The State Board of Education did not make a decision on Kansas City Public School's (KCPS) request for provisional accreditation today. There is not sufficient data available yet for KCPS to verify that they have earned provisional accreditation. Once the data are available, and the district is able to confirm that they have, in fact, earned such status, the Board will consider their request.

As part of the new beginning for the Normandy Schools Collaborative, the tradition of teachers giving classroom lectures and students doing homework at night is being turned on its head at Normandy High School. The school is adopting the flipped classroom concept in appropriate subjects beginning next school year. Training for administrators was held on July 15, and teachers will receive training in August.

To help ensure a smooth transition within the Normandy Schools Collaborative, the Department has named Dr. Peter Kachris as Transition Officer. Dr. Kachris will serve as the Department’s on-site liaison as well as advisor, mentor, and consultant to Superintendent Dr. Ty McNichols and his leadership staff.

The Department has named Stacey Preis the new assistant commissioner for the Office of Early and Extended Learning, and Constance Rush the director of legislative outreach.

Both began their duties effective earlier this month.

“We are pleased to welcome Constance and Stacey to the Department,” said Commissioner of Education Chris Nicastro. “Both are extremely talented in their fields, and will do their best to meet the needs of Missouri’s children.”

Beginning July 16, more than a dozen administrators in the Normandy Schools Collaborative will receive training in the state’s educator evaluation model, which will dramatically change the way the district gauges improvement among its principals and teachers.

Missouri is ahead of the national curve in developing high-quality future teachers. The state has developed new standards, quality indicators and a professional continuum for the preparation of educators in all certification areas. The standards include higher grade-point averages and specific requirements for improving field and clinical experiences including the use of Missouri Educator Evaluation System for the evaluation of student teachers and interns.

On the initial day of official operation as the Normandy Schools Collaborative, members of the Joint Executive Governing Board held their first meeting Tuesday, chaired by Superintendent Dr. Tyrone McNichols. They focused on adopting critical operating policies and discussing outreach possibilities with area legislators, community members and others interested in the future of Normandy schools.

The State Board completed the appointments yesterday

The Normandy Schools Collaborative officially starts today, and the district’s Joint Executive Governing Board is holding its first meeting at the Normandy central office.

The following is biographical information about each of the members of the Normandy Schools Collaborative Joint Executive Governing Board:

Reginald Dickson

The school district will not need additional state funds to finish the school year

The Normandy School District will not draw down an additional $2 million in state funds that was appropriated in the Missouri state budget to help the district finish the school year. Department and district review of financial statements, outstanding bills and bank balances shows that the district will not have a negative balance at the end of June.

In order to build a culture of teaching and learning for the students of the Normandy Schools Collaborative (NSC), Department and Normandy staff continued planning this week for the new school year. Top priority for the new district is retaining and recruiting effective leadership and effective teachers for every classroom.