Seven Days

A Few Thoughts

We're at the seventh day of school and so far things are going incredibly well.  Students and staff have gotten the year off to a great start and there is lots of learning going on in our classrooms.  Hopefully, we can avoid any more large amounts of rain and lightning, especially on Friday nights.  The biggest glitch remains with PayForIt.  They have assured me they will get it resolved, getting both the lunch payments and fees transferred to Powerschool and getting any fees reimbursed for anyone who was charged a service fee prior to August 6th.  We are not the only district who has this problem with PayForIt.  As mentioned earlier on Facebook, we are looking for a new online payment processor, so please do not make any new payments using PayForIt.  Thanks for your patience as we work through this.  If sending money for lunch, we ask that you please send a separate payment for each child.  Our system does not allow for a family account at this time, so it must be handled separately.  Especially if your children are in different buildings.

On a different note, I want to take a few lines to talk about the importance of attendance and being on time.  First, if your child is sick, running a temperature, etc. please keep him/her home until he/she recovers.  This helps keep other students from getting sick.  If your child is frequently sick and missing a lot of school because of it, you may want to seek the help of your family doctor to see if there is more going on.  Attending school regularly is the first step in your child being successful at school.  Chronic Absenteeism (defined as missing more than 10% of school) is on the rise.  Two years ago, Governor Branstad and then Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds created a task force to address this growing problem in the state.  Statewide 10% of the students were Chronically Absent.  We're better than that here in New Hampton with 4% of our students meeting that level, but that's still a pretty high number of students.  For some, we are aware of legitimate medical reasons for the absences, but many aren't very clear.  In addition, even if you're child is not at 10% every day missed is an opportunity to miss some important learning.  Yes, students can make up missed work, but often the most important learning is what takes place in the classroom with the teacher and other students present and that cannot be made up.  If you're child is struggling in coming to school or you suspect there are other issues going on, please reach out to your child's teacher, school counselor, building principal, or myself.  We want to help in any way we can.

District Initiatives

Over the last several years you've heard about Iowa BIG North, Midmester Academy, and J-Term.  These are all district initiatives we've implemented to engage our students more and provide them with the skills they need to succeed in the world that awaits them after graduation.  In the past, we focused on reading, writing, arithmetic, science, and citizenship skills.  We've gotten good at that and have prepared a lot of students for college or whatever their pursuits were after high school.  Take a walk through our hall of fame and see all of the people who have graduated from New Hampton High School who went on to do notable things.  I'm sure there are many others that are not in our hall yet.  Unfortunately (or maybe it's fortunately), we now know that not everyone needs a four year degree and there are a lot of other important skills our kids need to have in order to be prepared for their future.  Specifically, what we call the 4 C's: Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, and Creativity.  In our world today, these are the keys to success in most fields.  The other thing we know is that students learn best when they are involved in hands-on real world projects that have meaning to them.  That's why we started these projects and will be continuing and enhancing them into the future.  

Students still need a solid foundation of basic skills, so we will continue to work on those while bringing in more hands-on, real-world, student centered opportunities for our students.  This year you will start to see more projects and problems being implemented into our regular classroom instruction.  We've always done a lot of projects, but they were often completed after the instruction to measure what the students learned.  We are working so the project or problem is the major part of the learning that occurs within the class.  It's new for all of us, but we see promising results and those who have done it are seeing great things with student achievement, post high school success, and improvements in basic skills.  I don't think it's a secret that if students can work on things they are interested in, they will work harder and get more out of it.  We will be talking more about it as the year goes on.  Next Tuesday night, the board will be having a work session.  They will be discussing the movie Most Likely to Succeed.  If you are available, please stop out to the high school media center to listen to the discussion.  It will be interesting and insightful.  We are looking to eventually hold a community viewing of the movie as well.  Below is the trailer from the movie:  

Why are we doing this?  The world we live and work in is changing quickly.  The skills we've taught in the past are mostly still needed, but there are so many other skills that are also needed to succeed in our future world.  Here's a short video that also looks at the world of work:  

Please stay tuned as we move forward and make sure our students are prepared when they graduate for the exciting world of opportunities that await them.  

