NEWS from No. 1

Winter 2013-14

Blair Community Schools INSIDE STAFF From the Superintendent Pg 1

STUDENTS News from K-3 Schools Pg 3 News from Arbor Park Pg 4 News from OMS Pg 5 News from BHS Pg 6

DISTRIC T 2014-15 Kindergarten Info Pg 1 BCS Community Project Pg 2 Exploring Science & Math in the Preschool Environment Pg 2 Preschool Application Information for 2014-15 Pg 2 School Store Information Pg 2 Photos courtesy of Joe Burns, Enterprise Publishing

NEWS from No. 1

Winter 2013-14

From Superintendent Mr. Rex Pfeil ConnectEd Contact Information The winter weather patterns developing in our area, as well as the nasty weather in the South and Northeast, serve as a reminder of the importance of having accurate contact information for you and your household in our school district records. While winter weather can be unpredictable, it's a safe bet that at some point during the next few months we'll have potentially dangerous conditions that will cause us to cancel school and school activities. We use the current phone numbers and e-mail listed in our Student Information and Management System (SIMS) for our ConnectEd messages for school closing notifications. If your contact information has changed, please provide the updated information to your child’s principal. We will also continue to report school closings to radio stations (KFAB, KHUB, KBLR) and local television stations (KMTV, WOWT, KETV, and KPTM). Snow Day Make-up The district is committed to maintaining a suitable level of instructional time throughout the year. By recapturing lost time due to snow days, we can optimize learning opportunities for all students. As snow days occur, the plan to make-up the time is outlined below: Snow Day #1 ...................................No make-up for students or staff. Snow Day #2 ...................................Students and staff will make-up this day on May 21st Snow Day #3 ...................................Students and staff will make-up this day on May 22nd Snow Day #4 ...................................Students and staff will make-up this day on May 23rd Snow Day #5 and above .................No make-up for students, but staff will make-up these days on May 27th and each subsequent day as needed. No plan to regain instructional time is perfect or a match for individual needs. Using existing vacation days is a gamble, as weather patterns remain volatile throughout most of the spring. The end of year provides an optimal window of opportunity to make up a combination of time, along with the reasonable assumption for moderate weather. This plan keeps the current calendar free of “if - then” premises and eliminates major calendar modifications during the school year, while also recouping a vast majority of instructional time. As with any calendar change due to conditions we cannot control, we will always work with families to find suitable solutions if conflicts cannot be avoided. If you have any questions, please contact your building principal or me. Annual Report Our annual report is also included with this newsletter. We are required to report facts and figures of the district annually, and have included information on demographics, finance, and achievement. This is only a snapshot of the district, and comprehensive information on Blair Community Schools can be found on the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) website at: http://reportcard.education.ne.gov/Default.aspx?AgencyID=89-0001-000 Holiday Break School will not be in session from December 23rd through January 3rd. Teachers will report on January 3rd for an Inservice Day, and school will resume for students on January 6th. From all of us at Blair Community Schools, we wish all of our students, staff, parents, and community a joyous holiday season!!

Kindergarten Pre-Registration for 2014-2015 Underway Parents of all children eligible for kindergarten in the 2014-2015 school year should have received a Kindergarten pre-registration form in December. Parents are asked to complete this information sheet as quickly as possible and return to Central Office in the postage paid return envelope that was included with the form. If you need to drop off your registration in person you may do so at 140 S. 16th St. All registration materials must be sent to this location prior to student building placement. After all student registration information is received, initial building placements will be begin. Parents that have children that will be 5 years of age on or before July 31st but did not receive registration information should call Kerry Koch at (402) 426-2610. Questions regarding enrollment should be directed to Principal Amy Rogers (402) 426-2229 or Kerry Koch at (402) 426-2610.

1

NEWS from No. 1

Winter 2013-14

Community Project – Staff and Students Give Back to the Community During the first part of November, the Blair Community Schools were involved in a service project to donate food and money to the Washington County Food Pantry. BCS staff donated money for a Jeans Day on Friday the 8th. Arlington and Fort Calhoun staff joined in as well and the total donated to the food pantry from all three school districts was $3,672.00. Students and staff donated food at all K-12 schools. On November 12th, senior boys from BHS participated in a “Macho Man Volleyball Tournament”. Spectators were asked to bring a food donation for entrance to the games. Blair Community Schools’ are so proud of our staff and students for their spirit of generosity!

