$112,867 in stimulus funds for B-R

Bancroft-Rosalie School was granted $112,867 in stimulus funds for 2009. The Title I remedial program will get $33,739 and Special Education will get the remaining $79,128. The stimulus funds are being put to use right away for the following purposes:
Staff development and teacher support in Reading and Math $49,500
Math curriculum materials $5050
Laptop computers for special education $9,564
Reading and math assessments $2189
Special education room improvements $5100
Preschool playground equipment and improvements $20,164
Purchase of interactive whiteboards (Smartboards) $7300
One classroom paraprofessional $14,000

L.J. Dunn hired as B-R custodian

L.J. Dunn was hired as custodian and bus driver. L.J. is a 2005 graduate of Bancroft-Rosalie School. He was previously employed at Mill Road Truck Stop in West Point. L.J. will begin at B-R the week of August 10th.

B-R receives grant

Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson welcomed an announcement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that Nebraska will receive $147,800 to start or expand rural businesses and to fund employment-related education programs. Bancroft-Rosalie School will receive $7,000 for the purchase of a wind turbine.
Hopefully, the turbine will be up and running this fall.

Volleyball Districts

Volleyball sub-district assignments have been released. Bancroft-Rosalie will compete in class C-2 subdistrict 5. The sub-district tournament will be held Nov 2 and Nov 3 at Wayne High School. The five teams are Bancroft-Rosalie, Homer, Ponca, Wakefield and Winnebago. The teams in the other side of the district are Creighton, Hartington Cedar Catholic, Laurel-Concord, Plainview and West Holt.

President Obama's Education Initiative- "Race To The Top"

The President has released information on Race To The Top. For states to qualify for some of the $4.35 Billion dollars in funds they have to agree to reform efforts in four areas:
1- Adopting internationally benchmarked standards and assessments that prepare students for success in college and the workplace;
2- Recruiting, developing, rewarding, and retaining effective teachers and principals;
3- Building data systems that measure student success and inform teachers and principals how they can improve their practices; and
4- Turning around our lowest-performing schools.
The Nebraska Commissioner of Education has stated that Nebraska will pursue these funds. In order to access this money, the state must agree to make some changes.
#1- The state must require schools to adopt high graduation standards for students and increase the number of students attending postsecondary schools. In math, this would mean requiring algebra, geometry and possibly even algebra II for graduation.
#2- Reward effective teachers and principals. They are talking about merit pay for teachers.
#3- Having data systems in place that can link students and their teachers. They want to be able to identify the teachers that are effective in getting students to perform at a high level.
#4- Improve low performing schools. Allowing charter schools to exist as an alternative to regular public and parochial schools. Currently there are no charter schools in Nebraska.
This initiative is requiring changes to take place in schools. Our Commissioner says he is ready to promote these changes. Are Nebraska schools ready?
The school curriculum should be challenging to students, but struggling students need to be supported by teachers, not be left to fail. Excellent teachers deserve to be paid better. Teachers should be accountable for the performance of their students, not just covering material. The drop-out rate is this country needs to be reversed.
We will have to wait and see if "Race To The Top" can get off the ground.

State Aid increase for B-R

Bancroft-Rosalie School will receive an increase of $305,334 in state aid for the next school year. That will make the total amount $986,635. The amount received because of option enrollment is $409,310.
State aid is determined by taking the difference between a school districts resources (mostly property valuation) and its needs. Bancroft-Rosalie had a large increase is its needs for next year. This is a result of changes made in the state aid formula two years ago which changed the way needs are calculated. Needs are now calculated by taking the average expenditures of the ten schools closest in student enrollment (five larger and five smaller). Here is a list of the ten schools used for 2009-10 state aid and their expenditures.
As you can see, Bancroft-Rosalie is a low spending school.
AMHERST PUBLIC SCHOOLS 1,969,840.39
GARDEN COUNTY SCHOOLS 2,903,270.66
HIGH PLAINS COMMUNITY SCHOOLS 3,191,934.68
WALTHILL PUBLIC SCHOOLS 2,658,678.11
EAST BUTLER PUBLIC SCHOOLS 2,634,217.94
BANCROFT-ROSALIE COMM SCHOOLS 1,707,316.92
OVERTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS 2,418,745.44
LOUP CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS 2,921,918.30
MAXWELL PUBLIC SCHOOLS 2,642,894.98
SCRIBNER-SNYDER COMMUNITY SCHS 2,449,589.08
EMERSON-HUBBARD PUBLIC SCHOOLS 2,552,826.58

Fall softball at B-R this year

Wisner-Pilger and Bancroft-Rosalie have agreed to co-op softball for the next two years. B-R had three girls sign up for the team. All home games and practices will be in Wisner. The girls will be responsible for their own transportation to Wisner. Softball games will usually be played on Tuesdays and Thursdays with Saturday tournaments. They have a lot of games scheduled.
The team will play an intersquad scrimmage August 24. The first game is at Madison on August 27.