Sutton Public Schools and You – Teaming up to Educate our Youth for Future Success

wishes to pursue a two-year degree, we have offerings that correspond. Areas such as Business, Computers, Agriculture, In-dustrial Technology, or Family and Con-sumer Sciences add diversity to the core curriculum addressing needs of all students. Annually our Curriculum Team meets to ensure that our various course offerings are aligned with national and state standards, along with discussing class material needs. This is an opportunity for staff and commu-nity members to also discuss deficit areas or gaps in the curriculum, brainstorming ways to improve.

Recently, the Board of Education approved the 13-14 school calendar. A copy of the calendar is included in this newsletter. School will start in August on Wednesday the 21st. The first semester will end on the 20th of December, with students returning on January 6th. Again, the first two Fri-day’s in March will provide staff and stu-dents with a break from the books. In-cluded are four late school starts (10:00AM) to allow for staff members to address our school improvement goals with professional development. Staff members

SUTTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS MISSION STATEMENT

DISTRICT NEWS

MARCH 2013 VOLUME 20, NUMBER 7

SUTTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS

INSIDE THIS ISSUE :

SUPERINTENDENT

1/2

HS PRINCIPAL

2/3

ELEMENTARY

PRINCIPAL

3/4

KINDERGARTEN ROUNDUP

5

2013-2014 CALEN-DAR

6

WELLNESS 8/9

CALENDAR/MENU 10/11

From the desk of the Superintendent….

Spring Forward

With spring approaching, we can’t help but begin to think about the end of the 12-13 school year. Anticipating the summer months is exciting, but reflecting on the accomplishments of the school year should not be overlooked. We continue to show successes in extracurricular activities: bas-ketball, wrestling, and speech. Sutton stu-dents are busy, busy kids, proving that they can achieve academic success while at the same time performing exceptionally on the stage, court, or mat. Not only are sports and fine art opportunities available for stu-dents, but student organizations exist for kids to take advantage of. I commend stu-dents for actively participating in activities creating well-rounded citizens of the fu-ture. Congratulations on your accomplish-ments!

Soon kids will be registering for 13-14 classes. Looking at the strength of our cur-riculum, students have many choices to pick from. Whether it is a child who is on course to attend a four year college or

DANA WISEMAN, SUPERINTENDENT

SUTTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS VISION STATEMENT

Teachers, Students, Parents, Community – building the foundation of our future by creat-ing an environment where students are provided the skills needed to become life long learners.

learning and improving to better educate our students. Parent-Teacher Conferences are September 30th and October 3rd, which is a proactive approach to addressing student per-formance before the end of the first quarter, October 11th. The last day of school for stu-dents is May 22nd.

Looking ahead to next year, if you are a family

who does not reside in our district, but wish to take advantage of all we have to offer, option enrollment deadline is March 15th. The paper-work can be accessed on the Nebraska Depart-ment of Education website: www.nde.state.ne.us/. If you have any ques-tions, feel free to call the Superintendent Of-fice: 402-773-5569.

BRANDY THOMPSON, SECONDARY PRINCIPAL

PAGE 2 SUTTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS

DANA WISEMAN, SUPERINTENDENT CONT.

our building. The elementary staff took a few days to prepare their students for the drill and had multiple conversations with their students while also working on classroom exit proce-dures. The jr./sr. high school teachers met with their students the morning of the 12th and explained the procedures for their classrooms and the expectations for the students during the drill. During the drill, students in the ele-mentary practiced evacuating their classrooms and jr./sr. high students practiced lock-down and evacuation procedures. The drill lasted about 10 minutes and provided a lot of feed-back for our district. All students were also addressed on lunchtime procedures and en-couraged to submit questions and concerns to their teachers and administrators following the drill.

As we continue to go through our day-to-day operations, we will continue to keep this topic within our thoughts. We will continue to have these types of drills to keep our students and staff abreast of the expectations and procedures in the hopes that if we do ever encounter a situation, which requires this type of response, we will be more prepared in our response. Though as we know, no one person, staff, or community can ever truly be ready for these types of tragedies but having the conversations brings everyone together.

