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Buffalo High School News Buffalo Prairie Middle School News Long Lane News Students in the Dallas County R-I School District often have a challenge when it comes to walking or riding a bi- cycle to school. The lack of sidewalks around town some- times forces children to compete with traffic on their way to school. The city has acknowledged this safety problem and the voters of Buffalo have voted for a tax to help support the construction of sidewalks around town. Your Dallas County R-I School has also taken on the challenge by seeking grant funds to construct sidewalks and improve roadways around our schools. The Dallas County R-I School District is happy to announce that we will be receiving $202,949 in federal Transportation Enhancement Program grant funds to build sidewalks and walking paths on the Buffalo High School and Buffalo Prairie Middle School campuses. These new sidewalks will link with newly constructed sidewalks in Buffalo and will also cover some dangerous drainage culverts around our school campuses. On the Buffalo Prairie Middle School campus approxi- mately half a mile of paved sidewalks and walking paths will be constructed. A six-foot wide walking path will be built from Highway 65, along the front of the middle school on Truman Street, all the way to Locust Street. Another side- walk will be constructed from Truman Street along the drive- way to the campus so that students will not be forced to walk in the driveway. A final section will connect the east side of the campus with the Locust Street sidewalk project recently completed by the City of Buffalo. On the Buffalo High School campus approximately 1500 feet of new sidewalks will be constructed with grant funds. A five-foot wide sidewalk will be constructed along Main Street on the north side of the high school campus from Locust Street to Spruce Street. This project will also cover the deep drainage culvert along the north side of the campus (see photo). A second portion of the high school project will build a sidewalk along Locust Street just east of the football field. The total cost of the project is estimated at $253,688, of which approximately $50,000 will be funded by the school district with donated labor or a cash contribution, the other 80% of the cost will come from federal grant funds. Working within federal guidelines will be challenging and often delays speedy construction of projects, however, It is hoped that all of the sidewalks and culvert work will be completed by the end of the 2013-2014 school year. New Driveway for Long Lane Elementary As part of the school district’s continued efforts to improve all of our campuses, this year Long Lane Elementary has received a new paved circle driveway in front of the school. Over the years, the gravel driveway had caused serious drainage problems in the front of the school. In some cases, during heavy rain, water would pool in front of the main entrance causing water to creep into the building. With the new paving in front of the school, water is able to drain away from the building and the new driveway has improved the safety of the campus by creating more organized parking in front of the school. In addition, there was enough asphalt left over that we were able to repave the basketball court in front of the school. Future improvements we hope to make on the Long Lane campus include the replacement of windows and improvements in the cafeteria/gym area. Buffalo High School Activities Celebrations 2012-2013 Softball team went 17-7 and played for a district championship. Multiple players re- ceived all district and all conference recogni- tion. The bulk of this team returns next year and the future is bright for this group. Volleyball team was Co-COC champs and played for a district championship. They will lose one Senior from this team. Multiple players received all conference and all dis- trict recognition. They are primed and ready for the 2013-14 season. Girls basketball team went 12-11 and the jv team went 17-7. The combined 29 wins represents the most wins for the program in several years. Two players from this team received post season honors. This group loses only 2 seniors. Baseball team has just started their sea- son. They are hoping to building on their 15 win season from a year ago. So far this season, the only thing that is really winning is the weather. Wet conditions have made baseball an indoor sport. Golf and Track teams have faced the same issues this Spring. Music is gearing up for their busy time. District and State competitions are in the Spring. Mrs. DeClue is getting her kids ready for this. There have been clinicians in our building assisting with their preparation. Academic team has competed well throughout this school year. They are com- peting in more competitions that in years before and their after school practices have increased. This is great bunch of kids, who are very talented. Band has new uniforms and that group as a whole has worked very hard this year. The number of students in the BHS band is the largest it has been in many years. Speech has competed very well again and Buffalo has had representation at the state and national level. Mrs. Grabeel is passion- ate