Exploring Science and Math in the Preschool Environment ! Young!children!have!a!natural!curiosity!and!have!a!significant!capacity!to!learn.!!Exposing! preschool!students!to!science!and!math!concepts!through!play!will!assist!in!building!a! foundation!for!their!future!learning.!!!Participation!in!learning!centers!is!a!requirement!of! Early!Childhood!Environmental!Rating!for!Students!(ECERSAR)!in!preschool.!!!Infusing! science!into!all!aspects!of!the!various!centers!will!continually!engage!students!in!learning! new!vocabulary,!connecting!learning,!questioning!and!acquiring!higher!order!thinking! skills!in!science,!technology,!engineering!and!math!(STEM).!Through!the!generosity!of!the! Blair!Community!Schools!Foundation,!the!three!preschool!teachers,!pictured!from!left!to! right,!Judy!Lefeber,!Lauri!Schlachter!and!Morgan!Shields,!pictured!below,!received!a!grant! award!of!$2,250!for!the!purchase!of!science!and!math!materials!to!be!used!in!the! preschool!program.!!!

Preschool Applications for 2014-2015 Applications for the Blair Community Schools center based preschool program will be available by the end of January. If you have questions, please contact Cara Lucas-Richt, Director of Student Services at 402-427-2715 or by email at [email protected]

Go to the Blair Community Schools homepage and click on the Blair Gear Shop button. Show your Blair spirit by ordering Blair Gear! Check out our new designs!

2

NEWS from No. 1

NEWS FROM K-3

Winter 2013-14

Family Math and Reading Night @ North School Many families attended Family Math & Reading Night @ North School on Monday, November 18th. Students and their family members were provided with a variety of math games to play with their child to reinforce grade level math concepts. All activities were given to families to take home. This year, reading and guidance contributed learning activities, too. Families were invited to complete activities and even received a free book as a gift to take home. Thank you to the MANY families who attended! We value working as a team with your child! A special thanks to the following teachers for organizing this event: Math: Maris Anderson, Hollie Booth, Tracy Custer, Heather Herman and Tracie Johnson Reading: Laura Bloomfield and Carol Nickerson Guidance: Heidi Johnson. Deerfield and West Schools will hold their Family Math Night on Tuesday, January 28th from 6:307:30 p.m. at Deerfield Primary School. Students and their families are invited and encouraged to attend, you will have a fun evening and leave with some fun activities to take with you. Come join in the fun!!

All 3rd grade students in the Blair Community Schools received their own student dictionary. The Riverview Grange presented these dictionaries to the students on Tuesday, December 2nd. Thank you, to the Riverview Grange for their generous donation!

Character Counts – In each of our Primary Schools we teach about being “Kids of Character”. The character traits that we focus on are: Trustworthiness, Citizenship, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Respect. We believe these character traits will help our students become successful students and successful in life. In November, the RESPECT group came to Blair to present a play and talk with students about healthy relationships, making good choices, and being “Kids of Character”.

3

NEWS from No. 1

NEWS FROM ARBOR PARK

Winter 2013-14

Arbor Park 5th grade band students, under the direction of Miss Courtney Baker, got in the holiday spirit with their holiday concert performance.

Mrs. Dickinson leads the 5th grade choir in a holiday performance at Washington County Bank.

Recently, the 4th graders in Mrs. Marcellus and Mrs. Lane’s classes had guest speaker, Kael Sagheer, speak about the Islamic holiday, Ramadan. Kael Sagheer, who formerly taught for Millard Public Schools, was the recipient of the Milken National Educator’s award in 2002 and is currently living in Elkhorn where she is homeschooling two of her daughters. She is involved with Project Interfaith (a nonprofit concerned with growing understanding and respect among people of all faiths and beliefs) and Islamic Speakers Bureau of Nebraska (a nonprofit group interested in bringing greater understanding of Islam and Muslims to people in the area). Having already studied Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa, the fourth graders learned about Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting. After spending 30 days of not eating or drinking during the daylight hours, Muslims celebrate Eid al Fitr, a three day feast during which time is spent visiting, eating, and exchanging gifts with family and friends. The fourth graders learned about the specific traditions and practices of Ramadan, as well as about relationships between the three Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