Other safety concerns:

Jr./Sr. high school parents, please encourage your students to protect their belongings. This past month we have had students that have not locked PE lockers, have shared locker combi-nations with other students, and have left their

School Safety:

School safety has been at the forefront of every Administrator, teacher, parent, and community members mind lately. As parents and commu-nity members, you send us your students on a day-to-day basis with an understanding that your students are going to be educated to a level of high standards and success. Our teachers welcome your students in their classrooms and work diligently in challenging your students to think outside the box and grow as individuals. And as administrators, we open the doors to your students in the hopes of each student find-ing their own path as they reach that final fron-tier: graduation. Each group mentioned wants the best for all of our students in school and in life.

What we as a whole have not had to put a great deal of emphasis on is whether or not our stu-dents are safe from the possibility of such trage-dies as what Sandy Hook Elementary, Colum-bine, or even Millard South has faced. The scary piece for all of us is that now the fre-quency of these types of tragedies forces all of us to ask the question: Are our schools safe?

Schools across the country are working to in-crease safety measures in their schools and to communicate these plans. Sutton Public Schools is no different. Both staffs from the elementary and jr./sr. high have had meetings in which safety of students has been the main focus of the discussion.

As a result of those conversations, Sutton Public Schools had a drill on February 12th to practice our procedures in case there was an intruder in

School cancellations, check the following radio and TV stations: KAWL 1370 AM/MIX (KTMX)104.9FM (York), KHAS/

KICS 1230 (Hastings), KOLN/KGIN 10/11 (Lincoln), NTV/ABC (Kearney), KHAS-TV

(Hastings). For informa-tion fast, log on to

www.suttonpublicschool.org.

PAGE 3 VOLUME 20, NUMBER 7

BRANDY THOMPSON, SECONDARY PRINCIPAL CONT.

vehicles open to one and all. As a school, we can only help protect your students so much before they have to understand they have a responsibility to help protect themselves.

It can be very frustrating to have things moved or stolen. All students have been told that they need to be sure that they have their lockers locked at all times in the halls and in the locker rooms and to be sure that they do not leave vehicles open with or without keys in them. We do our best to help protect your students by having cameras and by providing lockers and locks.

I ask for your help in encouraging your students to help protect them. Thanks!

Upcoming Events:

Feb. 28: 3rd Quarter Ends

Feb. 28 – Mar. 2: Girls State Basketball

March 1: No School (end of quarter)

March 4: John Baylor begins

March 4 & 5: Parent – Teacher Conferences 5:00

-8:30pm 2:00pm Dismissal both days

March 4 – 22: District MAP testing

March 7 – 9: State Boys Basketball

March 8: No School (pt comp day)

March 11: No School (Hosting District Speech)

March 12: Junior High Track Begins

March 14: Band & Vocal Concert @ 7:00pm

March 19: Varsity Track opens at Wilber-

Claytonia

March 19: Varsity Golf opens at Geneva

March 21-22: State Speech in Kearney

C2 March 22

March 21: Track at Home – SUTTON RELAYS

March 25 – May 3: NeSA testing for Reading,

Mathematics, and Science

March 29 – April 1: Easter Break

April 3-5: State FFA Convention

April 7-9: State FCCLA Convention

Apri 13: PROM

JIM BOVEE, ELEMENTARY PRINCIPAL

Nebraska, and the MAPs test measures how well our students are doing in com-parison to their peers across the nation. We already completed our writing tests in early February. As always, we are asking that you do your best to avoid appoint-ments and days out of school on test days. Our teachers will be meeting on February 13 to determine exact days for MAPs test-ing and NeSA tests. The “lingo” we use for communicating test dates is “windows” for testing, meaning that within a certain timeframe the Nebraska Department of Education requires that we complete our testing. Our testing window for MAPs is from March 4 to March 22. We will com-plete all of our MAPs tests during that time. As soon as we have the exact days scheduled, your child’s teacher will send that information home. Our testing win-dow for NeSA is from March 25 to May 3.

Greetings from the Ele-

mentary Principal!

