Community Update: Friday, February 18, 2022 - Palmyra ...
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Community Update: Friday, February 18, 2022
Panther families,
Before we head into the weekend, I wanted to send another district update to all of you. It has been almost a month
since our last community update and the situation dealing with the Covid virus has changed quite a bit; this time in a
positive direction as the number of positive Covid cases in the area (and our district) continues to sharply drop.
Compared with the positive case numbers we experienced from the beginning of January until the 22nd of January
(where we experienced a very high rate of positivity), we feel very fortunate that we are trending in the right
direction.
In alignment with the decision today from the Lincoln Lancaster County Health Department (LLCHD) regarding the
current Directed Health Measure (DHM), District OR-1 will no longer be requiring masks at the elementary school
in Bennet effective Saturday, February 19th. Masks will still be recommended to assist with the mitigation of
possible continued viral spread, but they will no longer be required in our district. This recommendation also
includes transportation on our district vehicles. Masks are still recommended, but not required at Palmyra High
School.
Please note that this situation could change again if cases rise again in the future and we will continue to adjust as
needed. For now, we will continue to follow the updated guidelines provided from our local health departments.
Moving forward, we will still continue to remain vigilant against outbreaks of the virus and there still could be
possible variants that arise in the coming weeks or months, but we feel equipped to handle those on a case by case
and school by school level. Thanks to all of you for your patience and support as we continue to adjust to the ever
changing conditions presented by the virus.
In summary, beginning Saturday, February 19th, masks will be recommended, but not required for all students and
staff at all buildings in the district. This includes masks being recommended, but not required for transportation on
all district vehicles.
Board of Education Update:
● We just recently had our Board of Education regular meeting this past Monday, February 14th here at
Palmyra High School. Listed below are some highlights from the meeting.
● 2022-2023 District Calendar:
○ The district calendar was approved for the 2022-2023 school year. I am attaching a copy of the
calendar to this communication and the calendar will also be available on our district website at:
■ www.district or1.org
○ Specifically, school will start in the fall on Thursday, August 11th and the last day of school next
year is Thursday, May 18th for high school students (and Wednesday, May 17th for elementary
students). High school graduation next year will be Saturday, May 13th.
● “Draft” Options for Facility Improvements:
○ In alignment with the results of a recent facility audit and in-depth analysis of our current district
enrollment study, board members discussed some possible “draft” options for consideration as we
look at ways to effectively and proactively address future student and district growth.
○ The current “draft” options being considered for Bennet Elementary are adding some classroom
space on the west side of the building, expanding the lunchroom, office, and main commons area
to the east side of the building, and adding some additional student common space southeast of the
elementary gym.○ Possible “draft” options at the high school include consideration of a new Career Technical
Education (CTE) wing complete with an expanded wood shop, metal and welding, and
agricultural area. Possible options also include adding some additional classrooms on the northeast
side of the building, repurposing the current “shop” area into a weight room/ community fitness
center, and repurposing the current weight deck to accommodate our high school wrestling
program and equipment. Special note: Repurposing the current weight deck at the high school in
turn creates additional space at the elementary school because the wrestling team doesn’t have to
conduct practice or store its equipment at the elementary gym. Having wrestling practice and
storing equipment at the elementary school currently impacts after school activities for our
elementary students at Bennet.
○ Feedback from our staff and community members on these “draft” options has been extremely
helpful and this input has helped us prioritize some possible options to consider which best meets
the specific needs of our students and our community.
○ More opportunities for community input on these “draft” options will be forthcoming in the
coming weeks and months.
● Grade Reconfiguration:
○ Earlier this fall, we sent out a survey to our families and our community stakeholders regarding
their thoughts on the strengths, needs, and challenges of the district.
○ One of the recurring themes that emerged throughout the surveys and the meetings was how to
best address the projected growth in student population (especially at the elementary) over the next
several years. According to the results of our recent comprehensive enrollment study, our district
is expected to grow by about 18% or 120 students in the next five years.
○ Space at the elementary school continues to be very limited and an immediate concern. One option
contained within the enrollment analysis to immediately increase space at the elementary school
was the idea of a grade reconfiguration, specifically with the sixth grade.
○ To gather stakeholder feedback, we hosted a parent meeting for those families with students going
into the sixth grade next year to discuss the possibility of having our sixth graders move to the
high school next year. The feedback from the students and parents was overall very positive and
survey results from our current 5th grade students also indicated a favorable response to this
proposal.
