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From the Desk of Dr. Halley: Parent Survey Regarding 4-Day School Week and Daycare

By Halley, Heath on September 02, 2021

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Good morning, I hope the start to the 2021-2022 school year has gone well for you. We are continuing to work toward completion on projects slowed by weather and Covid related supply chain issues. 

Our school board and administration continually strive to provide the best possible education for our students.  With that in mind, we constantly evaluate where we are on that

mission,  where we would like to be, and what should be done to get there. 

Nationally our country is struggling with the retirement of the “Baby Boomers”! We are facing unprecedented openings in many areas.  Nurses, CDL licensed drivers, and teachers just to name a few. The Midwest and more specifically Northern Missouri are facing a teacher shortage. We are fortunate and blessed to have filled all of our openings for this school year.

For me, Putnam County is the perfect place to live and raise a family, and it is where I have chosen to do so.  As much as I love it here, I am not naive to the fact that many things in the area have changed since my family started. It is becoming increasingly more difficult to attract and retain teachers. We are competing with Scotland County, Schuyler County, Novinger, and Newtown Harris which are all on a four-day school week. Also, recently our community has had a local daycare provider close their doors, creating a critical need for daycare.  We understand these issues are impactful for our community as well. In our goal of being competitive in attracting and retaining teachers we have identified these three areas as our biggest obstacles:

1. Quality affordable housing.

2. Four-day school week.

3. Availability of childcare.

Please take a few moments to share your thoughts and ideas with us by taking our survey over a Four-day school week and the availability of childcare, there are no questions regarding housing we don’t have the resources to provide adequate solutions. .  The survey can be accessed here:  Parent Survey Regarding 4-Day School Week & Daycare (September 2021)

We greatly appreciate your assistance.

Below is a mockup sample calendar to show what a 4-day School Week could possibly look like. 

4-Day School Year Sample Calendar (Mockup Only)