Legislative Bill 644 created new procedures for school districts. Districts that exceed their specific allowable growth of their tax request are required to participate in a joint hearing at the county level. Our school district held the annual budget hearing on September 12th as normal. Should schools participate in the joint hearing, it replaces what was the annual tax request hearing at the local level. Property owners in school districts that are participating in the joint meeting, received pink postcards from the county. Should school districts not need to participate in the joint meeting, no postcards were sent.
Superintendent Meyerle will represent Diller-Odell Public Schools at the Joint Public Hearing at the Gage County Courthouse District Court on Monday, September 26th at 6:30 pm.
The participation is due to the fact that the school district needs to exceed the allowable tax request growth for our school district. Beatrice Public Schools and Southern Public Schools will also participate in this county meeting. Ideally, we would not need to do this. However, with increased staffing costs, services for students with special needs, the purchase of new buses, and inflation, we have no choice but to increase our tax request to the recommended amount.
Diller-Odell Public Schools participates in the meeting in Gage County, as schools that have area in more than one county shall participate in the meeting within the county in which the political subdivisions' principal headquarters are located.
The School Board and administration are dedicated to serving our students. We feel fortunate that our General Fund Levy is still proposed to be .660783, which is lower than most neighboring districts. The Special Building Fund Levy is proposed to be .126351, and the overall levy .787134.
We will have our new gym paid for in two years and the Special Building Fund Levy can be dramatically reduced at that time.
Should you have questions, please contact Mike Meyerle at 402-766-4210 (office) 402-230-0958 (mobile) or mmeyerle@dillerodell.org
The third grade enjoyed a writing celebration outside to wrap up their personal narrative writing!
One of ESU5's Distance Learning Science teachers came down to the Elementary for an in-person lesson. The students were able to do hands-on activities learning about vortex cannons and how air movement works.
After an almost two year process of reviewing new math curriculum options, the Diller-Odell elementary staff has implemented Reveal Math as our new program in grades K-5. The review was guided by resources from the Nebraska Instructional Materials Cooperative and the Nebraska Department of Education. The cooperative utilizes EdReports, which conducts reviews of content based on alignments to standards, usability, and other quality criteria. EdReports has identified Saxon, our previous math series, as not meeting current math expectations. This review, coupled with new math standards just adopted in the state of Nebraska, required action and implementation of a new math curriculum.
The Nebraska Department of Education said this about the new math standards:
College and career readiness for Nebraska’s K-12 students requires content area standards that are clearly defined and increasingly rigorous across grade levels. The standards are designed to ensure all students have access to grade-level mathematics content centered on deep learning of concepts while actively building new knowledge from their experiences. The revised mathematics standards encompass a wide range of essential skills across the strands of Number, Algebra, Geometry, and Data. The standards, both individually and as an integrated whole, describe not only expectations for college and career readiness, but the 21st century mathematical literacies for critical and innovative thinking and problem solving. The progression of skills within each strand are research and evidence-based and designed to prepare Nebraska’s students for postsecondary and workforce demands.
With the transition from Saxon to Reveal Math, we expect challenges. This “new” math instruction requires a shift in the way students, teachers and parents approach the concepts. Reveal Math, and really all new math curriculum, is based on this foundational belief:
By encouraging curiosity, exploration, and a growth mindset, Reveal math allows students to see math as a dynamic set of problem-solving strategies invested of the application of memorized algorithmic or computation procedures. This powerful paradigm shift allows students to learn the language of math and demonstrate their fluency all along the road towards standard mastery.
This change in the way students approach math is and will be challenging. Please know our teachers are doing their best to help transition to this new approach in Reveal Math. We believe the goals of Reveal Math will help our students become proficient with the newly adopted Nebraska Math Standards. Reveal Math will help students be able to visualize and communicate problem solving as well as approach math with creativity, thoughtfulness and flexibility. Please reach out to Mr. Mezger, Mrs. Coufal, or your child’s/children’s teacher(s) if you have any questions about Reveal Math.
More Information about the Nebraska Math Standards can be found on the back of this page and at this link:
https://www.education.ne.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Nebraskas-College-and-Career-Ready-Standards-f
or-Mathematics-Final-9-14-22.pdf
The elementary students were greeted at lunch today by by some special guests. Diller-Odell Elementary opened their doors for grandparents to come and have lunch with their grandchildren and even stay for a little recess. A majority of the work was by our kitchen staff as well as custodial with the setup and preparation of food. Thank you to the faculty, staff, administration, and our special guests for making today a success.
Juniors and seniors had the opportunity to visit with over 40 colleges and other post-secondary options available to them. Giving students the opportunity to find the right fit as they look to wrap up their high school journey in the next year or two. Finding the right fit is essential for all students whether that is joining the workforce, trade school, military, two year college, four year college or university. Students are encouraged to explore all options, ask questions and evaluate the best fit for them.
The Preschool students at Diller-Odell have been enjoying their first few weeks learning how to spell their names and meeting all their new preschool friends.
Art Club has begun their annual popcorn fundraiser! If you are wanting to buy Double Good Popcorn, please ask one of our Art Club members. We will have orders due by October 3rd so get your order in before then. The funds will be used for members to participate in fun art-related activities and our annual art trip!