○ Based upon this feedback, the board approved adding the sixth grade class to the junior / senior
high school in Palmyra beginning with the 2022-2023 school year. This decision is a cost effective
and efficient way to provide much needed space at the elementary level next year. We believe this
grade reconfiguration will be an exciting opportunity for our incoming 6th and 7th grade students.
○ Transition plans have been developed to provide opportunities for additional feedback and
experiences for our students to prepare for this transition. Information about transition dates are
listed later in this document.
● Community Engagement Meetings:
○ Special thanks to those of you who were able to attend our recent community engagement
meetings. Your input and insight is extremely valuable.
○ Please be looking for additional community engagement opportunities coming up as we move
deeper into the spring season.
● Staffing Changes:
○ The board accepted the resignations of Mr. Brad Gabriel and Ms. Shaylee Truax at the meeting on
Monday. Both of these staff members have decided to pursue other opportunities and we wishthem the best of luck in their future endeavors. Special thanks to Mr. Gabriel and Ms. Truax for
their service and education to our students, district, and the community.
○ The board approved a teaching contract for Ms. Elizabeth Johnson. Ms. Johnson will be teaching
agricultural education and she will also be our new FFA sponsor at the high school.
● Student and Staff Kudos: Listed below are some notable recent achievements from some of our students
and staff.
○ Congratulations to Andrew Waltke on signing with Northwest Missouri State!
○ Congratulations to Hailey Darrah on signing with Buena Vista College!
○ Congratulations to Emily Van Meter for her selection to perform at the state FFA convention!
Also, a special thank you to Mrs. McCreight for helping Emily with her audition materials.
○ Congratulations to Betty Chambers for being the first girl from Palmyra to ever qualify for the
NSAA state wrestling championships.
○ Special congratulations to our other state qualifying wrestlers: Diedrick Dowding and Evan Bryan-
Aldrich. Go Panthers!
Activities: Streaming Event Update:
● Some of you may have noticed that our current school YouTube account is no longer working. We hope this
is a temporary situation and we are currently working to resolve the issue.
● In order to be able to still stream these events to our community members, we have created a new
(temporary) link and we will be streaming the upcoming basketball games tonight, Saturday's JH games,
and next week's Sub-District games on this new channel. Listed below is the new link:
○ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyFBPiQ2Izob4frtG9wOsjA
● We apologize for any inconvenience and hope to have our original channel back up and working soon.
Current Job Openings
● District OR-1 is still looking for some outstanding applicants to help us fill our current job openings in
several areas. These openings are listed below. If you are interested in any of the following positions (or
know someone who may want to join our team) please have them contact our school office at (402)
780-5327.
○ Bennet Elementary Secretary
○ Industrial Technology Teacher
○ Substitute Bus Drivers
○ Substitute Teachers
○ Substitute Paraprofessionals
● Applications for employment are also available on our school website at: www.districtor1.org
Upcoming District Dates:
● Monday, February 28th - First day of spring sports (Track, Boys Golf)
● Friday, March 4th - No school for students or staff.
● Thursday, March 10th: End of the 3rd quarter
● Friday, March 11th: - No school for students or staff.
● Monday, March 14th: Board of Education Regular Meeting beginning at 7:00 p.m. at Palmyra High
School in the Media Center.
● Monday, March 14th: No school for students. This is a staff development day for our teachers.
● Friday, March 25th: Home Track Meet (Triangular: Palmyra, Sterling, Freeman) at the Olson Complex.● Monday, April 11th: Board of Education Regular Meeting beginning at 7:00 p.m. at Palmyra High School
in the Media Center.
● Thursday, April 14th: 1:30 p.m. early dismissal for students
● Friday, April 15th: No school for students or staff: Easter Break
● Monday, April 18th: No school for students or staff: Easter Break
● Saturday, April 30th: ECNC Conference Track Meet at the Olson Complex.
● Friday, May 6th: 5th and 6th Grade Transition Day at the high school. 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
● Saturday, May 7th: High School Graduation
● Monday, May 9th: No school for high school students only due to district music (ECNC). Please note:
elementary students have a full day of school on this day.
● Wednesday, May 18th: Last day of school for elementary students
● Thursday, May 19th: Last day of school for high school students. 1:30 p.m. dismissal.