about her program and does an excellent job. At every tournament they’ve attended this year the students have brought home a large collection of trophies. We have had continued expansion of our weight-training program. This is a benefit to all of our sports. Our coaches have been very intentional in getting our kids bigger and stronger, across the board. We hosted a weight meet this Spring and it was a suc- cess. Cross Country had two kids qualify for the state meet . Both of these participants are underclassmen and will return next year. Both are excellent runners and competed very well in the state meet. On March 9th, the 5th and 6th grade Archery Team from Buffalo Prairie Middle School com- peted in the Southwest Missouri Invitational Tournament in Willard, Missouri. Having only ten practices but with winning in their sights, these athletes took second place in the elementary division. In addition, Kensley Williams ranked in the top ten of the elementary division and in the top three in her grade division. The opportunity to participate in the National Archery in Schools Program (NASP) was made possible by the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Grant. The 5th and 6th grade archery instructors are Jacque Rice and Lisa Reeves. Improvements at Mallory Elementary School On April 14 Mallory Elementary School will be celebrating its 46 th birthday. When origi- nally opened in 1967, construction of D. A. Mallory Elementary School cost $433,628. Over the years many renovations have been made to the Mallory campus, but, ongoing mainte- nance is more and more necessary as the building is beginning to show its age. Within the last year we’ve completed a major roofing project on the southern most wing of the building. In addition, we’ve begun the process of repainting hallways and classrooms in the building. A major project from last summer was the placement of tile floors on the southern end of the building as seen in the photo. The new classroom tile features an interesting design that provides a little extra “life” to the classrooms. One project we’re very excited about is the ad- dition of a covered walkway/canopy that will be constructed in the pickup/drop-off area on the south end of the building. This project will provide some much needed cover from weather as children and staff leave or enter the building. We will begin construction of this new canopy very soon and it will hopefully be completed early next school year. The project is being completed in part by students from the Dallas County Technical Center. Another upcoming project on the Mallory campus will be some security improvements to the main entrance that will limit access to the hallways and classrooms by providing additional doors between the entrance area and the hallways leading classrooms. Improvements on the Mallory campus over a three-year period will nearly exceed the original cost of construction of the building, all done without a tax increase or any tax dedicated to building maintenance or improvements. Buffalo High School FEMA Building Receives Bleachers Three years ago the school district was very lucky to use federal funding to construct a new FEMA “Safe Room” on the Buffalo High School campus. This new building was constructed to withstand a “Level 5” tornado, the strongest tornado possible. The comfort of knowing all of our high school students have a safe place to take shelter in severe weather is wonderful, but, obviously the amount of time the building is used due to severe weather is minimal. So how do we use the FEMA building the rest of the time? The new FEMA building has also been a blessing in that it gives BHS another facility to hold physical education classes during the school day and can be configured as two basketball/volleyball courts for our sports teams. Some patrons are surprized to find out that we are in severe need of all the space we can find for after-school athletic activities and events. The new FEMA building has been used for a wide variety of activities including youth basketball programs and tournaments, volleyball leagues and tournaments, and a wide variety of non-sporting events. The biggest challenge for events in the new FEMA building has been, where is everyone supposed to sit during these events? Federal grant money could not be used for bleachers, so, the school district had to find the funds for bleachers on our own. This year we’re very happy to announce that we’ve been able to install bleachers in the FEMA building, greatly expanding it’s use for after school activities. Earlier this year the $31,000 project was completed to install the new bleachers in the FEMA shelter. These new bleachers have greatly increased our ability to use the facility for all events including when students need to rush to the building in severe weather. Making Our Campuses and Community Safer for Kids Mrs. Robin Ritchie, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Jon Turner, Assistant Superintendent Mrs. Lucinda Crouch, Director of Special Services Mrs. Debby Dryer, Buffalo High School Principal Mr. Les Abel, Dallas County Technical Center Director Mr. Matt Nimmo, Buffalo Prairie Middle School Principal Mr. David Harris, Mallory and Long Lane Elementary Principal
