REMINDER: The Board of Education is soliciting constructive input from the community on the 2014-2015 proposed school calendar. Please submit your ideas and suggestions by adding your comments in the comment section under the calendars posted on the Hay Springs Public Schools facebook page.
Parents we will have report cards printed and ready for pickup on Monday, January 20th, 2014. Any questions please contact the school at 308-638-4434. Thank you!
The fourth grade class has been working very hard on writing all this year. Normally we are focused on Narrative writing as that is what our state test will be on this year. Recently though we read a story called Cendrillon in our Reading text book. It is a Cinderella type story. We decided to write our very own Cinderella or Cinderfella fairy tales and share them with other classrooms. The 4th graders wrote stories, edited them, then made them into books which they then illustrated. We would like to thank the students and teachers that allowed us to come into their rooms and share our stories.
The State Board of Education and Nebraska Department of Education developed a state accountability system as required by state law 79-760.06. The State Board of Education adopted a system that is based on student scale scores within grades, buildings and districts. The system is intended to inform educators, parents, school board members, community members and policymakers about the learning progress of Nebraska schools and school districts.
Key Components of NePAS:
1) Nebraska Performance Accountability System (NePAS), was effective for the first time during the 2012-2013 school year.
2) The basis of the new accountability system is NeSA statewide test results, which indicate student learning based on state standards developed to measure career and college readiness.
3) The state’s goal for students is that they will be college and career ready when they graduate so they have a successful work, military and/or college experience.
4) The purpose of NePAS is to inform policy makers, the public and school officials about school district performance.
5) The new accountability system provides information about the progress of districts by looking at state test scale scores in a category called STATUS as well as IMPROVEMENT and GROWTH.
6) NePAS ranks districts by the following grade level configurations:
-Elementary grade-level configuration (grades 3-5)
-Middle level grade-level configuration (grades 6-8)
-Secondary grade-level configuration (grades 9-12)
-District configuration (grades 3-12)
Graduation Rate – ranks districts by comparing the percentage of high school graduates.
What the rankings mean: There are 249 school districts in Nebraska. The NePAS results rank school districts from 1 to 249 in reading, math, science, and writing. For example if you ranked 2 on the writing test you were the second highest ranked of the 249 school districts in Nebraska. If you ranked 249 you were the lowest ranked school in Nebraska.
Hay Springs Schools scored well and were ranked quite high on this school district comparison. See results below:
Grades 3-12 Reading Status
– Hay Springs Ranked 19 out of 249 school districts in Nebraska
– Up 16 rankings from the previous school year
– Hay Springs was the highest ranking school district of the Panhandle Schools
Grades 3-12 Math Status
– Hay Springs Schools ranked 76 out of 249 school districts in Nebraska
– Up 14 rankings from the previous school year
– Hay Springs was the sixth highest ranking school district of the Panhandle Schools
Grades 3-12 Science Status
– Hay Springs Schools ranked 42 out of 249 school districts in Nebraska
– Hay Springs was the third highest ranking school district of the Panhandle Schools
Grades 3-12 Writing Status
– Hay Springs Schools ranked 182 out of 249 school districts in Nebraska
– Up 14 ranks from the previous school year
Graduation Rate
– Hay Springs had a 100% high school graduation rate for the 2012-2013 school year.
Hay Springs Schools scored quite well on all NeSA tests. When you compare all school districts in Nebraska from Omaha to Hay Springs our test scores and ranking were outstanding. We are all proud of our student success, parent support, quality teaching, and the overall quality of the education provided in Hay Springs Public Schools.
If you would like additional information regarding the NeSA testing, NePAS ranking of school districts, or a comparison of other school districts stop by the office. We would be glad to provide more specific information.
Link to the State of the Schools Report.
Pumpkin Project
By Taylyn Hopkins
On October 31, 2013 the 5th graders had a project to do. There were 3 groups with 6 in each group. There was 1 pumpkin per group. The first thing we did was see if the pumpkins floated. Next, we counted the lines and measured the circumference. Then we predicted how many lines effected how many seeds and how much bigger the circumference was effected the number of seeds. Then, we cut the tops off and cleaned out the guts. It was so messy! Next, we counted how many seeds each group had. Then we compared how the lines and size of the circumference effected how many seeds there were. Finally, we recorded our data.
Pumpkin Day
By Trace Bilby
Today, instead of doing math, we did experiments! We got to see if a pumpkin would sink or float in water. We also got to count the lines. We measured the circumference of the pumpkins. Then, we gutted them. We counted how many seeds there were. We saw that a smaller pumpkin had the most seeds.
Pumpkin Day
By Bailey Scherbarth
This morning the 5th graders did a little math and a little science together. They had to see if their pumpkins floated or sinked. The students were put into 3 groups. Group 1 was Taylyn, Shayla, Garrett, Tianna, Trace, and Bailey. Their pumpkin floated and had 23 line, was 64.5 cm around the pumpkin, and they had a total of 674 seeds. Group 2 was Hayly, Kaleb, Ruth, Hannah, Kade, and Stone. Their pumpkin floated and had 24 lines, was 70 cm around the pumpkin, and they had a total of 490 seeds. Group three was Joce, Jaiden, Brodey, Daniel, Jace, and Samantha. Their pumpkin floated, and had 20 lines, was 53.5 cm around the pumpkin, and with a total of 793 seeds. Everyone took out the guts and the seeds.
EARLY DISMISSAL/NO SCHOOL
It’s an exciting time at Hay Springs Public Schools. Congratulations to the Lady Hawks Volleyball team and the Hawks Football team. Listed below is the dismissal and game information.
Volleyball:
The Lady Hawks will be playing the first sub-district match against Sioux County at 4:00 p.m., at Chadron Middle School gym, on Tuesday, November 5. We are pleased that, because of the location, many of our students, staff, and fans will be able to attend. GO LADY HAWKS!
Please note the following:
* School will be dismissed at 3:00 pm on Tuesday, November 5, for all students PK-12
* No after school programs
* School buses will run at 3:15 pm
* Pep rally will begin at 2:00 pm Tuesday at Lister-Sage (Students will return to class for dismissal.)
Football:
With the win last Thursday the Hawk football team will head to Wallace, NE, to take on the Wildcats in Round 2 of the state playoffs. The game is scheduled for 2 p.m. (CT), 1 p.m. (MT), Wednesday, November 6th, in Wallace. GO HAWKS!
Please note the following:
* No school on Wednesday, November 6, 2013
* Pep rally will begin at 2:00 pm Tuesday at Lister-Sage (Students will return to class for dismissal.)
* Football team will leave at 5:30 am, Wednesday, November 6th
The Lady Hawks match up against Sioux County at 4:00 p.m. at Chadron Middle School gym, Tuesday, November 5!
4:30 – 8:30 pm
Please pick up report cards in the office prior to meeting with your teachers.
Our fall book fair is underway. Books are available for preview in the elementary library after school and during Parent-Teacher conferences on October 24th from 4 to 8 p.m. You can also scan and Shop the Online Book Fair for more choices. The online fair runs through November 5.
The fifth graders have been learning about the process engineers go through to find solutions to everyday problems. To practice the design process, students used modeling clay to design a raft that would float. Then they added pennies to the raft until it sank. They worked through the design process, by redesigning their raft, or by placing pennies in the rafts in different positions, to find the most pennies the rafts could hold without sinking. The students had a lot of fun designing and sinking their rafts.
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