Submitted by Mr. Stephen Waigand, Elementary Principal

Third quarter conferences, the book fair, and our annual Battle of the Books competition highlighted the elementary calendar this past month. Parent-teacher conferences for the third quarter were held on March 17. The Scholastic Book Fair was open the week of March 14-18. Thank you to the parents and guardians for attending conferences and to the many volunteers helping out at the book fair again this year.

The Atchison County Battle of Books competition was held on March 25 in Tarkio. It is one of my favorite events of the school year. Battle of the Books is a team competition open to students in grades 4-6 from Fairfax, Rock Port, and Tarkio. Students read 12 nominated books throughout the school year and answer questions in a team competition format. Rock Port had 18 students compete in this year’s competition. The Plot Twisters (Olivia Roup, Jaylynn Jones, Isabella Kroeger, and Grant Spiegel) made it to the finals and finished a close third place overall. Congratulations to all students on the time and energy they put into being a part of a team on this year’s Battle of the Books!

As a schoolwide team, we set a goal of 9,000 Accelerated Reader points at the beginning of the year. Our students are closing in on that goal with one quarter to go. Through three quarters we have accumulated over 6,500 points. A special day awaits our students when we reach the goal in late May!

Springtime marks the start of our statewide assessments. The Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) tests for grades 3-6 will begin in late April. It is a great opportunity for our students to show what they know in the areas of Math, English Language Arts, Writing, and Science.  A good night sleep, hearty breakfast, and a positive attitude are three easy ways families can help gear up for our annual assessments.

In addition, May has a full slate of student activities and events. Upcoming end of the year events include the spring concert for grades 6-12 (May 4), Track & Field Day for grades 3-6 (May 6), Fun Day for PreK-2 (May 13), Step-Up Day (May 13), music program for grades 4-6 (May 17), and Elementary Awards Assembly (May 19). Stay connected with daily classroom events and school updates on Twitter @RPBluejays. As always we strive to…

Love all our Passengers, Serve their academic needs

Care for the whole child, Every Student, Every Day