Tarkio R-I Schools will be closed through Friday, May 1. We will continue to provide meals. The administration was scheduled to meet Tuesday morning, March 31, to work out many details and information will be forthcoming for those details. Teachers will also be getting together educational materials for students. More information will be announced at a later date. Stay tuned! Stay home!

If you need to contact the school, call 660-736-4161. Information will also be available on the school’s website, tarkio.k12.mo.us, or on Twitter.

Karma Coleman

The Fairfax R-3 School Board met in special session via Zoom Monday, March 30, to discuss the closure of the district through the month of April. Our tentative return date will be May 1st, but will depend on the social distancing orders from both the state and federal government. If the social distancing order is lifted, we will return to school whether we have reached our May 1st date or not. Copies of the Zoom recording are available by contacting the superintendent. Some important items that were discussed include:

• Pickups for lunches will now be made through the kitchen service window inside the cafeteria. This window will be clearly marked. If you have signed up for lunch pickup, please be at the school by 12:00 noon. Due to lack of participants, the kitchen will no longer remain open until 1:00.

• While drivers deliver food, it is important to maintain the recommended distance. Designate a location by the door, safe from animals, where the meals could be dropped off. All deliveries are occurring between 11:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon.

• Student assignments will be required and graded beginning April 6th.

• If we are able to meet our May 1st return date, coursework and grades will be finalized and graduation will be held, as scheduled, on May 17th.

If you need to contact the school, call 660-686-2421. Information will also be available on the school’s website, fairfaxk12mo.us, or on Twitter.

Dr. Jeremy Burright

March 30, 2020

Dear Blue Jay Families,

With President Trump extending CDC guidelines for limiting social contact through April 30th, we will be extending our school closure due to the COVID-19 virus through Friday, May 1, 2020. It is currently anticipated we will open our doors on May 4 to finish the last two weeks of school in a “normal” manner. If the situation changes, and we can open our doors sooner, we will certainly strive to do that.

I am thankful for a wonderful staff who are working daily to create and distribute educational opportunities for our students. Our faculty and administration have been searching out and creating options for virtual education, and will be connecting with your students through various platforms over the next few weeks. Please look for that information to arrive this week. Information will be distributed through student email (mainly 7-12 students), parent email (elementary students), Twitter, and through links on our website at www.rockport.k12.mo.us

During this time, we will be able to continue food distribution to any child ages 0-18. If you have not already done so and would like to participate, please contact Tyne Chaney at tchaney@opaafood.com so she can obtain an accurate count. We provide two meals daily, both breakfast and lunch. Please see the following schedule below:

• Week of March 30 – April 3: we will continue daily pick-up from 10:00-11:00 a.m. at both Rock Port Elementary and Watson Baptist Church.

• April 6 – April 30: we will only distribute food on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at both locations. On Monday and Thursday, you will be receiving two days (four meals) worth of food. We will remain open 10:00-11:00 a.m. in Rock Port. We are adjusting our time to be open in Watson from 10:00-10:30 a.m.

Through May 1st, the Superintendent’s office remains open from 7:30 a.m.-noon, and 1:00-4:00 p.m. daily. We will be closed on Friday, April 10. If you need to contact the school, please call 744-6298. If you have any specific questions for our administrators, don’t hesitate to email us at:

Ethan Sickels: ethan.sickels@rpbluejays.com

Steve Waigand: steve.waigand@rpbluejays.com

Donnie Parsons: donnie.parsons@rpbluejays.com

Finally, we ask you avoid entering the school building, and discourage children and adults from using our playground. We understand the hardship it causes, but hope with a few weeks of inconvenience we can return to everyone utilizing our facilities soon.

Please stay healthy and safe, and take care of each other.

Ethan Sickels