Letter from Emerson-Hubbard Parent

It is always nice to have the kids be complimented on their behavior on the field or the court. I have permission to share this with the players, and I hope it is okay to share with the parents and community as well.

Dr. Cerny,
The following is a note I felt necessary to pass along, at least to you. Feel free to share it with your team as they deserve it.

Panthers-
My name is Mike Renning and I am from Emerson. Last night, you ended our season and for your play on the field you should be congratulated. As great as you guys play, your actions on the field overshadowed your play in my opinion. With the game well in hand literally in the first quarter, I didn't see any showboating or gloating from any of you. I also did not witness any disrespect even though you were obviously better than us. A part of my job is to cover high school sports in and around Dakota County and I have witnessed some pretty bad sportsmanship both from the teams I cover and their opponents. I have been to your two games with Emerson-Hubbard this season and although you could have "rubbed our noses" in it both times, you took the high road. You would knock us down and help us back up. Too often we, as parents and fans, judge teams by strictly wins and losses, well, apparently you are a great group of kids as you are winners in your play and winners in your actions. I wish you the very best of luck on your playoff journey. I would also like to give a personal shoutout to Matt Stansberry. I got to know Matt when he played for the Jr. Pirates. He was a great kid then and he still is. If you see someone standing on the sidelines in a purple coat during your playoff run, that will be me. I hope you go the distance, you deserve it.

Mike Renning
Dakota County Star

Bruning-Davenport-Shickley at Bancroft 5:00 pm Kick-off

The Bruning-Davenport-Shickley and Bancroft-Rosalie Football play-off game will be Wednesday November 3 at 5:00 pm in Bancroft.

School will dismiss at 3:00 pm that day to get students out of the building before the visiting team arrives.

Volleyball Subdistrict Bracket

The Volleyball Subdistrict D1-4 at Wakefield.

Monday, November 1

Match 1 5:30 pm
Walthill (6-12)
vs
Omaha Nation (3-20)

Match 2 6:30 pm
Pender (10-18)
vs
Lyons-Decatur Northeast (9-19)

Match 3 7:30 pm
Bancroft-Rosalie (17-11)
vs
Winner of Match 1

Tuesday, November 2 7:00 pm

Winner of Match 2
vs
Winner of Match 3

Health Science students to Creighton Medical Center today

The Health Science class is taking a field trip to the Creighton Medical Center in Omaha today. They are part of a group of students that boarded a chartered bus this morning in West Point. The bus and trip was organized by the Northeast Career Academy Partnership.

The students will have an opportunity to see the medical school and watch medical students as they work with cadavers. The Health science academy supports students interested in medical careers in Northeast Nebraska.

Volleyball team advances to Semi-finals

The B-R volleyball girls advanced to the Lewis and Clark Conference semi-finals by defeating Emerson-Hubbard in the first round in three sets 25-14, 25-21, and 25-17. Newcastle defeated in Winnebago in 3 sets in the second game. Bancroft-Rosalie defeated Newcastle in the three sets in the third game 25-22, 25-23, and 25-14.

Bancroft-Rosalie plays top seeded Wynot tonight at 6:00 pm in Bancroft. Wynot defeated Wausa in fours sets last night.

In the second semi-final game Winside will play Homer. The winners will advance to the Championship game Friday night in Bancroft.

Reading and Language group accomplishments

Last week we had some groups complete programs and move up to the next level.

Mrs. Schuttler's yellow group completed Reading Mastery II and moved to 2+, completed Language for Thinking and moved to reasoning and Writing B, and completed Spelling Mastery A and moved to B.

Mrs. Schuttler's green group also completed Language For Thinking and moved to reasoning and Writing B.

Mrs. English's Reading Mastery 5+ group moved to 6+. Only 113 more lessons to finish the program!

Mrs. James Reasoning and Writing D group moved to E. They will be finished with E in 70 lessons.

Congratulations students and teachers. Keep up the good work.

