'Work Collaboratively and Unleash Potential' … that's this year's motto for the West Prairie School District. A new high school principal, new learning opportunities and more await students in the district, which opens for the first day of classes for the 2025-2026 school year Aug. 13. Anticipated enrollment is currently close to 590 students to date.
According to Paula Markey, interim superintendent, the summer has been a busy time for the district as it preps for the new year. North Elementary students will have a new surface for their playground and new basketball hoops, work on a new greenhouse at the high school is underway and interactive boards will be purchased in the coming weeks for a few classrooms thanks to a Tracy Family Foundation grant. The district is also working to bring back its after-school program for elementary students in cooperation with the YMCA of McDonough County.
The program would be offered at the Good Hope and Colchester elementary schools, from dismissal until 5:30 p.m. when school is in session (full days only). Fees are $25/child, or $60 for the week, with a $10 sibling discount. Registration is taking place now at the YMCA of McDonough County front desk. According to Markey, the new after-school program could begin as early as Aug. 18 pending staffing.
'We've also added some new courses, or modified courses at the high school and junior high. At the high school level, we have modified our course sequence for science, so rather than an integrated science course, we are now offering an Earth Science course and an Ecology course,' Markey explained. 'We have also hired a Spanish teacher, which will allow us to offer Spanish in house, and at the junior high level, we are implementing a new English Language Arts curriculum within the next year, with staff members to begin training on this new curriculum this year.'
On the extracurricular side, the district will continue its football co-op with Southeastern for the next two years, and high school cross-country has been added this year. In addition, Markey said they want to establish a robotics club at the junior-senior high school, and they're in talks with Southeastern about a co-op for girls' basketball and softball. On the student support side of the house, WP provides a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) for students in grades kindergarten through 12th.
'We assess students to determine academic gaps and social-emotional-behavioral concerns. Our MTSS teams review this data and determine appropriate interventions and supports for each student,' Markey shared. 'These interventions and supports are then put into place and monitored on a regular basis for effectiveness' The district currently employs 130 faculty and staff, and to date, the organization has not had to make any reductions to programs or staffing due to budget issues. Markey attributes a thorough analysis every month to review the district's finances.
'We always do our best to work within our budget, and our monthly snapshot of district finances is assessed to assure we are staying within budget,' she added. 'We are extremely grateful to our community, and we take seriously that we have been charged with being good stewards of those tax dollars. We do our best to allocate resources in a way that provides the greatest benefit to our students.
'Like any other year, we want to see each student and staff members reach their fullest potential, and we want to provide for the needs of every student,' Markey concluded. 'We want to work collaboratively in house but also with our students' families and our community to reach our fullest potential. In the words of Hellen Keller, 'Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much!''