4

NEWS from No. 1

NEWS FROM OMS

Winter 2013-14

Do Something Now Club

The OBMS Do Something Now Club is now collecting Box Tops for Education, Our Family Labels for Learning and Campbell's Labels for Education. We earn 10 cents for each Box Top, 5 cents per Our Family label, and 1 point per Campbell's label towards educational materials. We would like your help in raising funds for our school! If you could send any of your labels with your child or any student you may know, we would be very appreciative! You can also drop off labels in the OBMS office or send them via mail to: OBMS - Do Something Now Club c/o Jennifer Towle - Labels 555 Jackson St. Blair, NE 68008 We hope this project will be a huge success and assist us in providing materials for both students and staff!

Team 8B is thoroughly enjoying using iPads in a variety of ways. In Science class, for example, the old method of making a presentation on a poster has been abandoned for an app called Explain Everything. In this project students studied planets, moons, and asteroids. Their information was typed or hand-written into screens in which wallpaper, photos, video clips and voice recordings were added. The entire presentation was also turned into the teacher electronically. Team 8A put a new twist on posters. Pictures and basic facts were put on a poster in the hallway and attached was a QR code. Other students can scan the QR code to watch a student-created video presentation or music video of their space object.

The OMS show choir went on a Holiday Tour performing at various places in the Blair community on December 17th.

5

NEWS from No. 1

NEWS FROM BHS

Winter 2013-14

High School Registration Starting second semester is always refreshing for our students. First semester finals are over and many of the second semester classes are new. While it seems like a long time away, this is also the time when we start the preparation for the 2014-15 school year. Students will participate in classroom information sessions conducted by the school counselors to learn about graduation requirements, course options, four-year planning, and future planning for after high school. We ask all parents to talk to their children about their future plans and classes. Parents are essential partners in this process and will also participate in Registration Day on February 28th, 2014. AEP teachers will conduct individual conferences with students and parents on this Registration Day. Please mark this important date on your calendar. The meeting takes about 20 minutes but these 20 minutes are extremely important to show your student that the school and the parent are working together to make sure they will be successful at Blair High School and beyond.

What Makes Blair High School Special?? by Principal Tom Anderson

The people!! On Friday, December 13th,one of the coolest things happened at BHS. The boys and girls basketball teams were scheduled to play Waverly. Let’s say 40 students play basketball between the two genders. The dance team performed that night (another 20 students). The cheer squad was in full force (6 cheerleaders and another 50 students came to support the teams. As the two basketball teams were lined up for the National Anthem, it was announced that the BHS choir would perform. Every student in a choir came to sing ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ and they filled half the gym. They sang with pride and it was quite a sight but the best was yet to come. All of these choir members climbed into the stands to support their fellow students. Mr. Hutsell had encouraged them to stay and to be loud in support of the basketball teams. The cheerleaders had taught them the cheers and they joined in. Many of the students were also in the pep band and the band consisted of well over half of the entire band at BHS. The wrestlers returned from their meet prior to the games getting over and they joined the other students as well in cheering. The atmosphere that was created was like no other I have witnessed at a high school basketball game. The students enjoyed supporting their peers and most importantly, enjoyed hanging out with their friends. We had close to 50% of the student body at a school event and not one negative word or action took place the entire night. This type of atmosphere might never happen again but it was pretty special on this night to watch all of the students enjoy being around each other and supporting each other. If you think this is how all high schools function, you are mistaken. We have a pretty special group of students going through BHS right now!

BASKETBALL HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT The boys and girls basketball teams will continue their season over the break. Both teams travel to Ashland for the Holiday Tournament. The girls will play Ashland at 2:00 on December 28th while the boys will play Ashland following the girls’ game. The tournament continues on Monday, December 30th. Game times will be determined by the outcome of the games on the 28th.

6

BLAIR COMMUNITY SCHOOLS P.O. Box 288 Blair,NE 68008 AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

Photo courtesy of Joe Burns, Enterprise Publishing

Nonprofit Organization US Postage PAID Blair, NE Permit No 14