Superintendent Briefing
January 2020
A Note from Dr. Hanson, Superintendent
Hello NPPS Families and Supporters,
This year is off to a quick start, as are the growth opportunities occurring within the district. Our first and most important opportunity is the Safety and Security Initiative, to which we invite you to join in our open forums (outlined later in the blog). The open forums are a time for you to listen to the outline of this initiative, then visit with us about your thoughts and ideas. A mail-in ballot will be sent to your postal box at the end of February and are due back to the election office by 5:00 p.m. on March 10, 2020. For more information about this initiative or to submit questions, visit our website by clicking this link – Safety & Security.
Secondly, regarding the potential Buffalo-Lincoln Elementary Schools merger, we have facilitated 12 face-to-face meetings with the staff and parents at both schools. As a result of these meetings, we have created a task force that will develop a plan for this potential merger. Once the task force has developed a plan, it will go to the Board of Education (BOE) for approval. The task force consisting of parents, staff, and administration is asked to consider all growth opportunities that will benefit the students, staff, families, and taxpayers we serve.
Our third growth opportunity involves the inclusion of Ladybug Crossing Daycare at Osgood Elementary. This initiative is pending BOE approval. We have been asked about cancellation of programs such as art and music at Osgood, to make room for the daycare, there will be no changes or disruption to the identified curriculum. The room in which this instruction currently occurs will be relocated over the summer if this initiative passes BOE approval in February. There are enough rooms at Osgood to deliver all of the current curriculum, programs, and the addition of the daycare.
I would also like to take this opportunity to address the no public comment section at the January BOE meeting. This decision was based solely on the re-election of the BOE officers and the reorganization of the officer team. This being said open comment is on the agenda for the February meeting as is the option for patrons to join us at open forums for safety and security. We look forward to an atmosphere of continued open dialogue and respectful conversation with you all.
I believe we can agree that the safety and security of our students, staff, and the families we serve is a top priority. Our team and I look forward to working on this and all initiatives with you, your student/s, and staff in mind.
The district will continue to invest our time and energy to create a positive culture focused on safety, security, growth, and innovation as we move forward. I look forward to seeing you at one of our open forums.
Best Regards,
Dr. Ron Hanson, Superintendent
North Platte Public Schools
North Platte Public Schools Foundation
January Staff Member of the Month ~ Mr. King
The North Platte Public Schools Foundation in conjunction with North Platte Public Schools is excited to announce that they are honoring Scott King as the NPPS Bulldog Staff member of the month for January. Scott teaches Science at North Platte High School.
Scott is originally from Wyoming and graduated with a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction from Montana State University. He worked at Adams Middle School for one year before transferring to the High School for the opportunity to teach Biology. The Bulldogger recently featured Mr. King in a news story for his unique approach to encouraging students to have a great day, by holding inspirational signage during his parking lot duty.
Micah Fischer Assistant Principal made the nomination describing Scott as a hard worker dedicated to student success and positive communication.
The North Platte Public Schools Foundation awards each winner a gift basket, balloons, and a gift card to the Bulldog store at NPHS. They also receive gifts from our monthly business sponsor and a flower bouquet from Prairie Friends and Flowers. The January business sponsor was Lance Carlson from Carlson Financial Group.
The North Platte Public Schools Foundation facilitates the program and takes nominations from principals and administration. Staff members are awarded monthly throughout the school year and will be recognized at Education After Hours in the spring. We are always accepting business sponsors for this award. For more information, contact the North Platte Public Schools Foundation at 696-3325.
Jodi Howard
308-696-3325
NPPS Safety & Security Initiative
North Platte Public Schools works at ensuring our buildings are safe, and we are developing relationships with our students. Working with our SRO, we have a strong protocol about safety and making sure our district staff and students understand the protocol. I am proud of all of our staff and SRO on how we all work together to protect our students. The steering committee will continually update and modify our safety protocol in the coming months.
Safety and Security encompasses many items, and a cyber threat is just as much a safety risk as our students. We have many different types of data on our computers around the district. Our Technology Department is continually working to keep our network safe and secure.
SODEXO - Food Services
KidsKlub - STEM
This January Kids Klub partnered for the third year in a row with NPHS Skills USA teachers and students to bring a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) Mega Day to our elementary students.
Our students started their morning at Jefferson exploring various mediums of art. We did dot art flowers, torn paper art creations, and aluminum foil and transparency film stained glass art.
In the afternoon our students experienced welding, welding simulation, woodworking with a lathe, 3D printing, robotics, and electric circuitry.
We are so very thankful for the UPRR Foundation’s generous donation to our Skills USA/ Kids Klub partnership. Without their grant, we would not have the funds needed to make this day happen.
Thank you for helping make Kids Klub a success!
Carrie Lienemann, Director
Technology
Tech Time
The Technology Dept. has been implementing some changes to improve access to systems for staff. First, with the completion of Osgood’s Access control system, all 12 school buildings now have secured card access for staff.
At NPHS, three point-of-sale terminals were added to the cafeteria for the 2nd Chance Breakfast that was initiated in January. We have also been working on a number of behind the scenes improvements to our network security as well as some housekeeping to our NPHS server room. Thank you Spencer Knight!
We also implemented Infinite Campus Single Sign-On (SSO) for our staff so they have one less system password to have to remember.
Maintenance
January has been a busy month for our NPPS Transportation Department. Our buses have driven over 15,334 miles taking students and staff all over.
Our bus drivers are dedicated to our students and staff
High School activities: 12,389 miles
M.S activities : 1,400 miles
MS Route : 1,200 miles
Elementary Field trips: 315 miles
Kids Klub: 30 miles
Bus drivers driving time: 631 hours
Thanks for everything you do for NPPSD
Lori Coburn - Director of Facilities
TEAMMATES
TACOS FOR TEAMMATES
$5.00 per plate
NPHS Commons
Friday, Feb 7, 2020, 06:00 PM
North Platte High School, West 2nd Street, North Platte, NE, USA
Mobile Food Pantry
Join Us On Social Media
NPPS Mobile App
We are happy to share with our North Platte Public Schools community the release of our updated mobile app. The app is designed to get quick access to district and school information, news and events. You can access the new mobile app in both the Apple App Store and Google Play store. Simply search for "NPPSD" in either store. -- Brian Tegtmeier, Director of Technology.