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Important dates
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- Aug. 15: First day of school
- Sept. 4: No school, Labor Day
- Sept. 28-29: Parent-Teacher Conferences
- Sept. 29: No school, Conferences
- Oct. 16: No school, Professional Development Day
- Nov. 20 through 24: No school, Conference Comp Day and Fall Break
- Dec. 21-Jan. 3: No school, Teacher Work Day and Winter Break
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Emergency alerts
and notifications
In the event of an emergency in your child's school, Maize USD 266 will use the Blackboard Connect parent notification system to notify you of the situation and will alert you about steps you need to take in order to reunite with your child. Voice messages will be sent to phone numbers and e-mails listed in Skyward Family Access "Family 1"
and, when applicable, the primary contact in "Family 2."
To view the contact information the district has on file, please log on to Skyward Family Access and click on "Student Information." If you are unsure how to log on to Skyward Family Access, please contact your child's school for assistance.
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Coming to a mailbox near you: The Maize Messenger
Watch for the next issue of The Maize Messenger, Maize USD 266's district newsletter. In it, you will find articles and information about our new maize:connect community engagement program, Maize Board of Education news and updates, OneMa1ze initiatives to connect schools and community, and recent student and staff member successes.
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Six helpful back-to-school reminders for parents
- 1. School supplies: Find out what you need by clicking here. Lists are specific to grade levels. (Also, please consider donating supplies for our students in need. See below for a fun opportunity Aug. 11.)
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- 6. Activity pass: Maize USD 266 offers an activity pass to individuals and families planning to attend multiple extra-curricular middle and high school events to support their children and our students. Purchasing a pass can be an economical option for residents looking for a positive form of frequent family-friendly entertainment in the Maize Schools community. Please click here to purchase an activity pass. Thank you for your support of Maize Schools!
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New menu program provides expanded nutrition tools
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Maize USD 266 for the 2017-18 school year is launching a new school menu program that will provide richer nutrition information about school breakfasts and lunches for students and their families.
The Nutrislice program allows users to access information on the web or via a free mobile app. To use the program:
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Select your school.
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Choose your menu (breakfast or lunch).
Nutrislice enables families to more easily plan school breakfasts and lunches, as well as make decisions related to each student's diet, health, allergies, and other food-related needs. Please click here to learn more.
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Maize High principal
named administrator of the year
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Congratulations to Dr. Chris Botts, Maize High School Principal, named earlier this month as Sedgwick County Area Educational Services Interlocal Cooperative No. 618's Principal of the Year!
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Find events, opportunities on
Online Bulletin Board
Maize USD 266's
Online Bulletin Board
is the place to go for information about upcoming events, fundraisers, and
other opportunities available through the district and partner agencies. Those interested also may
sign up to receive e-mail updates when new information is added.
Maize High School Fall Sports Extravaganza: 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Aug. 25 at Maize High. Bring canned food items to donate to our own Maslow's Pantry. Inflatables; team introductions and tournaments/scrimmages; performances by the Eagle Marching Band and Drum Line, Flygirls, and Cheer; fireworks; dance. Booths and food available.
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Interested in joining our Maize Schools team? Many openings are part-time jobs with full-time benefits, including:
* Group health insurance
* Summers off
* Fall,
Winter, and
Spring break off
* No evenings or weekends
* Bonuses
Maize USD 266 also is looking for:
* food service workers.
* Sedgwick County Area Educational Services Paraprofessionals.
Come and work in our OneMa1ze community, supported by parents, graduates, and Maize and Northwest Wichita. This would be a great opportunity to participate in the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System.
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Superintendent's Message
Start of something new pushes us into new, exciting territories
BY DR. CHAD HIGGINS
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Three's a charm, and my third annual summer story time event at MOXI Junction with community children certainly was charming.
One of the books was "The Night Before Preschool," a parody of another rhyme you may know. A portion went like this:
"But one little boy
was still wide awake.
He worried about preschool
and the friends that he'd make.
His tummy hurt,
yet he didn't know why.
He hid behind Mommy.
He was feeling quite shy."
Student or former student, we all can relate to Billy, wide-eyed in bed the night before the first day of school with growing anxiety, wondering what this next chapter holds. I'm sure many of our OneMa1ze parents will reassure their children in just a few days as this scene plays out in homes throughout our community.
Our preschool students and teachers will have a special first day soon, as our brand new Maize Early Childhood Center
-- our district's first standalone preschool -- opens its doors for the first time. This is a prominent project in our $70 million bond issue, still in the works throughout our district.
Our preschool is just one of the new gems we will encounter together during the upcoming 2017-18 school year. A few others include:
- our Maize Career Academy, under construction at 45th and 119th streets in Maize. Another bond project, it is scheduled to open this winter and will be a place for students district-wide to gain skills for higher education and future careers. (You can see an architectural rendering of this exciting project below.)
- our new maize:connect program to strengthen and formalize community connections and engagement and to broaden and deepen relationships and opportunities for our schools, students, and community. (Please click here for more about maize:connect.)
- our Flight Challenge, through which our high school juniors and seniors in aerospace engineering will build an airplane on our campus in partnership with Airbus and TangoFlight. Our students will learn through hands-on activities and lessons alongside veteran professionals.
