The Bonner Springs-Edwardsville School district will enact a mask mandate on Thursday, Aug. 12, according to an announcement on Wednesday.
The mandate will include pre-kindergarten through 12th grade students, all district staff and all visitors to the school buildings, according to the announcement.
Masks must be worn while inside school district facilities and when using district transportation, the spokesman stated. The school district also will follow all Kansas State High School Activities Association protocols on competition.
The mandate will be in place through Oct. 4, according to the announcement.
There will be an update on COVID-19 activity at all school board meetings, and evaluation of the issue will be ongoing, the spokesman stated. Any changes will be communicated as quickly as possible, according to the spokesman.
The first day of school in the district is Thursday, Aug. 19.
According to the district spokesman, the board has granted the superintendent the the power to make day-to-day mask determinations, regarding requirements for personal protective equipment, and will now follow up with an official vote at the next meeting. The next Bonner Springs-Edwardsville Board of Education meeting is Monday, Aug. 16.
Kansas City, Kansas, Public School teachers and staff heard an inspirational message from keynote speaker Morris Morrison at the convocation on Tuesday morning at Wyandotte High School.
Morrison, who was an orphan, shared lessons he had learned while growing up.
“We change and we grow either when our minds are open or our hearts are broken,” Morrison said.
He encouraged teachers and other district employees to be open, not close-minded, and to not miss the music around them.
He said he built his life around three lessons a doctor told him: Don’t be a victim; take ownership and responsibility for your life; and never expect somebody to give you anything that you don’t work for. He added he started companies on these values and his relationships are also based on them.
Morrison, whose latest book is “Disrupt Yourself,” was speaking in conjunction with the superintendent’s theme this year, “Re-Bound, Re-Imagine and Re-New.”
Superintendent Anna Stubblefield said at the convocation that this year’s theme came out of last year’s experiences, when the district was forced to be adaptive, flexible and meet the needs of the students in the moment. This year will be about rebounding from what they experienced last year, she said.
Dr. Stubblefield this year will focus on high quality Tier 1 instruction while meeting the social and emotional needs of all students.
School starts Wednesday and Thursday in the Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools.
The convocation was online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2o9dt4JjME.
Demolition of the old Turner Middle School took place this summer, with a new middle school built behind it. When debris from demolition was cleared away, the new Turner Middle School could be seen from South 55th. The former gymnasium and auditorium was saved and upgraded for the new Turner Middle School.
When school resumes this month, Turner Middle School students will be attending classes in a new building.
The old Turner Middle School at 1312 S. 55th St. was torn down this summer. Behind it is a newly built middle school.
The demolished building is the former Turner High School building, which was converted to a middle school in 2001, according to Lauren Aiello, Turner school district spokeswoman. The building was originally constructed in the 1950s. The new high school was completed in 2001 at 2211 S. 55th.
While most of the old building was torn down, the auditorium and gymnasium from the old building has been saved and will make the transition to the new middle school, after being upgraded.
“We’re excited to preserve some of the old building, along with having some of the new,” Aiello said.
The gym, she said, is particularly beautiful, and modern-day construction isn’t like that any more.
At the same time, the new building will have a lot of flexibility.
“The new building is just gorgeous,” Aiello said.
The new building will have a two-story open-space commons area that will serve as the cafeteria and a gathering space. There will be flexible learning space in this commons area.
Also, classroom and common space furniture will include flexible seating, opportunities to work together and have hands-on activities.
Some classrooms will have moveable walls, allowing classes to join together at times. They also will have a small group learning suite.
McCownGordon was the contractor on the project, and they also were the contractor for the high school building in 2001. Voters approved a $44 million bond issue in January 2019, with projects throughout the school district, according to Aiello.
Among the projects funded by the bond issue were the new middle school building, safety and security upgrades at all buildings, furnishings and painting at all buildings, better vehicle access for Turner Elementary, air conditioning at Turner Elementary, Midland Trail Elementary and Journey School of Choice, a new commercial kitchen at Turner High School for the culinary arts program, and district-wide heating, cooling, asphalt, concrete and roofing projects.
Aiello said an open house is planned for the new Turner Middle School from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 1, where community members and alumni can tour the new school facility. There also is a home football game that evening at the new District Activity Center, completed last year.
Demolition was taking place this summer on the old Turner Middle School.More demolition photos from July at Turner Middle School. A lot of the debris now has been cleared away. More demolition photos from July at Turner Middle School. More demolition photos from July at Turner Middle School.
