Bearcat Wrestling appreciates the efforts of Kiwanis & the Ellsworth Co. Kids Wrestling Club who make our Invitational possible!
Athletics: 1/8 Ellsworth HS Wrestling Invitational, 9:00 AM
https://bit.ly/2Eh9LaU
USD 327 will have a 2 hour delay for January 6, 2022.
Bearcats beat Larned 69-49
Lady Bearcats defeat Larned 48-31!
Good morning, as many have heard, the district, over the last 9-10 months has been exploring the option of moving our 4th grade students from Ellsworth Elementary School to Kanopolis Middle School. As a part of the process, the district has looked at the strengths and weaknesses of such a move and at this time, I would like to share those with all of you.
Rationale or Strengths: There are multiple reasons for 4th grade to make the move to KMS for the 2022-2023 school year.
1) First and foremost, when it comes to student pedagogy and consequently staff development, education breaks up students into Birth-3 years of age, Pre-K to 3rd grade, 4th-6th, 7th-8th, and 9th-12th. Combining 4th grade with our 5th and 6th grade classes would be more developmentally appropriate for our students and consequently, it would allow teachers working with those three grade levels to be in the same building and participate in the same appropriate professional development.
2) Moving students to KMS will allow the district to utilize the middle school in the way that it is intended to be utilized, as a true middle or intermediate school. The district would prepare a schedule designed to ease students from the elementary, self-contained classrooms, to the departmentalized structure that exists at the 7-12 building experience.
3) Educational resources, particularly MTSS, counseling, and special education would be more efficiently spread out in the district. Specials, especially in technology, would be allowed to increase at the 4th-6th grade level.
4) We are suffering from physical restraints at the elementary building and under utilization of space at KMS. Moving 4th grade would open up space at the elementary for growth in academic support and programs. Those rooms would be utilized to increase Special Education, MTSS, and meeting space needs. It could also be utilized in the future to provide room for an expansion into other academic needs based on our community needs.
Weaknesses/Obstacles of the move: Over the last 9 months, the district has identified potential weaknesses and roadblocks for the move.
1) Transportation is an issue. We currently have 3 routes running both in the morning and the afternoon. We have 4 buses capable of providing route services in the district. Two buses can carry 54 passengers at 2 passengers per seat and the other 2 can carry 32-34 passengers. Using 3 of the buses, we could provide transportation for 140 students, which could stretch another 10-20 total students riding 3 to a seat at the elementary levels. It is estimated we will need to transport 134 students to KMS for the upcoming school year. This creates a significant hurdle for the district. First, there are many times that all four route buses are utilized at the same time for routes and activities, particularly during JH BB and during spring sports. If activities become congested due to rescheduling, or a vehicle goes down for maintenance, this will create a shortage of vehicles. Secondly, at this time, when we are down a driver or a bus due to illness or some other circumstance, we are able to reduce our routes from 3 to 2 and still make transportation work with some inconveniences. If the 4th grade is moved to KMS, that option would not exist. We would require three buses for routes at all times. To completely ensure that we have that covered, we would need to add a bus to our fleet to avoid running on a skeleton crew.
2) Added staff will be a budgetary increase, but we do not believe it will be a significant increase. We would be looking to add another food service staff member to KMS, another custodian (at least .5), and an Aide. We would also see an increase in our transportation expenditures as we would increase the number of students being transported. We do not believe that any additional certified staff would be needed, but do recognize that we will need at least a part time counselor at KMS permanently.
3) There would be changes to some of our current staff’s home building designations to make this work. special education staff: still be 1 teacher at KMS, but we would be looking at the need to transfer 1 special education para to KMS due to the shift in caseload. Technology instruction (computer and keyboarding instructor) would shift more heavily to Kanopolis with the move, so that position would move its home base to KMS.
4) Time will be an issue. We would need to move classrooms at the end of the year both at KMS and at EES to create a 4th grade wing, 5th grade wing, and a 6th grade wing. This would need to occur in phases and will take more time and manpower to accomplish. This will require additional cost to make the move. This could be accomplished by compensating teachers to pack and unpack their classrooms after school is out and hiring additional summer help to aid in the move, as well as address other projects needing to be completed this summer.
Thank you for your time in reading this long post and thank you for your support of our district.
Josh Lanning
Athletics: 1/7 HS BB @ Republic County, 4:30 PM
(No JV Girls, No C games due to Rep. Co. low #s)
*Order: (Main HS gym)
4:30 JV Boys (2 quarters)
6:00 V Girls
7:30 V Boys
Athletics: 1/4 HS BB @ Larned 4:30 PM
*https://www.youtube.com/c/USD495Sports
*Order & Location: (No C games)
4:30 JV Girls HS gym
4:30 JV Boys MS main gym
6:00 V Girls MS
7:30 V Boys MS
Bearcat Wrestlers standing proud on the podium!
Athletics: NCAA JH League Champs!
Lady Bearcats defeat Beloit 41-24!!
JH Lady Bearcats victorious over Sacred Heart 35-28 & advance to the League Finals!
Lady Bearcats lose a tough battle to the Lady Trojans 43-45.
Bearcats (boys) fall short 52-55 to Beloit after clawing back from an 18 point halftime deficit.
Athletics: 12/15 Basketball & Wrestling Practices after school as scheduled. Please communicate with your coaches if not attending.
Kanopolis Middle School students were challenged to a month of Kindness in December. Each week they were asked to find ways to be kind to their fellow, classmates, friends & family. As part of this challenge, they participated in a food drive to benefit the Ellsworth County Food Bank. Students surpassed their challenge of 1000 items and collected 1, 851 items to donate. Students and staff at KMS have big hearts!!
12/17 HS Basketball @ ELLSWORTH vs Beloit
(Game Order)
*4:30 JV Girls @ HS; JV Boys @ City Hall
*6:00 V Girls; C Boys @ CH
*7:30 V Boys; C Girls @ CH
HS Basketball:
Lady Bearcats 38
Minneapolis 56
Bearcats 56
Minneapolis 48
Congratulations to Senior Natalie Rolfs & Sophomore Will Cravens on being selected to the Russell Amos/Morris All-Tournament Teams!
Athletics: 12/16 JH Basketball A-Team 1st Round League Tournament:
*JH Boys (#4 seed) @ Ellsworth vs Sacred Heart, 5:00 PM
*JH Girls - Bye (#1 seed)
*bracket (boys & girls tab at bottom of bracket)
https://5il.co/1356s
Great support for JH Basketball tonight!
Bearcats go 4-0 on the night vs Republic County:
B Girls 35-6
B Boys43-21
A Girls 41-15
A Boys 38-29
