SPS Families and Staff,

Mr. Gordon is known for his phrase, “I love Stillwater.” I too love Stillwater for many reasons. It’s a unique place that blends the best of many worlds. First, I am a proud undergraduate and graduate school alum of Oklahoma State University. I fell in love with the community in 1986 when I moved here, and I have loved it since. Secondly, my husband is a graduate of Stillwater High School, and our extended family still lives here. I believe that Stillwater, in part, shaped him into an incredibly selfless and honorable husband, father and twenty-year Navy Veteran. Stillwater reminds me a lot of the community in which I was raised, as it has an eclectic blend of farm and ranchland, innovation, tradition, and world-class education and community leadership. This blend creates a culture of neighbor helping neighbor, where we value giving to others before we take for ourselves.

With the holiday season approaching, I am excited to see the outpouring of love and generosity to our neediest families. If you are in a position to help, our school-based services will be collecting toys and gifts to ensure all of our Pioneers have a gift to open and a meal to eat during the winter holiday season. We will be posting details on our website and social media soon. Likewise, if you are a family that needs help and support, please reach out to your school administrator or counselor.

Another recent piece of information that is important to share is the budget shortfall and planned budgetary changes for the 2025-2026 school year that were approved during the recent school board meeting this past Tuesday. The board has approved a plan for reductions in the general fund budget. This does not include other funding sources such as federal grants, competitive grants, bond allocations and other funding sources. This reduction outline can be found on the board meeting agenda. To be clear, the reductions will not be taking effect until the 2025-2026 school year, and they are simply bringing us back to pre-COVID levels of staffing and spending. One area that was deceiving at first glance was that we are reducing special education by 29%. This is not accurate. The area was titled, “student support” and actually reflects a combination of many different areas such as tutoring, necessary remediation as a result of COVID learning loss, and other support services. The planned reduction to the general budget funding in this area is 29%, but the plan is to move many of these costs into grants and other funding sources. Federal ESSER funds were used to boost staffing and resources in order to recover from the effects of COVID and that funding source has now ended. We have hired over 150 support and certified personnel for this school year alone, so we believe that most, if not all of the reductions will take place through attrition. We have a dedicated and experienced staff that has weathered many budgetary swings, and I am confident that we will absorb this decrease without reducing our connection to our students and families. To quote Brene’ Brown, “Connection is the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard and valued.” We value our students most of all, as they are the reason we exist.

So why do I love Stillwater…to quote Mr. Gordon, because “we are Pioneers” and that means we are made of grit, integrity and ingenuity. We tackle the challenges before us and continue to build a bright future for our children.

Thank you,

 

Dr. Vinson

Acting Superintendent

Stillwater Public Schools

 

 

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One week left before a full week off for Thanksgiving break. Once we come back holiday celebrations and end of semester events will make the days fly by. Please take the time to check your students grades and attendance, to make sure they are on track to close the semester out strong.

 

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Gourd Dance

The SPS Indigenous Peoples Education Parent Committee is hosting a  benefit Gourd Dance this weekend. Don’t miss out on the chance during Native American Heritage Month to experience this unique cultural ceremony.

Nov 16 

SHS
Gourd Dance 2-5pm
Supper served @ 5pm
Gourd Dance 6:30-8pm 

Details 

 

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Author Visit

We’re excited to welcome best-selling, Sequoyah Children's Book Award Winner, author/illustrator Adam Rex next week at our Elementary schools. Through the Adopt-An-Author fund at Stillwater Public Education Foundation, we are able to host exciting events like these for our students. Mr. Rex will discuss the writing and illustrating process, share some of his favorite works, and answer questions from students. 

 

If you would like to hear from and meet Mr. Rex while he is in Stillwater, you're invited to a special event open to all families hosted in conjunction with our friends at the Stillwater Public Library,  Mr. Rex will be speaking at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, November 19 at Stillwater Public Library. 

 

Thank you, SPEF!

 

Learn more at adamrex.com 

 

 

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A few Family Support Services announcements

• As cold weather approaches, please know there are multiple opportunities for those who are in need of coats. 

  • "CoatsGiving" is this weekend, November 17, at Simply Church. This event begins at 3:00pm, while supplies last. Use this link to gather more information. 

  • Simply ask your school office or contact Natalie Brown at nbrown@stillwaterschools.com with your student's size(s) and she’ll get those to your children. We have more than 300 new coats on hand from sizes 2T on up, and are happy to help those in need.  Please don’t hesitate to ask.