I would like to start this newsletter off with a hearty CONGRATULATIONS to the students in grades five and six, as well as the staff, for their accomplishments at the Quiz Bowl con-test on February 5, 2013! One team placed 3rd and the other placed 8th in a competition that included schools from every class (A, B, C-1, C-2,D-1 and D-2) in the Hastings area. The students practiced hard and were well prepared for the competition.

As noted in the last newsletter, we are mov-ing into that time of the year when our stu-dents in grades 3-4-5-6 begin taking our state tests and our MAPs tests in reading, math and science. The state test (NeSA) measures how well our students are doing in comparison to their peers across the State of

PAGE 4 SUTTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS

activity in the elementary library. Ms. Weber presentation was on a topic titled: “Where’s the Beef.” We hope your child registered and enjoyed that presentation.

Please note that there is no school on March 1, 8, 29 and April 1.

Parent Teacher Conferences will be held March 4 and 5. We look for-ward to seeing our parents and appreciate the excellent turnout we have for conferences.

On March 26 The York College Chil-dren’s Theater will give a per-formance from Stuart Little for our elementary students.

Our Volunteer Tea will be April 10 at 4:00 in the elementary library. We look forward to the opportu-nity to say “thank you” to the many volunteers that give their time throughout the year.

April 20 is a special day for all the stu-dents from the Class of 2026! Kindergarten Round-up begins at 8:30 for the first group of new students!

As you are well aware, between all of the activities and the testing windows, we are a very busy place. The days fly by and we already find ourselves deep into the plan-ning for the 2013-2014 school year. I en-courage all of us to stop and take a deep breath of appreciation for the privilege we experience every day working with our young learners. May we be ever mindful that in all of the business and urgency we feel in getting everything ac-complished, that our students are not only learning what we teach, but what we model as well!

We will complete all of our NeSA tests dur-ing that time. Once again, when the teachers have the exact days scheduled within the window, they will send that in-formation home with your children.

To further assist our families with this process, we have included state testing and state standards information on our school website (thank you Mrs. Stone and Mr. Reifert). If you go to the website, there is a heading titled Resources. Di-rectly under the Resources heading, there is an item titled Nebraska Standards. If you click on Nebraska Standards, the site will link you to information about test dates, the standards, parent information, etc. We recommend that you check out the state standards as that will give you information regarding skills and content knowledge your child will need at each grade level to be successful. Even though we test standards in grades 3-6, we en-courage parents of students in grades Kin-dergarten through second grade to check out the state standards for those grade levels as well. Again, it will help answer any questions you may have about skills and content areas taught in those grade levels. We know that many of our parents work with their children at home and buy educational books. The more knowledge you have about learning standards, the better prepared you will be to help your children learn.

Here are some reminders for upcoming events – we always look forward to seeing you at the schoolhouse! Please note these days and activities on your calendars!

The County Spelling Bee was held on February 20 at Clay Center.

On February 26 Holli Weber, County Extension agent provided a 4-H

JIM BOVEE, ELEMENTARY PRINCIPAL

DEB OSTERHAUS-KINDERGARTEN ROUNDUP

with K through Z will meet from 9:45 – 10:45 a.m.

If you are considering sending your son or daughter to Kindergarten during the 2013-2014 school year, please call the elementary office at 402-773-4423 if you have not received a Kindergarten packet by Fri., March 15.

Students are eligible if they reach the age of 5 by July 31, 2013. In addition, the Kindergarten entrance law states that students who will turn 6 before January 1, 2014 and are not yet en-rolled in school, are required to enroll in school for the 2013-2014 school year.

ROUNDUP WILL BE HELD ON

FRIDAY, APRIL 12th

Kindergarten Roundup for the Sutton Public Schools has been set for Fri-day, April 12th, 2012.

For Kindergarten Roundup, we will divide into two sections according to the following:

**Children with last names beginning with A through J will meet from 8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

**Children with last names beginning

PAGE 5 SUTTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Volunteer tea will be Wednesday, April 24 at 4:00 p.m. in the elementary library, see next month’s

newsletter for more details.