● May/ June/ July: TBD: Possible morning/evening meeting dates for students/ families
● Monday, June 6th -Thursday, June 23rd: Summer Enrichment for 5th / 6th Grade at PHS
● Monday, August 8th: 5-6 High School Orientation
Thank you again for your support of our students, staff, and district.
Have a safe weekend,
Mike
Go Panthers!DISTRICT OR-1 PUBLIC SCHOOLS
CALENDAR 2022-2023
August 2022 August 2022 January 2023
SU M T W TH F SA 8-Aug Start of Fall Practice SU M T W TH F SA
1 2 3 4 5 6 Aug 8 / 9 Faculty Inservice-8:00-4:00 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 10-Aug Teacher Work Day 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
14 15 16 17 18 19 20 11-Aug First Day of School 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 September 2022 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
28 29 30 31 5-Sep NO SCHOOL -Labor Day 29 30 31
18 Teacher Days 20-Sep Dismiss @ 1:30 P.M. P-T conf. 2:00-8:00 P.M. 19 Teacher Days
15 Student Days 21-Sep Collab. PD/WD - No School for students 18 Student Days
October 2022
September 2022 14-Oct End of First quarter February 2023
SU M T W TH F SA 17-Oct Start 2nd Quarter SU M T W TH F SA
1 2 3 21-Oct Fall Break; NO SCHOOL 1 2 3 4
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 November 2022 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 14-Nov Start Winter Practice 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 15-Nov Teacher Inservice No School 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
25 26 27 28 29 30 23-Nov NO SCHOOL Thanksgiving Break 26 27 28
21 Teacher Days 24-Nov NO SCHOOL Thanksgiving Break 19 Teacher Days
20 Student Days 25-Nov NO SCHOOL Thanksgiving Break 18 Student Days
December 2022
October 2022 21-Dec End of Second Quarter March 2023
SU M T W TH F SA 22-Dec Winter Vacation December 22-January 4 SU M T W TH F SA
1 23-27-Dec Five day moratorium period est. by NSAA 1 2 3 4
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 January 2023 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 1-4-Jan Winter Vacation 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 4-Jan Collab PD/WD - No School for Students 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
23 24 25 26 27 28 29 5-Jan School Resumes, Start 3rd Quarter 26 27 28 29 30 31
30 31 16-Jan No School - Martin Luther King Day 21 Teacher Days
20 Teacher Days February 2023 20 Student Days
20 Student Days 1-Feb Collab PD/WD - No School for Students
November 2022 7-Feb Dismiss @ 1:30 P.M. P-T conf. 2:00-8:00 P.M. April 2023
SU M T W TH F SA 10-Feb NO SCHOOL Winter Break SU M T W TH F SA
1 2 3 4 5 March 2023
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1-Mar Start of Spring Practice 1
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 3-Mar NO SCHOOL Spring Break 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 9-Mar End of Third Quarter 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
27 28 29 30 10-Mar NO SCHOOL Spring Break 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
18 19 13-Mar Collab PD/WD - No School for Students 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
19 Teacher Days 14-Mar Start 4th Quarter 30
18 Student Days April 2023 18 Teacher Days
6-Apr Dismiss at 1:30 P.M. for Easter Break 18 Student Days
December 2022 7-Apr NO SCHOOL: Easter Break May 2023
SU M T W TH F SA 10-Apr NO SCHOOL: Easter Break SU M T W TH F SA
1 2 3 May 2023 1 2 3 4 5 6
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 13-May High School Graduation 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 17-May Elementary End of 2nd Semester Reg. Dismissal 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 18-May End of Second Semester-1:30 Dismissal H.S. 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
25 26 27 28 29 30 31 19-May Teacher Work Day 28 29 30 31
15 Teacher Days Note: Early dismissal times of 1:30 will result in an elementary 15 Teacher Days
15 Student Days dismissal time of 1:10 p.m 13 Elem./14 HS Student Days
93 Teacher Days First Semester 92 Teacher Days Second Semester
88 Student Days First Semester 176 Student days 88 Student Days Second Semester
185 total for teachers
Legend for Colors
Regular Dismissal for High School Students
Elementary Students: End of Second Semester
Vacation Days
Parent Teacher Conferences
Early Dismissal: 1:30 p.m. / 1:10 p.m. for elementary
Professional Development Day for Staff: No school for students
Updated February 14, 2022
Board Approved February 14, 2022You can also read