  • 

• Free Thanksgiving Meal: The Community Thanksgiving Lunch will be at the First United Methodist Church from 10:30am-1pm. 

• If you are in need of other food resources, check out Our Daily Bread!

• Families on our McKinney-Vento list have the opportunity to have some help for Christmas! 

  • We are looking for individuals, churches, and businesses that would like to partner with us to adopt a MV family this Christmas or donate new toys (infant-12th grade) for our program! We would also love gift bag donations! We have around 110 SPS students that qualify for our McKinney-Vento program. For more information about McKinney-Vento, use this link. 

  • To qualify for McKinney-Vento Christmas help:

    • - Be on our MV list (you should have received an email)

    • - Send me an email indicating that you are not receiving help from another source

    • - List in your email the number of children in your home, their name (first and last), age, school, favorite color, clothing sizes, and a few things that they are interested in. 

 

 

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Take a look. It’s in a book. A reading… forest? 

Thanks to the hard work of families and staff, Skyline Elementary recently unveiled a new addition to their outdoor classroom – a reading forest. Classes and even families can now use this hammock area to enjoy nature while reading, writing, and more.  Skyline’s Annie Ortiz explains:

“I saw a picture of a reading forest on a Twitter post a few years ago and was inspired by the principal who created it. Natalie, Claire and I talked to SPS Facilities and they said we could go for it. I wrote a Donors Choose grant for 30 hammocks that was funded in a day. Then of course, I had to call OKIE811 to make sure everything was cleared to dig. My husband was wrangled into cutting down a few dead trees in the Outdoor Classroom. Stillwater Building Center graciously donated the 20 posts and 60 eye screws to the project. One Saturday I invited the parents of my gifted student to volunteer to help dig 20 holes and install the posts. They brought post hole diggers, along with shovels, buckets, and tampers.  Mrs. Clark's husband, Brett, brought out his powered post hole digger which saved the day.  The ground was very dry and hard even with my watering it a few days before.  We worked from about 8 in the morning til about noon digging, dumping in gravel, a post, cement and water.  Some parents removed other dead trees and limbs. My husband and I later tamped down the soil and installed the 60 screws. On our most recent PD day, we had a ribbon cutting ceremony and teachers got to try them out. It was delightful! Teachers have taken students out this week to enjoy some time reading in the hammocks. They are each in their own space just reading. Families who have hammocks can come up on weekends and enjoy the area too.”

Thank you to Annie Ortiz, volunteers, and Stillwater Building Center for collaborating on this amazing space!

 

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Coming Up - Stillwaterschools.com/calendar

• Saturday, Nov 16

  • HS - Basketball Boys at Edmond Santa Fe Scrimmage 

  • Gourd Dance @ SHS 2-8pm

  • Stardust: a comedy presented by SHS Theatre

• Sunday, Nov 17

  • Stardust: a comedy presented by SHS Theatre

• Monday, Nov 18

  • MS/JH - Basketball vs. Piedmont (7th G 4:30 / 7th B 5:30 / 8th G 6:30 / 8th B 7:30)

  • Band Dine Night at Buffalo Wild Wings

• Tuesday, Nov 19

  • Froshmore Academic Competition @ Jenks

  • HS - Swim at Bartlesville

• Wednesday, Nov 20

  • Education Support Professionals Day

  • Sanger Supper Fundraiser- Raising Cane's

• Thursday, Nov 21

  • MS/JH - Basketball at Mustang Central (7th G 4:30 / 7th B 5:30 / 8th G 6:30 / 8th B 7:30)

  • Beginner Band Demonstration Concert at the PAC 7pm

• Friday, Nov 22

  • Substitute Teacher Day

  • HS - Wrestling Girls at Arlington Martin Invite (Day 1/2)

  • HS - Football Varsity 2nd Round Playoff @ Pioneer Stadium vs the winner of (PCNorth vs Southmoore on 11/15)

• Saturday, Nov 23

  • HS - Wrestling Girls at Arlington Martin Invite (Day 2/2)

• Monday, Nov 25

  • HS - Basketball at Enid (JVG 1:00 / JVB 2:15 / Varsity Girls 3:30 / Varsity Boys 5:00)

• Monday, Nov 25 - Friday, Nov 29

  • No School - Thanksgiving Break

 

 

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Go Pioneers,

 

Barry Fuxa

PR & Communications Coordinator

Stillwater Public Schools