Kelso C-7 School District

✨ New Spirit Wear Alert! ✨ Our Spirit Store is fully stocked with brand-new T-shirts, jackets, vests, and more—just in time to show off your Kelso C-7 pride! 💙🖤 Whether you’re looking for something cozy, sporty, or classic, we’ve got fresh styles for students, staff, and families. 👕Logo designs can be mixed on different items. 🗓 Order Deadline: December 5 🎁 All items will arrive before Christmas Break! 🛍️Order online with the QR code or the website listed on the flyer. Let’s show our school spirit together! 🐾📣

💛💙 Happy Substitute Teacher Appreciation Day! 💙💛

Today we celebrate some of the most dependable, caring, and flexible members of our school family — our amazing substitute teachers.

Whether they step in with short notice or plan ahead to support our classrooms, they bring patience, kindness, and a steady presence that keeps learning moving forward. Our substitutes don’t just “fill in” — they lift up, support, and care for our students and staff every single time they walk through our doors.

We are truly grateful for each of you who chooses to be part of our Kelso C-7 family. Thank you for loving our kids, supporting our teachers, and being an essential part of what makes our school so special.

💛 You are appreciated more than you know. 💙

Thankful Thursday 💙💛

A huge thank you to everyone who participated in Pajama Day and Hat Day this week! Your generosity and school spirit truly made a difference.

🎉 Together, we raised $453 for the Angel Tree Program, helping support families in our community during the holidays.

We are so grateful for our Falcon Family and the way you always show up for others. 💛🫶💙

📣 We did it, Falcon Family!
We are thrilled to announce that the Kelso C‑7 School District has achieved an outstanding 91.6% score on the Missouri School Improvement Program (MSIP 6) Annual Performance Report (APR)! 🎉🦅

(Yes—that’s a 91.6 %!)

✅ What is the APR?
The APR is the annual accountability / reporting measure used by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) through the MSIP 6 system to evaluate how districts are performing and improving over time. It looks at a number of key indicators—such as student achievement on assessments, student growth, graduation rates, attendance, and other practices—to arrive at a composite score that reflects the district’s performance and continuous improvement.

Essentially, it’s a snapshot of how we’re doing—and how we’re growing—as educators, students, families, and a community together.
👉 The full findings are available to view on the DESE website and on the Kelso C-7 website (link in bio).

🎯 Why this matters

This score reflects the collective hard work of our teachers, staff, students, families and community partners.

Achieving a 91.6 % places us firmly in the “fully accredited” range (and approaching “with-distinction”) for Missouri’s accountability model.

It supports our mission every day: safe schools, strong community, academic excellence, and continuous improvement.

👏 Let’s celebrate!

✨Student Spotlight✨

Our November school-wide challenge is all about being responsible and prepared students! We’re so proud of those earning Positive Office Referrals for showing great habits and leadership each day.

Keep up the awesome work, Falcons!

✨Student Spotlight✨ Our November school-wide challenge is all about being responsible and prepared students! We’re so proud of those earning Positive Office Referrals for showing great habits and leadership each day. Keep up the awesome work, Falcons!

School Board Meeting Notice 📝

Kelso C-7 Families and Community,
Our next School Board Meeting will be held on:

📅 Wednesday, November 19th
⏰ 6:00 PM
📍 Kelso C-7 School Library

All are welcome to attend as we work together to support our students, staff, and school community. 💙💛

📅 This Week at Kelso C-7
Please see the image below for our weekly schedule.

We also want to share that Beta Club is beginning their School Supply Drive, held in partnership with our Angel Tree Program. If you’d like to contribute, the image includes suggested items that will help support students and families in our community.

Thank you for your continued support of our school.

🐾Fozzie Friday🐾 These Falcons did a "paw"-some job this week of being kind and helpful to their teachers! We are so proud of them, and Fozzie loves taking pictures with his friends! Have a great weekend, Falcons!🐾💙

🤩Thankful Thursday🤩 Honoring Our Veterans at Kelso C-7 Today we are especially grateful for the brave men and women who have served our country. Kelso C-7 held a heartfelt Veteran’s Day Assembly to honor our local heroes, and it was a truly special morning. Each grade level shared thoughtful presentations showing appreciation for the sacrifices our veterans have made for our freedom. PreK and Kindergarten led the Pledge of Allegiance 1st Grade sang the Poppy Song 2nd Grade presented a Veterans Day Acrostic Poem 3rd and 4th Grade sang “God Bless the USA” and presented a video tribute to Fallen Soldiers 5th Grade presented a poem, “We Honor You Today” by Susan Smith 6th Grade presented “A Table Set for One” 7th Grade was responsible for acknowledging our veterans that were with us at our assembly, and mentioned those not able to be with us. 8th Grade presented the Flag Folding Ceremony Choir performed Remembrance Day A huge thank you to Mrs. Penny Hale and Mrs. Kamryn Scherer for organizing such a meaningful program, and to all the veterans who joined us today. We are also thankful for the refreshments that were provided after the assembly. Your service and dedication inspire our students and community every day.

💙 Falcon Family Support During the Holidays 💛

The holiday season is a time of joy, but we also know it can bring challenges. If your family—or someone you know—is going through a difficult time or losing benefits, please know you’re not alone. This post is meant to be a place where our Falcon Family can share resources, community programs, and supports available to help families through the winter months.

