Principal's Message

Buckner Community School supports the right of each student to an education in a calm, safe, and secure learning environment. It is important that parents, staff, and students work together to maintain a safe educational atmosphere that is conducive to learning.

Unbelievably it is already the first of December and the first half of the year is drawing to a close. We have had an exceptionally great first semester with many wonderful things to share. In October, we had nearly 100% of our parents come to parent/teacher conferences to share academic achievements of their child. Thank you all so very much for attending and continuing to support your child in their education.

We have had several incentive programs going on throughout the year thus far, and have had some fantastic results. Our perfect attendance for the months of September and October reached 60% and 58%. These are student's who have missed zero hours of school during our monthly recording of attendance. Students have earned tickets to win two bicycles and have won weekly and monthly prizes. Keep up the excellent attendance, because we know learning is fun. We have also had 80% of our students accomplish the reading goal of outside reading for at least 300 minutes a month. Each month the students read outside of school to accomplish the reading goal and earn a certificate and prize. We believe that with increased reading at home our students will continue to excel in all academic areas.

Our students worked on their Community Trait, caring, by collecting canned food items for the community. We collected over 2,400 canned items for the Thanksgiving holiday for those in need. Our December trait is respect for others. We will once again have a food drive to help others in need in our community.

Our grade levels have been very busy this year. Our reading series is going well with the teachers working very hard to provide vocabulary and experiences for the students to become better readers. Time is precious in our school as math and reading take up over half of the day, but our students still receive science, social studies, recess, and specials on a daily basis. Here are just a few examples of student activities for each grade level. Our kindergarten and first grades have completed apple and Indian units. Our second grade has completed units on bats, needs and wants, and Native Americans. Our third grade has completed many writing and reading projects and Earthworks science program. Our fourth graders have been working very hard on many projects in reading. They also made Missouri Day presentations to learn more about native Missourians.

We continue to provide many opportunities for parents and volunteers to become involved in our school. We have many programs that our supported by Caring Communities and our school TEAM. Our staff welcomes you to your building. Together we all can work together to improve our students's success. If you have any concerns or questions about any aspect of your child's schooling, feel free to contact the teacher, counselor, or the office. We welome your inquiries.

Patrick Farnan, Principal