Rissler Elementary School Principal Sue Gott reports this year’s Veterans Day assembly at the school in Trenton had a good turnout. There were about a dozen more veterans that attended than last year.
She says it was an opportunity for students to serve veterans. The fourth grade served muffins that were donated by Wild Onion. Other grades performed songs and made crafts to share with veterans and honor them.
Something new for Rissler this year was that students took veterans to the book fair.
Gott says veterans appreciated the activities planned for them.
Teachers at the elementary school have been aligning the curriculum. She explains this year the teachers have been working on math, and last year they worked hard on English Language Arts.
The teachers have been looking at state priority standards and aligning them with the standards Rissler already deemed as priorities. They are developing proficiency scales, which Gott comments help drive instruction and make sure the school is covering all the standards it needs to.
Trenton Middle School Principal Mike Hostetter reports campus clean up is a new activity at the middle school this year.
Every morning, a student leader gives the pledge and reads the bulletin.
TMS also has students of the month and Hostetter says TMS has a good student council, too.
Trenton High School Principal, Chris Hodge, says the high school is student-led overall.
Hodge says THS students have also helped at the Community Food Pantry of Grundy County one time a month.
Pre-ACT and Armed Forces Vocational Aptitude Battery testing is complete for sophomores and juniors. Some students have signed up to take the ACT.
Trenton R-9 Superintendent Daniel Gott has been teaching for 15 years. He says the landscape changed as to what people think about the security and safety of school students and staff during that time.
He reports that, with the construction of the performing arts center, the Trenton Middle School/Trenton High School campus is completely indoors.
The district purchased the alert system SafeDefend last year.
Gott says Trenton R-9 makes sure anyone who works in a district building has a fingerprint scanned, so he or she can set off a box anywhere in the building.
Gott calls SafeDefend “a great system” that gives teachers, staff, and students peace of mind that, in the event there is an emergency, something is in place to send an alert quickly.
Trenton Middle School Principal Mike Hostetter notes some other safety-related measures have been put into place in the district. One is a “go bag” in every teacher’s room.
The Trenton R-9 School District has procedures in place for winter weather.
In a recent interview, Superintendent Daniel Gott said the district contacts KTTN, the Trenton Republican-Times, Fox 4 TV of Kansas City, and Channel 5 TV of Kansas City with winter weather information. Information is put on Trenton R-9’s social media accounts, which include Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Announcements are also made on the Bulldog Text Alert System through Thrillshare.
Gott noted there have been some changes to Thrillshare.
Gott explained school is not always canceled due to winter weather. Sometimes there is a late start.
The weather can also cause the district to dismiss students early. If that happens, Gott said activities in the afternoon are canceled. That includes games and practices.
He stated if there is a full day off from school, the administration will decide if the district will hold practices or attend events. That will depend on what the weather looks like in the afternoon.
Gott contacts other sources to determine if it is safe for Trenton R-9 to hold classes, and also contacts the school bus company.
Trenton R-9 Superintendent Daniel Gott.
