Category Archives: Academics

“Be a yardstick of quality.  Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.”  Steve Jobs

EXCELLENCE IS EXPECTED IN HAY SPRINGS!

Reflect back three years ago.  Hay Springs Schools were not achieving well academically.  We had a large number of students that were not proficient on State Assessment tests, our school district did not meet AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress), and perhaps worse, the State of Nebraska placed us on the “Persistently Lowest Achieving Schools” list – the bottom 5% of all schools in the State.  Overall, we were a failing school district academically.

Now, jump forward three years to today. Note the following success:

• On average 87% of our students are proficient, well above most schools in the State.

NeSA Tests (Nebraska State Achievement Test):

• NeSA – Reading: Our test scores exceeded the average State’s average scores at every grade level tested.  At the fourth grade 100% of our students were proficient.
• NeSA – Math: Our test scores again exceeded the state average except at grades four and seven who were close.  Grade six had 100% students proficient.
• NeSA –Science: These tests were exceptionally high.  Students are tested at grades five, eight, and eleven.  Students tested well above the State average.

AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress): Our school district has met Adequate Yearly Progress every year for the last three years.  All districts strive for this yearly recognition.

Two years ago our school was taken off the “Persistently Lowest Achieving Schools” list.  Because of our high academic success we are not close to being placed on the list again.

ACT Test: If your child plans to attend a four-year college after high School students must take the ACT.  This test reflects the achievement of our graduates over time and is an indication of the extent to which our students are prepared for college-level work.  The ACT measures English, mathematics, reading and science.  Last year’s graduating class and this years senior class are both substantially over the State average.  I would note that most schools only test the few students that plan to attend college.  In Hay Springs we make an effort to test every student.

We can attribute our academic success to our outstanding teaching staff, hard working students that come to school well rested and prepared for class, a solid curriculum and a supportive Board of Education.

In the last week we have sent home individual student’s State Assessment Test Scores.  Read them over, ask your child’s teacher for clarification, and work with your child if there are areas that are low.

As a community we should be proud of our hard working students, supportive parents, and diligent staff.  We are all working towards improved learning and successful students.

There is no better place for your child than Hay Springs Public Schools.

Students in grades one through eleven will be taking NWEA MAPS the beginning of October.  We are hoping to finish our NWEA Maps assessments prior to parent-teacher conferences so you can receive those results at conferences.  If you do not or if you have questions please contact Mrs. Marx after conferences.

Actual test dates have not been set at this time; however, your child’s teacher should notify them of an impending test.  You can help your child by remembering it is important for him/her to get a good night’s sleep before testing and to eat a good breakfast.  Also remind your child that these tests are important and encourage him/her to do their best.

This week in first grade we learned about living and non-living things.  It seems very easy to tell a living thing from a non-living one, but it’s not as easy as it appears!  We conducted an experiment this week to further investigate this idea.

For our experiment, we placed a soaking wet cotton ball and radish seeds in a small cup, and in another cup we placed a foam grow creature covered with water.  We made predictions about what we thought would happen the next day when we checked on them and talked about whether each one was living or non-living.  Many students were convinced that the foam creature was alive because it “grew” when placed in the water.

The next day, students were anxious to check on their cups to see the progress of their seeds and creatures.  There was a lot of excitement as many noticed that their seeds had sprouted and their foam creature had gotten larger.  This sparked a discussion about what makes something living or non-living.  We discussed that living things needed to make more of themselves, and since the foam creature was not capable of doing that, even though it “grew”, it was not actually a living thing.

The students loved the opportunity to investigate an idea and draw conclusions based on the results.  The next time your child asks a math or science related question, find a way for them to come to the answer on their own.  It will have more meaning to them and they will often have a better understanding in the end.

We had a wonderful time having a guest artist last Monday.  Kay Meeks arrived September 10 from an art showing in Ogalala.  She is from Wyoming and oil painted on canvas stock card.  Kay had a photo of a long-horned steer and talked about how to paint what you see and how to paint shadows.  She also kept us captivated by her funny stories.  Her art rag was one of her son’s diapers from over 30 years ago and she only has just 3 left.  She was a pure pleasure to have and we are hoping to see her again in the spring.

Engineering Design Process: Building an Insulated Cooler

The Seventh Grade Science Class put their minds to work to design an insulated cooler that would keep an ice cube frozen for an entire class period. The students researched on the computer for what materials make good insulators and the materials were gathered.  Materials used for the insulated coolers included liquid insulation, Crisco, Styrofoam packing peanuts, household insulation, sweatshirt material, and Styrofoam panels.  They designed, built, tested, and evaluated their coolers.  The results were:

Ciara thought the Crisco kept the ice cube colder than she thought it would while others were disappointed with the effectiveness of the Styrofoam.

Just a note to remind parents that it is NOT the school’s or counselor’s job to fill out or in many cases to obtain scholarship applications. It should primarily be the responsibility of the student although I am realistic and know that it is usually Mom that does the majority of the work on scholarship applications. All scholarship information that crosses my desk will be posted outside room 306 (the math room) on the third floor. With that said all of the seniors in my classes have been told about a very, very good scholarship opportunity for Nebraskans in rural counties. It is the Hagan Scholarship, this year is the first year that it has been offered in Nebraska, It potentially pays everything for a four year college education! The numbers are limited and the restrictions are pretty high but may be worth the effort. September 1st was the first day that it could be started, everything is on line at www.hsfmo.org. Get on line, check your eligibility, 16 scholarships will be awarded in Nebraska and we will not be competing against Omaha and Lincoln as they are not in rural counties. The deadline is Nov 15th. If you have questions contact Ed Planansky or Kim Marx at the High School. Keep checking or have your student check for new scholarships. You Must Apply to get any scholarship.

The Marketing Class has constructed a short survey on haircut preferences.  It is a simple ten questions asking high school students about where or how they take care of their hair. The questions should only take five minutes or less. Thank you high school English teachers for letting students take part in our survey during class. Thanks students for taking part, as we greatly appreciate your participation.  Please complete the survey by the end of school on TUESDAY, SEPT. 18.

Click this link to take the survey and submit your responses.

This week is visual arts in education week. The visual arts are so much more than what you see.

Did you know?

• Most children and youth spend 10 hours per day in front of screens composed of pictures and words.
• 1.25 million Americans currently work in the visual arts. Jobs for artists and designers are predicted to increase by 43% by 2016.

10 lessons the arts teach:

• The arts teach children to make good judgements about qualitative relationships. Unlike much of the curriculum in which correct answers and rules prevail, in the arts, it is judgement rather than rules that prevail.
• The arts teach children that problems can have more than one solution and that questions can have more than one answer.
• The arts celebrate multiple perspectives. One of their large lessons is that there are many ways to see and interpret the world.
• The arts teach children that in complex forms of problem solving purposes are seldom fixed, but change with circumstance and opportunity. Learning in the arts requires the ability and a willingness to surrender to the unanticipated possibilities of the work as it unfolds.
• The arts make vivid the fact that neither words in their literal form nor numbers exhaust what we can know. The limits of our language do not define the limits of our cognition.
• The arts teach students that small differences can have large effects. The arts traffic in subtleties.
• The arts teach students to think through and within a material. All art forms employ some means through which images become real.
• The arts help children learn to say what cannot be said. When children are invited to disclose what a work of art helps them feel, they must reach into their poetic capacities to find the words that will do the job.
• The arts enable us to have experience we can have from no other source and through such experience discover the range and variety of what we are capable of feeling.
• The arts’ inclusion in the school curriculum symbolizes to the young what adults believe is important.