First Round Playoff Game

First Round game

Emerson-Hubbard at Bancroft-Rosalie

Thursday October 28

7:00 pm.

D-1 Play-off Bracket (unofficial)

Sorry this took so long. I had to wait for the Winside-Hartington final Winside won 16-8 in overtime. If Winside would have lost, Creighton would have been in the East.

East

#1 Bancroft-Rosalie
#16 Emerson-Hubbard

#8 Bruning-Davenport-Shickley
#9 Scribner-Snyder

#4 Pender
#16 Randolph

#5 Friend
#12 Hartington

#2 West Point CC
#15 Lyons-Decatur

#7 Newman Grove
#10 Shelby

#3 Osmond
#14 Deshler

#6 Winside
#11 Omaha Christian Academy


West

#1 Creighton
#16 Fullerton

#8 Arapahoe
#9 Burwell

#4 Alma
#13 Shelton

#5 Elgin-Elgin Pope John
#12 Southwest

#2 Overton
#15 North Central

#7 Axtell
#10 Garden County

#3 South Loup
#14 Clearwater-Orchard

#6 Kenesaw
#11 Sandhills-Thedford

11th ANNUAL NEIHARDT LAUREATE FEAST

The John G. Neihardt Foundation, dedicated to the legacy of Nebraska’s Poet Laureate, will hold its eleventh annual Laureate’s Feast dinner and auction fund raiser on Sunday, November 7th in the new Culinary School building at 32nd and Sorenson Parkway entrance of the Fort Omaha Campus of Metropolitan Community College in Omaha.
The evening’s theme is “Generations” honoring Robin Neihardt, grandson of John Neihardt, with the Neihardt Word Sender award. Robin has spent many years promoting Neihardt’s work, including performing with his mother Hilda reciting the poet’s works as a gifted classical guitarist. In recent years he has re-mastered recordings of Neihardt reciting and backed them with his own compositions. In previous years, the Word Sender has been presented to such luminaries as journalist Tom Allan, Ron Hull of NETV, former Governor and Mrs. Thone, folklorist Roger Welsch, State Poet Bill Kloefkorn, and Poet Laureate Ted Kooser. The evening’s activities include a wine reception with music by Native American flutist Michael Murphy of Omaha. Award recipient Neihardt will also perform during the evening. Emcee for the event will be Paul Hammel, Omaha World Herald journalist and Foundation board member. The reception, meal, and decor are all designed and prepared by the Culinary Arts Department of Metropolitan Community College.

Both the silent and live auctions contain interesting, unusual, and valuable items such as a hot air balloon ride, an Okoboji weekend, fine art and signed prints, fine wines, a variety of gift baskets, prime vintage single-malt whiskey, Opera Omaha, Rose Theater and Omaha Symphony tickets, first edition works by Neihardt, signed works by other noted authors, and a great variety of dinner certificates, gift and collector items.
The Laureate Feast is open to the public, but does require advance reservations as dinner seating is limited; reservations are open through October 29th. Contact the Neihardt Foundation office at 1-888-777-4667 or 402-648-3388 or on-line at Neihardt@gpcom.net for reservations. Tickets are $100 per person. Also available are Sponsor tables for eight at $1000. The Neihardt Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit organization and 35% of the dinner cost is tax deductible. The reception, music, and silent auction begin at 5 p.m., dinner at 6:30 p.m. followed by the live auction. Dress is business attire.

MAP test results

Tonight at Parent-Teacher Conferences, parents will be given copies of MAP test results, called Student progress reports. The results are for tests in Reading and Mathematics.

One goal of the school is for all graduates to read at an eighth grade level. We will start using the MAP reading test to gauge if graduates have met this goal. Eventually we will set a similar goal in Math.

The MAP progress report will give information on:

1. When the test was given,

2. the student score range (the range shows where the child would likely score if retested)

3. The district average score

4. The national average score

5. Student growth (this will be blank this time. When the next test is given in January, there will be a growth score to represent how much the student has improved)

6. Typical growth (average student growth nationally, which will also be blank this time)

7. Student percentile range (based on 100%)

8. Goal performance- this shows how the students did in the four areas of math and the five areas of reading.

9. RIT to Reading range- This converts the student score to a Lexile scale score, which is what is used to determine reading level.

