Prairie Hills Middle School

PHMS Students and Families~ After a high of 23 active COVID cases last week, PHMS will drop to 8 active cases Tuesday which is great news! The drop in numbers has allowed the facemask mandate to expire today, October 18th. We encourage students and staff to continue washing/sanitizing hands, social distancing where possible, and wearing a facemask if unvaccinated. Thank you all for your continued support of our educational community. Cindy Couchman, Superintendent

PHMS picture retake day will be Wednesday, October 20. Packets are in the PHMS office!

PHMS Community, I want to provide an update on COVID cases and Stay to Learn Testing at PHMS this week. Our current case count is at 16 as of Thursday afternoon. Because of your amazing cooperation with wearing masks, we have our close contacts down to a manageable number. For that reason, we are going to offer any of those students who had to quarantine an opportunity to join the daily testing if they choose and attend school. We will resume Stay to Learn starting Friday, October 8th. Facemasks will still be required next week. I am very thankful to our staff at PHMS as each one of those positive cases takes up time and energy. For those who have been curious about what takes so much time, below is the process. Positive case is called in or individual tests positive at school. Admin pulls the positive case’s class schedule. Each teacher is contacted for the seating chart for those designated hours. Admin checks for 6’ radius (or 3’ this week) to identify close contacts. Close contacts are listed out. This is usually around 20 students, but this week because of masks, it has been only about 4 students. Each close contact’s schedule is called up, and passes are written to pull those students to the office. Each close contact is then searched for on the master list to see what option the parent has chosen in the event of exposure. If the parent hasn’t filled out the option form, the parent number is looked up on Powerschool and phone calls must be made to get the form completed. Parents are then called for those who choose to quarantine. Those who choose to test are then entered into the Stay to Learn protocols. Student names, testing dates, and date of return to school are entered into a Google sheet for nurses to track. RCHD is notified of close contacts/positives and contact information is sent to RCHD for their records. Data is then uploaded into the KDHE portal for each test given. If the positive student is a bus rider, another process begins to determine the dates the bus was ridden, the other students who were riding, and the seating chart for that specific bus. Close contacts again are looked up, parents called, etc. If the positive student is out for a sport, the same process is repeated again for close contacts. If students do a PCR test, that test is then driven to Wichita each day by our district office staff right after lunch. Having so many positives in a couple days quickly became unmanageable. Because we could narrow the close contacts down to 3’ by wearing facemasks, we are able to once again resume Stay to Learn, and we hope to see positive cases starting to stabilize next week. Our goal is to keep students in school, and Stay to Learn helps us do exactly that. It is through working together that we are able to resume it so quickly. We are relentlessly looking at every option to keep kids in school. I do want to recognize the amount of work that is going into keeping students and staff safely in school. It is a huge undertaking, and without our families and students, we wouldn’t be able to keep the program. Again, Stay to Learn will be an option starting immediately for Close Contacts, and facemasks will be required (and enforced) next week at PHMS. THANK YOU for helping us keep kids and staff in school safely. Cindy Couchman, Superintendent

Come find us at the Eagle Communications Soar Hire Job Fair today at the Hutchinson Mall!

Prairie Hills Middle School Community, Since last Friday, we have had 9 new COVID cases at Prairie Hills Middle School taking our active case count at the building to 14. We are currently testing over 90 students in our Stay to Learn Plan which is the capacity our staff can manage. In light of this information, I am moving to stage 2 of our Navigating Next Protocols. These protocols will be effective immediately (starting Tuesday, October 5th, 2021 and ending Sunday, October 17th, 2021): 1. All staff and students (and visitors) will be required to wear a mask inside PHMS for 2 weeks – starting Tuesday, October 4 and ending Sunday, October 17. 2. All new close contacts that may be identified in the next two weeks will not be eligible for the Stay to Learn testing and must serve the 8-day or 10-day quarantine. This is due to being at full capacity with daily testing at PHMS. 3. All students and staff will be asked to wash/sanitize hands at the beginning of each hour. Hand sanitizer is available in every classroom and at the entrances of our building. 4. Those students already in the Stay to Learn testing protocol will continue to test every morning. We are just not able to add any more students into this protocol for the next two weeks. TO CLARIFY: These stage 2 protocols apply ONLY to Prairie Hills Middle School. At the end of the two weeks, we will re-evaluate numbers and update you accordingly. Our goal is to keep students in school and be safe in doing so. Our Stay to Learn plan will continue but we are hitting the pause button on it for 2 weeks at PHMS while we navigate through a sudden increase in COVID cases. We thank you for your help as we work to reduce cases at Prairie Hills over the next 14 days. Cindy Couchman, Superintendent