Building Project Update

If you've been by the high school recently, you will notice quite a bit of activity around the building.  First, we have expanded the upper parking lot and now have space for 24 cars plus handicapped spots available.  This will help a lot with the parking around the building.  We also have encouraged the students to park on the east side of the driveway which has freed up a lot of space within the main lot.  We received a semi-truck load of steel and there was plenty of room for him to drive into our lot and get turned around.  During the day will not be an issue, but events can be tight.  As mentioned before, we are looking to start receiving wall panels on September 24th.  That's why they are putting up all the steel they can right now to have it out of the way when the panels arrive.  If we can keep the amount of rain to a manageable level, the project will continue to progress nicely.  Here are a few pictures of the project:  

Here's an overview of the entire project area looking North.

Here's looking toward the U which shows the joists up over the cafeteria/lunch area.  Directly below the camera is where the gym will be.  

This is looking north toward the backside of the entrance of the middle school.  

This is a shot of what will eventually become the main entrance to the middle school addition.  I will post this shot regularly to show the progress on the building.  

If you have any questions about any of this, please reach out to me at any time.  Go Chickasaws!  

From the Middle: Schools is Back!

Welcome Back!

Students have been back in school for a little over a week and it has been an awesome start.  We have done a great job selling Kwik Star cards again this year.  We want to thank everyone that helped to sell and the community for all of the support.  This year, we sold $76,580 in less than a week.  Normally we get 5% back immediately plus amounts during the year as cards are used on in-store purchases.  This month, there is a promotion that we will get 10% back immediately and then more with in-store purchases.  From this fundraiser, we will make over $7,600 and more to come!  If you missed out on the fundraiser, we always sell them from the middle school office.  Stop in and we can fulfill your needs!

Here are some pictures from the first day of school!

Middle School Band Gets Ready:

Mrs. Adam has been working with students to learn how to march and get ready for Homecoming performances.  Students are having fun in band learning lots since band camp in August.  Below is a video of students playing the school fight song!

Welcome Back After the First Full Week!

WELCOME BACK NEW HAMPTON ELEMENTARY!

We have arrived at the end of our first full week of school, we did it! Love to have them all back. The hugs, smiles and laughter we have during the day I miss all summer long!  Truly this week has been a fabulous week.  The kids came back ready, which says a lot about our parents keeping them on track over the summer and focused on the day was coming, to head back to school.  We truly appreciate the work as parents you put forth daily in helping us be partners with your children and trusting us with their care. As I tell many parents, when the kids walk through those school doors they become my kids and I love each one of them like I love my own.  Wishing all of us a wonderful school year and can't wait to see our kids grow in so many ways!

Soggy Friday, But We Got It Done!

A BIG thank you to everyone who waited it out Friday night as we had a two hour rain delay for our football game.  Tri-athletes were honored after returning from their first fall away from New Hampton and waited through all of the weather delays to be recognized.  They showed that it really is true that "once a Chickasaw, always a Chickasaw!" It never ceases to amaze me how beautiful our football field and stadium is, no matter the time of day or the weather.  It is one of my favorite sights every day.

Lots Happening in Our First Full Week

There is lots going on at NHHS already.  Students are collaborating, filling the halls and enjoying social time together.  There is an increased focus on collaboration, communication, creativity and critical thinking school as we are on our Project Based Learning journey to bring more authentic learning to the classroom.  Students will begin signing up for J-term classes next week and many teachers are working on implementing PBL during semester long courses.

 

 Fundraising to Add to the Ag/IT Center

As part of our building project, ground will break soon on the new Ag/Industrial Arts Center.  The original plans have grown as donors have come forward to invest in ag and manufacturing career futures in the greater New Hampton Area.  Anyone interested in donating should contact Mr. Jurrens in the superintendent's office.

Just Glad to Have Kids Back in the Building!

The social aspect of school plays a huge role in the life of NHHS.  We encourage students to practice kindness, lead with compassion and support one another.  There is nothing more heartwarming that having halls full of happy kids and watch them interact positively with one another.  After a summer away, having them back "home" is truly a blessing!

Welcome Back!

School Starts!