Grade 1
Lexile Range Up to 400L

Grade 2
140L to 500L

Grade 3
330L to 700L

Grade 4
445L to 850L

Grade 5
565L to 950L

Grade 6
665L to 1050L

Grade 7
735L to 1075L

Grade 8 The level we want all students to achieve by graduation
805L to 1100L

Grade 9
855L to 1165L

Grade 10
905L to 1200L

Grades 11 & 12
940L to 1300L

Parent survey Thursday Night

Parents will be asked to complete a short 7 question survey about the school at Thursday nights Parent-Teacher Conferences.

Parents can Strongly Agree, Agree, Undecided, Disagree, Strongly Disagree or have No Opinion to the following seven statements.

1. Teachers at this school really care about the students.

2. This school has high academic standards for all students.

3. The administration communicates well with parents about the instructional program.

4. The school is inviting to all parents.

5. The subjects taught to my child in school are important ones for their future.

6. Teachers in this school use their classroom time very effectively, with little wasted time.

7. Teachers give my child prompt and specific feedback on the quality of their classroom work.

These seven questions correlate to the seven indicators of effective schools that have been identified through research.

Bancroft-Rosalie School Improvement Goal

Today I am attending a workshop on the school improvement process. The group was asked if the community knows the goal of the school. In case there are some of you that are not aware, our school goal in Reading.

Goal

90% of third grade students will read at or above grade level

and

all graduates will read at or above a eighth grade reading level.

Football Play-off possibilities

Bancroft-Rosalie has clinched the District football title and has qualified for the play-offs. There are several scenarios of who the first round opponent will be. Barring any major upsets, Creighton will be the top seed in the west bracket and Bancroft-Rosalie the top seed in the east. The most likely first round opponent will be either Lyons-Decatur or Emerson-Hubbard (assuming that both win).

The other projected seeds in the east:

#2- West Point CC
#3- Osmond
#4- Pender

If Emerson-Hubbard loses to Winnebago, then Pender would drop to the #5 seed and Friend would be #4.

8th grade financial literacy class begins Monday

Mrs. Hennig has put together a good financial literacy curriculum for the 8th grade. This is a new class that will meet the need for students to understand how money works. Class topics are
1. Jobs and Salary
2. Automobiles
3. Insurance
4. Checking accounts
5. Savings
6. Interest

We hope that students will gain an understanding of how to manage their finances and can avoid the pitfalls of getting into debt after high school. We also want students to understand that going to college is affordable if they manage their money.

Conference Volleyball Tournament Bracket

At Bancroft

Bancroft-Rosalie vs. Emerson-Hubbard
Newcastle vs. Winnebago


At Wynot

Wynot (Bye)
Osmond vs. Wausa


At Homer

Homer vs. Walthill
Wakefield vs. Ponca


At Winside

Hartington vs. Allen
Winside vs. Bloomfield

Notes from last nights Bancroft Strategic Planning meeting

Nine people attended last nights strategic planning meeting in the lower level of the community building. It was unfortunate that no Village Board members attended, because they will need to be involved in the implementation of action plans.

The top priority of the group was housing. The action plan included applying for a grant to do a housing survey. The last survey done is now out of date. The grant will cover 75% of the cost of the survey, so the additional 25% will need to be paid with local funds. The housing survey is necessary for applying for any state or federal grant or loan programs.

Tim Spoeneman and Garry Clark volunteered to oversee the housing action plan.

It was suggested that someone from Lyons be invited to talk to the Village Board or the housing group about what they are doing with old houses in Lyons.

The second priority was business retention. I had to leave the meeting before the action plan was completed, so I will try to publish the action plans in a later post.

School Board meeting news

Last nights board meeting was a short one. The board reviewed the school insurance program and the transportation program. The vehicle set for replacement this year is the handicapped van. The 1996 bus is scheduled to be replaced next year.

