Wow! 2019 is history and we look forward to the second semester of 2019-20 with eager students and a busy schedule of school activities. I would like to wish each of you a very Blessed, Happy and Prosperous New Year in 2020. I continue to feel blessed to be a part of this community and have the privilege to work with a very dedicated staff, board of education and your wonderful children. As we begin the final semester of the school year I want to remind all staff, parents and students that by working together we can all accomplish more. It is imperative that as we dedicate ourselves to the improvement of education for our children that we all work very hard to keep the lines of communication open. Parents please communicate with your child’s teachers and coaches if you have concerns. It is impossible for our staff to respond to student and parent concerns if we are not all willing to communicate directly and honestly with each other. As the administrator, my door is nearly always open and never hesitate to give me a phone call. I am always willing to listen to your concerns, however our policy dictates that the first order in the resolution of a problem is direct communication between parent and/or the student with the teacher and/or coach about your concerns. If we are going to hold true to our mission, vision, and goals for the district we truly have to continually work together in this effort.

Mission Statement

The Mission of Hay Springs Schools in cooperation with families and community, is to empower students within an emotionally supportive and physically safe environment with the academic, social, physical and technological skills to achieve success as responsible, self-disciplined citizens of a global society.

Vision Statement

“Empower Students to Achieve Lifelong Success.”

Hay Springs Goal

80% of Hay Springs School students will meet projected growth and/or 80% of students will be proficient on NWEA MAP assessments in Math, Reading, Language Arts and Science.

As we return from our Christmas and New Year’s break and time with family and friends I am reminded of how so blessed as Americans we are to have the diverse educational opportunities we provide for our children. As an adult when I reflect on the educational system that served me well in my youth, I readily realize that the education of today must be much more and continue to improve and challenge our students. With the advancement of technology, and the social changes that have taken place in our country our educational systems continue to play and increasingly important role in the lives of our children. Please know that the employees at Hay Springs are very dedicated to providing your children with the best possible opportunities to learn. If we do not have some struggling students, then we clearly do not have the bar high enough. It is my hope that the majority of our students are academically challenged on a daily basis. With challenges comes the additional need for encouragement and support from staff and parents.

As our students move through our educational system and move on to additional educational opportunities or the world of work they will continue to deal with challenges in their life. How we confront our challenges in life has a great effect on the quality of life we will enjoy. We have a choice every day, to appreciate the opportunities we have in life or to dwell on our challenges. If we can get in the habit of choosing to look at our blessings and opportunities, we will be amazed at how we begin to see many more positive things around us. The reality is things around us don’t change, we are the ones who will change and when we look for good, we find it. It continues to be one of my goals to help our entire staff and student population focus on the many blessing we have in life and support each other in positive ways as we work together to pursue our Mission, Vision and Goals at Hay Springs School. The continuation of the NPBIS (Nebraska Positive Behavior Intervention Support) program at Hay Springs School is an effort to identify the positive behaviors of our students. By doing so, we encourage an increase in positive behavior by staff and students as we move into the final semester of 2019-20.

The Hay Springs January board meeting is set for January 13th and will be our re-organizational meeting for the year. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our current Board of Education members, Brenda Johnson, Marilyn Reed, Miriam Kearns, Shavona Henry, Greg Heiting and David Russell for their dedicated service to our community. Serving on the Board of Education is a very, very important position in all communities. It can be rewarding but is also a thankless position, so if you get the opportunity, please, thank these individuals for serving your community. I also want to remind board members and other patrons of the district that it’s the time of year to file for the upcoming election to the Board of Education. If you have an interest in being a member of the Hay Springs, Board of Education visit with a current board member or stop into the office to discuss commitment and responsibilities of Board Members.

In closing I thought I would update you on some of my family blessings over the past year. Sue and I will celebrate our 48th wedding anniversary over the break with family back in Boyd County. My mother passed away in February so will be celebrating our first Christmas without any of our parents living. Our youngest daughter following graduation for UNK is employed at a Montessori School in Lavista. We been busy attending and enjoying our nineteen grandchildren events throughout the year and are eagerly awaiting our twentieth grandchild this spring. We continue to feel appreciated and supported by the wonderful community of Hay Springs, so it is evident that we are truly richly blessed on a daily basis. Thanks to everyone for your continued support of our Hay Springs educational system.

Mr. Lechtenberg
Superintendent / Ag Science Instructor