If you know of a helpful local resource—such as a food pantry, clothing drive, or assistance program—please share it in the comments so others can benefit. Let’s fill this space with kindness and connections. 💙

To protect everyone’s privacy and safety, please avoid posting or offering direct financial help to individuals in the comments. If you or someone you know needs assistance, please reach out directly to the organizations or resources shared here.

Together, we can make sure every Falcon Family feels cared for and supported this season.

Angel Tree PJ/Hat Day
Wednesday, November 12, 2025

Our local “Angel Tree’’ is a yearly program to support families and/or individuals identified by Catholic Charities, local community members, and Scott County Family Support as being financially disadvantaged. In the holiday spirit of giving, we would like to help our local Angel Tree be able to collect items for all of the identified families. We are asking for a minimum donation of $1 from your child to be able to wear PJ’s or a Hat to school on Wednesday, November 12. There have been other area schools who have also had PJ/Hat Days and they brought in over $500! It is only $1 for your child to wear PJ’s or a Hat, but donations of more than $1 are appreciated and welcomed.

Additionally, if any families would like to sponsor, our Angel Tree is located outside the gym door where you can choose an individual (anonymously) to adopt. No identifying information is released on the people adopting or being adopted.❤️

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact
Nurse Monica Burger at school (573-545-3357) or Mrs. Valerie Dirnberger 573-270-3836.

THANK YOU for your consideration for this amazing program.

✨Student Spotlight✨ Our Positive Office Referral challenge continues in the month of November! This month we are focused on Responsibility in our PK-4th grades, and Preparedness in our 5-8th Grades. Great Job to these Falcons for kicking off the month in such a great way!

📅 What’s Happening This Week at Kelso C-7! 💙💛

We’ve got another full and exciting week ahead for our Falcon Family! Check out the schedule below for upcoming events and reminders.

Tuesday: We’ll honor our heroes during the Veterans Day Assembly.
Students and staff—show your patriotism by wearing red, white, and blue as we celebrate and thank those who have served our country. ❤️🤍💙

Let’s make it a great week, Falcons!

🎉 Happy National Parents as Teachers Day! 🎉
📅 November 8

Kelso C-7 is proud to celebrate our Parents as Teachers (PAT) program and the amazing work it does for families with children from birth to kindergarten entry.

What PAT offers our families:
• 🏠 Personal home visits with research-based parenting strategies
• 🧒 Developmental, vision, and hearing screenings
• 📈 Milestone tracking and school-readiness support
• 👪 Group connections and play-based learning events
• 🧭 Referrals to community resources and services
• 💬 A trusted partner to answer questions at every stage

Our Kelso C-7 PAT Educator:
Shannon Leggett
📧 leggetts@scr1.org

PAT is free, voluntary, and designed to empower parents as their child’s first—and most important—teacher. 💙💛

🐾Fozzie Friday🐾 These Falcons were caught being "paw-some" this week! We love their big hearts and the way they help others! Thank you! Have a great weekend, Falcons!🐾💙

‼️Special Announcement‼️ Teachers will be posting information about our Angel Tree fundraiser today. Here is another version to have as well, including a photo of where the physical Angel Tree is. Our students love having PJ/Hat days! We are excited to see how much we can raise this year for this incredible local project. Thank you for your support!

✨Thankful Thursday✨ Kelso C-7 is incredibly PROUD to celebrate Mrs. Stacy Creech as one of only five finalists statewide for the Missouri School Counselor Association’s Counselor of the Year award. It is no surprise for this honor to go to Mrs. Creech. She leads with compassion, understands the hearts of our students, and supports our staff and families with kindness. Her work is seen not only in the moments of struggle, but in the everyday smiles, laughter, encouragement, and wisdom she gives to our school community. Earlier this spring, Stacy was also named the Southeast Missouri Counselor of the Year, further recognizing the meaningful impact she brings to our region. Mrs. Creech, your dedication and love make Kelso C-7 a stronger, more caring place for every student who walks through our doors. From small groups, to individual session, and your whole class instruction, you do it all for our students. We are SO proud of you, and we are grateful to celebrate this tremendous honor alongside you. Congratulations, Mrs. Creech! Your Kelso C-7 family is cheering you on always.

🛠️ What’s Happening Wednesday: Construction Update at Kelso C-7! 🛠️

We’re thrilled to share another exciting update in our Prop KIDS progress! Our new parking lot is officially complete — adding over 60 new parking spaces to better serve our growing Falcon Family. 🚗✨

The project also includes new security lighting, resealing and restriping of the existing lot, and a clearly marked crosswalk to keep everyone safe during drop-off and pick-up.

👉 Morning Reminder: Please use the crosswalk when walking students to school. If your child needs you to open car doors, we ask that you park and walk to the front entrance to help maintain a safe and efficient flow.

Coming soon in our next phase of safety improvements:

Vinyl and ballistic window coverings for added protection

Office enhancements that increase safety and functionality for our central office staff — the “command central” in any emergency

New communication devices to enable rapid lockdown capability

Updated desks and a secure pass-through window for visitor and staff safety

We are grateful for the continued support of our voters and community for investing in our school’s safety and future. Together, we are building a Safe School and Strong Community — one improvement at a time! 💙💛