Sutton's four seniors are all

smiles as they prepare to lead

their Fillies into the 2013

Class C-2 State tournament

after beating Palmyra 42-19

Friday night in Friend. Lakyn

Mau, Stephanie Osterhaus,

Maryah Calkins and Maria Van

Kirk

PAGE 7 VOLUME 20, NUMBER 7

March 2013 Sunday

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

1

No School

Saturday

2

3 4

Chicken Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans, School Bread, Milk

5

Burritos, Rice, Beans, Corn, Milk

6

Chicken Strips, Carrots & Peas, Fruit Cocktail, Milk

7

No School

8

No School

9

10 11

Chicken Nug-gets, Green Beans & Car-rots, Pears, Milk

12

Nacho Bar, Rice, Beans, Corn, Milk

13

Chinese, Rice, Mixed Veg-gies, Mandarin Oranges, Milk

14

Soup Bar, School Bread, Fresh Veggies, Mixed Fruit, Milk

15

Pizza, Peas & Carrots, Fruit Cocktail, Milk

16

17 18

Chicken Patty, Mixed Veg-gies, Carrots, Pears, Milk

19

Pulled Pork, Chips, Baked Beans, Pineap-ple, Milk

20

Easter Dinner Ham, Cheesy Potatoes, Tea Roll, Angel Food Cake, Milk

21

Corn Dog, Mac & Cheese, Peas, Peaches, Milk

22

Cheesy Bread Sticks, Fries, Green Beans, Pears, Milk

23

24/31 25

Tomato Soup, Grilled Cheese, Peas, Pears, Milk

26

Chicken Faji-tas, Spanish Rice, Corn, Peaches, Milk

27

Turkey Hoa-gies, Chips, Fresh Veggies, Mixed Fruit, Milk

28

French Dip, Mixed Veg-gies, Broccoli & Carrots, Mixed Fruit, Milk

29

No School

30

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

1 End 3rd Quarter

State Basketball-

G/Varsity Lincoln

No School

Saturday

2 State Basketball-

G/Varsity Lincoln

3 4 Parent Teacher

Conferences 5:00

To 8:30 Pm Dis-

miss 2:00

5 Parent Teacher

Conferences 5:00

To 8:30 Pm Dis-

miss 2:00

6

7 State Basketball-

B/Varsity Lincoln

No School

8 State Basketball-

B/Varsity Lincoln

No School

Teacher Comp Day

ACT Registration

Deadline

9 State Basketball

-B/Varsity Lin-

coln

ACT Late Fee

Required

10 ACT Late Fee Re-

quired

7:00pm Speech

Open House

11 No School

Hosting District

Speech

12 ACT Late Fee Re-

quired

7:00pm FFA-

Meeting

13 FFA-District Career

Development Event

(CDE's)

ACT Late Fee Required

14 ACT Late Fee Re-

quired

7:00pm 7-12

Band/Choir Con-

cert

15 ACT Late Fee Re-

quired

16 ACT Late Fee Re-

quired

17 ACT Late Fee Re-

quired

18 ACT Late Fee Re-

quired

19 ACT Late Fee Re-

quired

4:00pm Golf-B/

Varsity Sutton vs. Multiple Schools

4:00pm Track-

Varsity Wilber-

Clatonia vs. Mul-

tiple Schools

20 ACT Late Fee Required

21 ACT Late Fee Re-

quired

11:30am Track-

Varsity Sutton vs. Multiple Schools

Home

State Speech

Kearney

22 ACT Late Fee Re-

quired

State Speech

Kearney

23

24/31 25 6:00pm Speech

Banquet

26 12:30pm Track-

JH Away vs.

Sandy Creek Jun-

ior / Senior 12:30pm Track-

Varsity Sutton vs.

Multiple Schools

4:00pm Golf-B/

Varsity Sutton vs.

Multiple Schools

27 28 9:00am Golf-B/

Varsity Away vs.

Superior Junior /

Senior 2:00pm Actions

Day

10:00pm Track-

JH Away vs.

Friend

29 No School

30

March 2013

ECRWSS

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Sutton, NE 68979-0590

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PERMIT NO.3

Final score Mus-tangs 55 Thun-derbirds 47.

The win gives the Mustangs the District title and the top seed in next weeks Boys State Basketball Tournament

Good Luck Fillies and Mustangs at State