SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT October 12, 2015

MISSION STATEMENT The mission of the Pender Public School District is to provide quality educational opportunities in a safe, positive learning environment that motivates and challenges all students to become productive and responsible citizens.

WORKSHOPS/MEETINGS  Past Events  October 13 – reVISION Meeting  October 14 – ESU 1 / 8 Superintendent’s Meeting  October 21 – Parent - Teacher Conferences  October 27 – Safety Inspection  October 26 – Negotiations Meeting  October – National FFA Convention  November 4 – Negotiations Meeting  November 6 – 1:00 PM Dismissal / Teacher In-Service  November 9 – PED Meeting  Future Events  November 10 – NASB / NET Community Engagement  November 11 – Veteran’s Day Program  November 16 – Start of Winter Sports Practices  November 18 – NRCSA Executive, Legislative, and General Members Meetings  November – NASB State Convention  November 24 – District FFA in Pender  November – No School – Thanksgiving  December 3 – First Winter Sports Competitions  December 5 – Staff Holiday Party

AQUESTT  Pender received the following initial AQuESTT ratings  Pender Elementary School – 3 / Great  Pender High School  Middle School – 3 / Great  High School – 3 / Great  Pender Public Schools – 3 / Great  These ratings can be improved prior to public release through the completion of the Evidence Based Analysis (EBA)  In future years, the following factors will impact the AQuESTT rating  Program data improvement can increase but not decrease score  Cohort data improvement can increase but not decrease score  The number of non-proficient student can increase or decrease score  Score can be limited based on participation rate  Score can be limited based on graduation rate  This is all very new to Nebraska schools

BRIGHT BYTES SURVEY  The BrightBytes survey will be conducted again this school year  Between November 9 and November 20, students in grades 3-12 and all certified staff will take the survey  Purposes of the survey  Improve the impact of technology on student learning  Target initiatives that are proven to have the biggest impact on college and career readiness  District personnel plan to attend a workshop at ESU 1 that will hopefully help the obtained data be as impactful as possible

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR  PPS Administration and the District School Leadership Team have been discussing the best approach to professional development  Initial thoughts are that more frequent professional development opportunities may be helpful  We are researching approaches other districts utilize for professional development schedules, and will have a recommendation very soon

TITLE IX  All Nebraska Superintendents recently received an from the ACLU  The encouraged all school districts to consider establishing inclusive policies that respect the gender identity of each student in order to ensure all students have a safe, supportive, and appropriate framework for their educational and extracurricular activities  Nebraska attorneys followed these s with further details and an emphasis that any changes in policies should be approached with caution  Furthermore, Nebraska attorneys simply recommended to treat all students with care, respect, and compassion, and provide each student with a safe learning environment and to excellent education experiences  Why is this important?  Illinois school district was recently given 30 days by the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) to reach a solution a recent issue or face enforcement which could include administrative law proceedings or a Justice Department court action

STATE OF THE SCHOOLS REPORT  Publically released October 16  A component of the report is a Federal Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) rating  Pender’s rating is “Not Met” for the second consecutive year which means we are not in a “Needs Improvement” status  Almost every school in Nebraska is in the same predicament  One subgroup did not meet  The AYP rating is based on NCLB’s expectation that ALL students meet or exceed the standards on ALL NeSA assessments  While Pender does not meet this expectation, our students perform well on NeSA assessments  Amongst the many requirements of be classified as “Needs Improvement”, I have to write a letter to parents explaining our situation

NATIONAL FFA CONVENTION  This was a very enlightening and positive experience  I am, and we all should be, very proud of our FFA Chapter, its current members, its former members, and our Advisor  Logan Peters and his family represented the Pender FFA Chapter, PPS, and the community of Pender VERY well

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE PANCAKE FEED  I was recently contacted regarding the school hosting the Chamber of Commerce’s annual Pancake Feed scheduled for November 18  The Legion Hall is no longer available for events, so they were hoping to have the event here  We are working out the details, but this event will occur at the school in the Heese Event Center