Republic School District families and employees,

We hope you've had an enjoyable start to the 2025-2026 school year! We've had a blast seeing students back in our buildings!

As a reminder, Tiger Talk e-newsletters are typically distributed on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month throughout the school year as a way to keep our patrons informed with important school information. Archived editions can be found here.

As a reminder, Early Childhood (full-day and half-day afternoon) through 12th grade students will dismiss ONE HOUR EARLY every Friday during the school year for teacher collaboration time. Start times won't change. Dismissal times on Fridays are as follows:

• Republic High School: 1:40 p.m.

• Republic Intermediate School: 1:40 p.m.

• Republic Middle School: 1:50 p.m.

• EC & Elementary Buildings: 2:40 P.m.

Details can be found at republicschools.org/fridayearlyrelease.

Also, there will be NO SCHOOL on Monday, September 1 for Labor Day.

Beginning Wednesday, August 27, the Republic School District will resume sending daily attendance-related phone calls to families of students who are absent. These automated calls will come through our student information system and will display your child’s school building phone number.

Here’s what to expect:

• 10:15 a.m. call – Families of students at Republic High School, Republic Middle School and Republic Intermediate School will receive a call if their student has been absent from two or more of their first three classes.

• 6:30 p.m. call & email – Families of students in Early Childhood through Republic High School will be notified if their student was not in attendance for the school day.

Strong attendance is directly connected to student success, which is why we want to keep families informed. When students miss school, they miss valuable learning opportunities and important connections with teachers and classmates. Together, we can help ensure students are present, engaged and on track for success.

For more information about the importance of attendance and available resources, please visit: republicschools.org/page/every-day-counts

If your student has a negative meal balance, you'll also receive automated phone calls each week night from the Food Service Department.

Families have the option to make online meal payments through the Infinite Campus Parent Portal. Like other online payment systems a processing fee is applicable (3.75% for Debit/Credit and 0.35 for e-checks). To make an online meal payment, log in to the Infinite Campus Parent Portal. Instructions are available here. 

Meal prices for the 2025-2026 are listed below.

• EC/Elementary Breakfast $1.25

• EC/Elementary Lunch $2.80

• Secondary Breakfast $1.40

• Secondary Lunch $3.00

• Reduced Breakfast FREE

• Reduced Lunch $0.40

• Adult/Visitor Breakfast $2.75

• Adult/Visitor Lunch $5.05

In addition, the Free and Reduced Meal Application will be available for families to fill out on the Infinite Campus Parent Portal after a student's registration has been approved by their school building AND a parent/guardian has created a Parent Portal account. Take note, qualifications for this benefit may have changed and the application must be filled out to utilize this benefit during the 2025-2026 school year. Instructions are available here. 

Every student in kindergarten through 12th grade will be issued a take home technology device as part of the RepMO Ready plan. Our goal is to provide a digital learning device to all students for use both at school and at home. Students are responsible for the care of their assigned device at all times, both at school and home. The district strongly encourages families to purchase an Accidental Damage Protection Plan explained in the online form found on the Infinite Campus Parent Portal. Students will not be allowed to use school technology resources until the appropriate online form has been completed. The deadline to purchase ADPP is August 29.  

To purchase ADPP, visit the Infinite Campus Parent Portal after creating your account. Instructions are available here. 

Missouri SuN Bucks is a program to help families buy food for their school-aged children during the summer months of June, July and August.

Applications for Missouri SuN Bucks are due by August 31, 2025. Details are available here.

At the August 21 Board of Education meeting, the adoption of the agenda and approval of consent items (found on BoardDocs) took place after the Pledge of Allegiance. In addition, President Denny Lawson provided a Board Update.

Report Items:

• Elementary Summer SLAM administrators and educators shared details about the summer school session at Schofield and Sweeny Elementary Schools. More details are available below in "Social Media Highlights!"

• Superintendent Dr. Matt Pearce presented a district update regarding enrollment, budget and district highlights.

• All administrative reports can be found on BoardDocs.

Action Items:

• Members approved the property tax rate for 2025-2026.

• Other action items can be found on BoardDocs.

In addition, members approved the revised 2025-2026 school year calendar, which includes the removal of potential snow makeup days on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (January 19) and Presidents' Day (February 16). This is due to the passage of Senate Bill 68, which no longer requires 169 days of attendance. It instead now requires districts to have a 169-day calendar. The Republic School District has a 170-day calendar. In the event of inclement weather, we will continue to utilize AMI and traditional snow days, early release and late start options as needed. We will send out details regarding these procedures before winter weather season begins.

The next regular Board of Education meeting is scheduled for Thursday, September 18 at 7:00 p.m. in the Board of Education Meeting Room at Central Office (636 N. Main).

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our staff, Price Elementary has been named as one of America’s Healthiest Schools for 2025 by Alliance for a Healthier Generation for Cultivating Staff Well-Being! Price is among the 1,120 schools recognized across 34 states recognized for supporting the health of students, staff and families.

Last school year, the following schools were awarded for Cultivating Staff Well-Being: 

• Early Childhood Center

• Lyon Elementary

• Schofield Elementary

• Sweeny Elementary

• McCulloch Elementary

• Republic High School

We are #RepMOProud of the recognition received across our district as we continue to prioritize both employee and student well-being through our staff wellness efforts and our nursing services at each school. 

See the full list of schools that received the awards in 2025, click here.

Each spring, students across the district participate in state assessments (MAP and EOC). We have been notified by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) that Individual Student Reports (ISR) are available. The schedule for the distribution of ISRs for students who participated in state assessments last spring is as follows:

• ISRs for students currently in grades 4-6 will be distributed to families during Parent Teacher Conferences the week of October 27 (more information to come).

• ISRs for students currently in grades 7-8 will be distributed to students the week of September 8.

• ISRs for students currently in grades 9-12 will be distributed to students the week of September 2.

Information on how to interpret your child's results will be included with the ISR. If you have any questions or would like to see your child's report prior to the distribution times, please contact your child's school counselor or Dr. Jennifer Renegar, District Test Coordinator, at 417-732-3605 (ext. 6014) or email jennifer.renegar@republicschools.org.

Thanks to the support of our community, students and staff are able to enjoy air conditioning in the Price Elementary gym and Republic Middle School auxiliary gym! HVAC systems in both spaces were updated by the first day of school. These projects were funded through a no-tax rate increase bond issue that was passed by voters in April 2025. More information and other construction updates are available here.

Be sure to follow Republic School District on the following social media pages to see updates like the ones listed below!

• Facebook

• Instagram 

• LinkedIn

August 19: The first day of a new school year is special across our district — in every school, hallway and classroom. At Republic Intermediate School, the start of 2025-2026 carries an extra layer of excitement and meaning as students and staff step into our newest school building. This morning marked a new beginning, in a new space, filled with endless possibilities. 🧡🐾

We are deeply grateful to our community for making this project possible, and to the students, staff and families whose feedback and vision helped bring this building to life! #RepMOProud 🐅

September 1: Labor Day - District Closed

September 5: End of Progress 1 (RIS/RMS/RHS)

September 12: Progress 1 Grade Cards Available (RIS/RMS/RHS)

September 18: Board of Education Meeting, 7:00 p.m. at Central Office

September 19: End of Progress 1 (Elementary)

September 26: Progress 1 Grade Cards Available (Elementary), End of Progress 2 (RIS/RMS/RHS)

These and other important dates can be found at republicschools.org/events.

Find "back to school" details, such as open house events, at republicschools.org/backtoschool.