We had a great start to the new school year.  The weather has been cool and everyone seems excited to get going.  Yesterday, it was fun to see everyone in their new school clothes as they came ready to start the new year.  Working in education is an awesome experience.  Every year we get to have a new first day and fresh start for the year.  We have an opportunity to reflect on what we did the previous year and make improvements for the upcoming year.  Our teachers are great at looking for ways to make things better for each group of students that come through our doors.  Be sure to check this out the next time you're in the elementary/middle school building:

Construction Update

Tonight is our first home football game.  The Chickasaws will be hosting the Falcons of Aplington-Parkersburg.  Hopefully, the rain stays away so we have a great game.  As mentioned in other places, parking will be tight, so thanks for your patience as we work through this year.  A few notes about parking.  If parking on the east side of the lot on the grass, please angle park or pull straight in.  This allows us to get many more cars parked there compared to everyone parallel parking.  In addition, we have lines drawn in the lot to aid in parking.  The line is the center with cars parked on each side.  The one confusing spot is near the drainage intake on the western side of the lot in the middle.  The drain is really in the middle of the drive, so please don't triple park next to it and block the car ahead of you in.  

This week some cement was poured in the upper parking lot for some additional parking, but that won't be strong enough to hold vehicles until later next week.  Below is a map to aid in parking.  We will have golf carts running tonight to help in transporting people around the facilities.  Of course, handicapped parking will continue to be provided at the stadium.  

If you've driven by lately, you may have noticed quite a bit of activity going on right now.  They are working to get as much steel erected as possible before the wall panels start arriving on September 24th.  They are doing this to get ahead and also to make more room in the area so there is plenty of room for the equipment to move when erecting the panels.  I will try to get the drone out this weekend to take some pictures to post for next week.  When the wall panels start to arrive, things will happen quickly.  The wall panels will come by semi-truck and one panel will come on each truck.  They will unload the panel directly from the truck and place it in place on the building.  There is a sample part of a panel on the back parking lot near the corner of the construction fence.  You can see the color of the brick and how the panels are made. 

They will be starting on the Ag/Industrial Tech building the week after homecoming.  We asked them to delay that a little so we had as much parking as possible for the homecoming festivities.  Our contractor, Cresco Builders, has been great to work with when things like this come up. 

Finally, if you've walked the path behind the CWC or been down the road, you probably noticed we had quite a bit of work done on the 13 acres we own there.  We had three practice athletic fields graded and installed and ready for seeding.  At the last board meeting, the board approved having it seeded yet this fall with an athletic field mix and some oats to reduce erosion.  We are excited to get moving on this part of the project and should start seeing results fairly quickly.  In the Northeast Corner of that property there is three acres of land that is very wet.  We plan to seed that to a Pollinator mix to enhance the area.  That will be planted later in the fall.  Good things are happening.  Be sure to follow the district on Facebook and check back to our blog as we will continue to update as changes continue to happen. 

Final Thoughts

It's an exciting time to be a part of the New Hampton Community.  We have the school project going on, but there are so many other things happening to improve our town.  Take time to look around and see all the great things that are happening.  The upgrades to the swimming pool, the Tribe Trail, new houses being built, new building out at New Hampton Transfer and Storage, a new Dollar General Store, the new Hugeback Johnson Funeral Home, the new Hacker Nelson offices, the new Edward D. Jones office, and others I'm sure I'm forgetting.  In addition, have you noticed the new promotions and activities the downtown businesses are putting together.  Our local businesses support our schools and many other causes and activities in our community.  They deserve our support, loyalty, and patronage for all they do.  Awesome things are happening and if you haven't been involved or noticed please take time to get involved and look around.  You won't be disappointed and some of you may be surprised on some of the things you may have missed.  New Hampton is an awesome community that is seeing a huge resurgence of positive things going on.  There is no other place I would rather be than right here!  I hope to see you tonight at the game.  Go Chickasaws!   

Opening Days

Glad to Be Back!

After almost 90 days away, it is refreshing and exciting to have students back in the building. The energy our students bring to the high school is beyond measure.  Our building goal this year is to LEAD WITH COMPASSION.  We see students multiple times a day helping others and we want that vibe to spread in our community and world beyond.  As you talk with students, please ask them what they did today to be compassionate!

Fun Plus Critical Thinking Skills, Problem Solving and Relationship Building

On the second day of classes, student spent time on PBIS activities to start the day.  These activities throughout the building not only built relationships and added to the fun, but there we also designed to start thinking about our 4 Cs of critical thinking, collaboration, communication and creativity.  A big thanks to the PBIS for organizing the morning!