Several weeks back, Hamburg Community School District contacted the District about forming a tuition agreement with them to serve high school students. Hamburg is a K-8 school system. In order to remain accredited, they must have a tuition agreement with a contiguous school district even though they recently were authorized to operate a charter school for high school students.
Hamburg’s request was an unexpected but welcomed invitation to work with an area school to support students in the region. Hamburg has had an agreement with Sidney CSD for a number of years. However, after verifying with Sidney’s superintendent that they were unable to agree on terms to renew their agreement with Hamburg, it was decided to move forward working with the Hamburg superintendent to form an agreement with Shenandoah for the service.
Having a tuition agreement with Hamburg is beneficial to students because it allows them to participate in a broader curriculum and activities. It also allows for the Hamburg District to provide transportation to and from school. Transportation is a significant cost and is normally a factor that makes open enrollment cost-prohibitive for many students, so this is a large area of interest to families who are considering options for their students. The Shenandoah District benefits from the increased enrollment and tuition payment. To start, it is anticipated that many of the Hamburg High School students will continue to attend Sidney and there will be three or four who may attend school in Shenandoah. There may not be a large number of students who initially come to Shenandoah, but I firmly believe it is the right decision to work with area schools and find ways to keep and support families in Southwest Iowa.
The District has also developed a relationship with Tarkio Technology Institute that will expand the Career Technical Education offerings available to students. Students will now be able to take courses in computer information technology, HVAC, plumbing, welding, and wind energy. This is good for our students and their career plans.
School safety and emergency operation protocols have been a large focus this summer. A group of staff went to STOP training for suicide and behavioral threat assessment at Green Hills AEA. Time has also been spent reviewing how we can improve our training and response when there is a dangerous situation on campus. We will be meeting with local law enforcement and Page County Emergency Management in July to discuss our process and consider the feedback that will help us be more prepared. Additionally, we are currently working to implement School Pass, which is software that will help us with the end-of-the-day dismissal procedures and communication with parents. This is important work, and we are committed to taking measures that will help us improve campus safety.
Summer interest camps at the JK-8 are going well! It has been a great experience to be involved in co-teaching a robotics camp. I have really enjoyed working directly with our students and spending time getting to know them. I am looking forward to the second session in July.
Check out this video.
