Schools see addition of equipment, curriculum updates

grace johnson

 

For several Otoe County school districts, buildings continue to be a main focus. At Syracuse-Dunbar-Avoca, facility options are an ongoing discussion, said Superintendent Brad Buller. Don Uerling of the University of Nebraska recently presented his facility study, recommending additional space be constructed at the high school and elementary levels in Syracuse.

To accommodate space and classroom needs, a portable classroom was placed at the front of the high school building for the current school year. The hiring of Shannon Clayton as an English and science instructor has reduced the class size in both of those subjects.

Other classroom progress at S-D-A includes the realignment of the social studies curriculum and new social studies textbooks for kindergarten through 12th grade students. Sociology and psychology are also no longer exclusive to distance learning and are offered for both high school and college credit.

Several more visible projects have also been completed. A new driveway allows access to the east side of the senior high school from Highway 50. Dr. Joy Stilmock, secondary principal, said the driveway makes it easier for visitors to access the building and for parents to pick up students. The district also installed new playground equipment at the elementary school.

Nebraska City Public Schools

Nebraska City Public Schools also continues to explore facility needs for the district. The building and grounds committee hired architectural firm DLR Group to complete a 20-year facility study. Future projects may include building a new Northside Elementary, adding on to Hayward and the High School and installing an elevator at Second Avenue School.

At Hayward Elementary, students are enjoying new playground equipment including a new play tower, slides, a teeter-totter, climbers and swings selected specifically for the Hayward age group of third to fifth grade. NCPS Partners in Education raised funds for the project and were honored for Outstanding Community Service by a group at the Nebraska City Tourism and Commerce “Celebrate Nebraska City” banquet.

The district adopted a new wellness policy that includes stipulations on nutrition education, physical activity and food choices offered to students. In September, NCPS principals reported the policy a success and said students were eating more healthy foods throughout the course of the school day.

Dr. Keith Rohwer, superintendent, said the policy will continue to be successful if parents promote healthy eating habits. “A lot of it has to do with modeling,” Rohwer said.

The district continues to explore modified block scheduling and has completed trials to determine whether NCPS will adopt the new format at the High School.

Assessment and Curriculum Coordinator Teresa Frields said the district is increasingly focused on assessment. She said NCPS is continually fine-tuning the process. “It’s always about school improvement as a whole,” she said. “Standards have promoted positive outcomes and assessment has become an integral part of learning.”

Frields said an assessment team has been implementing new strategies. “Teachers have been studying research-based methods,” she said.

Frields said NCPS has been a model for other schools. “We are rated exemplary every year for our assessment process,” she said.

NCPS has also completed extensive updates to its web site, with special emphasis on providing parents and students the most up-to-date information. Northside Elementary Principal Haeven Pedersen said PowerSchool, a database which can be accessed through the web site, is increasingly useful.

At the High School, a new electronic sign is now in place. The Behrends-Leisemeyer Memorial sign that it replaced will now be used by Second Avenue School. Second Avenue School is also benefiting from a new computer lab.

Lourdes Central Catholic

At Nebraska City Lourdes, 2006 marked the first year of a new discipline policy involving the use of infraction cards. Father Jeremy Hazuka, high school principal, said implementing the new policy has gone fairly smoothly. “The students appreciate it because it gives them a few more chances before they are given a detention,” he said. “Teachers correct little mistakes before things get out of hand.” Students carry the cards with them and teachers make notations on the cards when discipline issues arise. A detention is issued following the fourth infraction.

Hazuka and Elementary Principal Valerie Able have recently spent time evaluating the school’s performance as it relates to the mission of “assisting parents in the development of their children by providing a Christ-centered environment which promotes spiritual, academic and social growth.” Hazuka said he is pleased with what he has been observing.

“Many teachers have found ways of incorporating faith into their teaching, even when discussing secular subjects such as social studies or language arts,” Hazuka said. “I hope we will continue to grow in this area.”

Hazuka said the high school students are enjoying the use of new computers which have just arrived. He said both teachers and students have also begun using electronic smartboards in place of chalkboards and whiteboards. The smart boards allow information written on the board to be saved on a computer and information to be projected from a computer to the board.

NCECBVI

The Nebraska Center for the Education of Children who are Blind or Visually Impaired has taken several steps toward school improvement in the last year.

A new addition to NCECBVI’s programs is the Nebraska Vision Stakeholder Team. “This group comes to NCECBVI twice per school year to review our current state plan, programs and services,” NCECBVI Administrator Sally Giittinger said. “In response to their input, NCECBVI has added opportunities for students with visual impairments to socialize, network and participate in various activities.”

Giittinger said one of the new activities is the Nebraska Regional Braille Challenge, which the school will host Feb. 28. Top finishers will be selected to compete in the national competition in June in Los Angeles.

This summer’s “Tools of the Trade Family Weekends”were held to provide more training for parents from around the state. “Parents of blind children are often located in communities with no other children nearby who have similar disabilities,” Giittinger said.

She said NCECBVI is also serving as co-sponsors and actively planning the National Families Connecting with Families Conference to be held in Omaha in July. “NCECBVI is honored to be a part of this national committee and pleased that a national conference of this magnitude will be offered close to home for many of our families in Nebraska,” Giittinger said.

The school recently gave a statewide conference for paraeducators and will be hosting a statewide conference for early childhood service coordinators and providers. “These specialists need extensive tools in their toolkits for serving children with all types of disabilities, and NCECBVI is anxious to add more items to serve as resources,” she said. “NCECBVI is continually reviewing ways to improve services for students on campus as well as statewide.”