled in concurrent credit courses. Courses range from General Education courses like Math and English to specific programs such as Certified Nursing Aides and Pharmacy Technicians.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
USD 489 is working with Fort Hays State to offer Intro to Military and Military Health starting in the spring of 2023.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The district is also making strides to improve the mental health of students.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Parents of students grades 3-12 are asked to opt their children into the social-emotional survey which will take place September 26.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThose tools, in addition to attendance, behavior, course grades are ways in which we can identify kids who need some extra support,\u201d Dinkel said.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last year, 193 students were served through the district\u2019s Mental Health Initiative with High Plains Mental Health Center. Of those, 88 students showed improvement in attendance and academics and 146 showed improved internalized behaviors.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cInternalizing behaviors are those behaviors that sometimes we don\u2019t necessarily always see it\u2019s what they\u2019re feeling, thinking and I think that’s the key of the program,\u201d Wilson said.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The program has been in such high demand that High Plains has added four additional hours of therapy to the middle school. These additional hours will be telehealth.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re very grateful for that and we\u2019ll see how the telehealth goes but that’s exciting,\u201d Dinkel said.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wilson recognizes the importance of mental health and is glad to see growth in that area as well.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGood things are being done through our mental health initiative as we\u2019re working with students daily,\u201d Wilson said.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BY ALICIA FEYERHERM Student success is on the rise at USD 489. Superintendent Ron Wilson discussed recent post-secondary progress reports at Tuesday\u2019s Board of Education… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":153,"featured_media":61259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3397,11],"tags":[14480,2883,14749,11297,14383],"class_list":["post-67321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-area-news","category-news","tag-alicia-feyerherm","tag-board-of-education","tag-boe-usd-489","tag-usd-489","tag-usd-489-board-of-education"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/USD-489-Monthly-Meeting-Update.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/153"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=67321"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67322,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67321\/revisions\/67322"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/61259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=67321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=67321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=67321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}