In old business the board offered the co-head coach for girls basketball to Bullet Beaudette. Mr. Beaudette has a coaching certificate from the Nebraska Department of Education.

New information required by state

I just received the following information from the Nebraska Commissioner of Education.

"The 2010-11 school year has begun and with it comes new data collections as required by new federal and state laws. Many of the new data collections are requirements for the federal ARRA State Fiscal Stabilization Funds. The new data requirements Include:
• Courses completed and grades earned for all high school students;
• Class (section information) to connect teacher and student data; and
• The number and percent of teachers and principals at each performance level of a school district’s evaluation system, if a district’s evaluation system has performance levels, and
• The Legislature’s mandated collection of excessive absences (by the 10th of each month beginning October 10th)."

The two of interest are the collecting of teacher evaluation results and connecting students to the teacher who taught their classes. This is to lead to comparing teachers based on the performance of their students. I don't know what this will lead to, but it will raise the anxiety of many teachers. In larger school systems they are not going to want low achieving students in their classes.

Field trips today

The hallways in the elementary are quieter than usual today. The kindergarten went to Vala's Pumpkin patch and the 3rd and 4th grades went to the Henry Doorly Zoo.

The Pumpkin Patch trip in October has been a regular occurrence for several years, but the zoo trip is usually done in the spring. This year the zoo offered a discount to school groups and we thought the fall would be a good time to go, since the spring is so hectic.

It looks like they picked a good day to go. It is warm for mid-October, but it is better than rain or cold winds.

School bOard agenda for Monday October 11

Bancroft-Rosalie Community School
Regular Board of Education Meeting Agenda
Monday, October 11, 2010 --- 7:30 p.m. in Bancroft

1. Call to Order
2. Roll Call

3. Read and approve the minutes of the September 13, 2010 regular board meeting,
annual budget hearing, and hearing to set property tax amounts.

4. Treasurer’s Report
A. Approve the Bills
B. Financial Review

5. Review Agenda
6. Public Hearing

7. Administrator’s Reports:
A. Superintendent’s Report
B. Principal’s Report

8. Old Business:
A. Hire additional Girls Basketball coach

9. New Business:
A. Annual Review of School Insurance.

B. Annual review of transportation.

C.

D.

10. Discussion Items
A.

B.

11. Executive Session-

12. Future Planning- Next meeting- Monday, November 8, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.

13. Adjournment.

MAPS testing in grades 7-12 starts today

The Measures of Academic Progress (MAPS) will be given to students in grades 7-12 today. The tests measure students abilities in Reading and Math. Today's test results will give a baseline to for each student. Testing will be done in January and April. The results of these later tests will be used to measure student growth in these two areas during the year.

The MAPS test will also identify specific areas of strengths and weaknesses in reading and math. Test results will be back to the teachers within two days, and teachers will be able to plan instruction to address the areas that need improvement.

Betterment meeting- Today's agenda

Bancroft Betterment Monthly Meeting Agenda
October 4, 2010
5:15 pm at the Country Pub

Call to order.

Thank you to this month’s host- West point News and Wisner News-Chronicle.

Read and approve minutes of September 2010 meeting

Guest speaker-

Reports
1. School
2. Village
3. Betterment Corporation
4. Cuming County Economic Development
5. Neihardt Center
6. Community Theatre
7. Recycling

Old Business
1. Halloween
2.

New Business
1.
2.

Public comments


Next meeting November 1, 2010 , 5:15 pm at Country Pub. Host

Meeting adjourned

Facebook returns Monday

Student access to Facebook will be restored starting Monday, October 4. They will able to get on Facebook before and after school and during lunch.

Facebook was blocked when it was reported that several students were participating in a conversation with students from another school that resulted in harassment-like comments made about one of our students.

We decided to give everyone another chance. Please choose your comments wisely. Facebook is a social network, not a conduit for those who wish to harass others. Remember, what you post is not private.