- new programs to engage students and teach skills, teamwork, responsibility, and more. These include the co-ed Maize High School Trap Shooting Team, which meets off-campus for safe and supervised practices with coaches and that introduces our students to organized league and conference competition. Complete High School Maize, the district's alternative high school, will be launching a new gaming curriculum this year. Students will receive instruction in traditional fields of coding and programming. At the heart of the lab will be Esports, via which students will learn about technology, the gaming industry and sportsmanship. Please click here to learn more about the program, made possible thanks to grant funding from the Maize Education Foundation.
- a strategic planning initiative that will allow us as OneMa1ze to dream and plan and create a renewed vision for our district's future.
- a new district website with improved navigation and digital components. It will be more mobile-friendly, as we know many of you access information about our district on your smartphones and tablets.
- a new sense of relief that, thanks to increased funding for Kansas public schools, we may be able to continue to grow programs to support and address our diversity of student needs and ambitions.
Just like Billy, the new preschool student in the story I read recently, these new initiatives may push us into new territory, but we will find endless possibilities that will only make Maize USD 266 an even better place to connect, learn, and lead.
Best wishes on the big first day and on this year ahead.
Sincerely,
Dr. Chad Higgins, Superintendent of Schools
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Bond issue update
Interior, exterior changes abound in time for back-to-school at Maize Middle
Exterior tiling has been added to the renovated portion of
Maize Middle School in recent weeks. Inside, crews have been adding
gym flooring
, with new bleachers coming.
The new locker
rooms on the building's southern side are nearly complete, and interior
masonry work is wrapping up. Flooring has
been installed in classrooms. The renovation work is the next phase in the building's massive overhaul. Last spring, the expansion to the north opened, featuring a new auditorium-cafetorium space, administrative offices, and more.
 At Maize South High School, the special education suite (pictured at right)
has received new carpeting, cabinetry,
lighting, and ceiling tiles. Wood shelving
for storage is being added to the stagecraft
addition. Electricity is being extended to
the locker rooms.
 At Maize High School,
track rubberized surfacing installation is scheduled to occur this month
. The interior remodel is on
schedule for the Maize Career Academy. Maize Board of Education members at their July meeting approved the purchase of football field and security lighting, new LED technology used in only one other field in Kansas. This is a bond project, and those funds will be used for this purchase.
You can learn more about the bond vision by visiting our bond resource page at
www.usd266.com/bond
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Maize Board of Education update
Eagles, Mavericks honored together
as OneMa1ze state baseball champs
On July 10, the
Maize Board of Education honored Maize High School and Maize South High School baseball players. In a special success story, both teams won their state championships in the spring. Players and coaches were honored together as OneMa1ze.
The Maize Board of Education has scheduled a formal budget hearing for 6:30 p.m. Aug. 14 immediately before the regular monthly meeting, 7 p.m. at the new Maize Early Childhood Center,
9405 W. 37th Street North in Wichita
. The meeting is open to the public.
Board members in July reelected Matt Jensby as President and Dr. Jeff Jarman as Vice President for the 2017-18 school year.
Sidewalk project connects Maize, Tyler roads for increased pedestrian safety
Maize board members during their July meeting approved a proposal to address a sidewalk project a year earlier than originally scheduled in the district's five-year Capital Outlay Plan. As shown above, the sidewalk addition will connect Maize and Tyler roads. This is part of an ongoing process to improve pedestrian traffic and safety.
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Maize Education Foundation news
Sign up now to participate in, support Aug. 21 Foundation golf tournament
The 9th Annual Maize Education Foundation Golf Tournament is just around the corner, and there is still time to get involved as a golfer and/or event sponsor!
Tee off will be at 12:30 p.m. Aug. 21 at Reflection Ridge Golf Course. The money raised funds the Foundation's annual grants.
The Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization,
awarded nearly $35,000 in teacher grants in May
and more than $240,000 since its inception. This total includes thousands of dollars in Student Enrichment Grants to send
students to leadership camps, national seminars, and more. Recent winners participated in
American Legion Boys State of Kansas, Business Professionals of America National Conference, and Mountains and Minds Touring Orchestra.
Foundation accepting Student Enrichment Grant applications
Maize USD 266 students in grades seven through 11 are invited to apply for a Maize Education Foundation Student Enrichment grant of up to $500 to help pay for an academic/leadership seminar, workshop, fine arts camp, etc. Applications are due Oct. 17. The Foundation has committed to awarding up to $5,000 each semester. Please click here to apply and to access complete details.
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Donate school supplies at Fill the Bus
Maize USD 266 will join Chick-fil-A at 21st Street and Maize Road for its 5th-annual school supply drive. The event will be from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 11. Donors will receive a coupon for a free sandwich. The drive helps our students in need be prepared for the new school year. Thank you in advance, OneMa1ze community, for your support! Items needed include dry erase markers, facial tissues, pocket folders, and spiral-bound notebooks.
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Thanks, readers, for another great Summer Bookmobile season
 Our roving Maize USD 266 Summer Bookmobile had a month of stops in Maize and Northwest Wichita in July to promote summer reading.
Anyone who still has books checked out may return them to the Maize Educational Support Center, 905 W. Academy Ave. in Maize, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.
Thanks to all involved, including our stop hosts, and to the Maize Education Foundation for funding the program.
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5. Stay connected: 