One of the most wonderful things about our Buhler school community is the support and partnership we have with our families. As educators, we need your help to speak with your students regarding the latest TikTok trend. Last month, our schools had some damage done to bathrooms from the September challenge. Our priority is to keep students and staff safe in all situations and have pride in our school and community. Several of the challenges are criminal and could be prosecuted. Please talk to your student about these and the consequences of participating. We are thankful for our awesome students and families. I have confidence that through proactive communication and support, our staff and students can continue to excel in a safe learning environment. Information on challenges: https://www.distractify.com/p/tiktok-school-challenges-list-2021 Cindy Couchman, Superintendent Buhler Schools

We are partnering with the Reno County Health Department to offer flu shot clinics in our buildings. See the image for details and download the form that is needed here: https://bit.ly/3ubmD8w #BetterTogether

Parents: Please check your email regarding permissions/preferences for COVID testing and quarantining information should your student be identified as a close contact in the future. Please fill out the form ASAP. #BetterTogether Cindy Couchman, Superintendent, Buhler Schools

PHMS Picture Day: Wednesday, September 8th (Student AND Sports Pictures) Pictures packets were sent home Tuesday! Forgot the packet? Order online! Student Picture ID: EVTFBD99S Sports Picture ID: EVTXTS8M7 https://my.lifetouch.com/mylifetouch/?_ga=2.221415384.1903195372.1631044645-1463961836.1631044645#/

On Thursday Mrs. Couchman, USD 313 Superintendent, announced a new Covid 19 testing protocol that will allow close contacts to remain in school, activities, and at work. You may find the Facebook Live video detailing this plan here: https://fb.watch/7M-72dL6V3/ or click through here for more information: https://www.usd313.org/article/526934

Join Mrs. Couchman on Facebook Live tomorrow, September 2nd, at 12:00 noon to learn about our Stay to Learn and Play testing options.

HELP NEEDED! We need bus drivers to transport our students to school and activities, food service, custodians, and technology help Apply in person or online: https://www.applitrack.com/buhlerschools/onlineapp/ Call the district office for more information - 620-543-2258

Meals continue to be free, excluding ala carte, this year. If your student is not interested in the main meal and brings a sack lunch, they must pick at least 3 items from the list below in order for it to count as a fully reimbursable meal.

Check out the fall sports opportunities from Hutch Rec! Register in person at 17 E. 1st or online at hutchrec.com

We are so excited to welcome our students back tomorrow morning! This message is to communicate to parents and students that due to Federal Law all individuals riding in a school vehicle including busses are required to wear a facemask. If your student is using our transportation, a facemask will be required before boarding the bus.

School starts TOMORROW! Make sure you have our new app! Personalize the app by selecting schools your students attend as favorites and allow push notifications. Lunch menus, events, news, and live feed all in one spot! Download the app on Android: https://bit.ly/3cEXStU or iPhone: https://apple.co/3zmElrI.

Join us on Facebook Live at noon tomorrow, Thursday, August 12th to hear the most recent updates regarding our back to school plan. This will be on our main district Facebook page. If you would like to review the plan ahead of time or are unable to watch live click here: https://sites.google.com/usd313.org/buhlernavigatingnext/safety-plans-at-a-glance

PHMS Open House will take place on Thursday, August 12th! Please see the attached flyers for grade-specific times and information. Please leave supplies at home as locker access will not be given until the first day of school. We look forward to seeing you next week!

Prairie Hills Middle School has three openings in food service. Food service secretary, cashier, and cook's assistant. These are part-time positions. Apply here if you are interested in any of these positions. https://www.applitrack.com/buhlerschools/onlineapp/default.aspx?Category=Food+Service

We want to remind you that school breakfast and lunch will continue to be FREE for ALL Buhler PreK-12 students during the 2021/2022 school year! We are excited that this will continue to be available! (This institution is an equal opportunity employer)