a summary - friend public school
Description of the School
Describe the school's size, community/communities, location, and changes it has experienced. Include demographic information about the students, staff, and community at large. What unique features and challenges are associated with the community/communities the school serves?
Saline County School District Number 0068 (Friend Public Schools) was organized as a Class III School District under Sections 79-102 and 79-407, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska. The District maintains preschool, elementary, and high school grades under the direction of a single Board of Education. The District encompasses approximately 99 square miles and has an estimated population of 992*. The District includes the City of Friend, Nebraska, together with surrounding territory in Saline, Seward and Fillmore Counties.
For the 2018-2019 School Year Friend has 253 students enrolled from Preschool-12th Grade. There are 56 staff members to ensure that our students are successful, 29 of those 56 are certified staff, and 2 are administrators.
School's Purpose
Provide the school's purpose statement and ancillary content such as mission, vision, values, and/or beliefs. Describe how the school embodies its purpose through its program offerings and expectations for students.
MISSION STATEMENT: Friend Public School is committed to engaging all students, staff, and community to ensure a diverse education through a culture of life-long learning.
What We Believe...
Areas of Improvement in Reading Comprehension
Additional Information
Provide any additional information you would like to share with the public and community that were not prompted in the previous sections.
During the past three years the District has made a significant "investment" in our early childhood program. For example, we expanded our preschool offerings to include high quality preschool opportunities to both 3 and 4 year olds.
Additionally, our Media Specialist, Tressa Beckler, has started an e-book collection for the school library and has also put together a "Reading Counts" program aimed at increasing the level of "recreational reading" in the elementary.
Friend Public School has received national recognition for excellence in global education from EF High School Exchange Year, the leader in high school exchange. The EF High School Exchange Year Global Education Excellence Award is presented annually to high schools that demonstrate an extraordinary commitment to international understanding and global awareness.
"Friend Public School has shown an outstanding commitment to offering a global education," said Dan Sodervall, President of EF High School Exchange Year. "By welcoming exchange students into the classrooms, they created new and unique learning opportunities not just for the exchange students, but for the American students and faculty as well."
Friend welcomed 56 EF High School Exchange students. Thirty-six in the past ten years and a total of 14 over the past three years. Each of these students has returned to their home countries with wonderful memories and positive feelings toward the communities, the people and the school in Friend. Friend Public School is a great ambassador for international diplomacy. Thank you to students, staff, administration and community.
Student Performance Data
The district is using the NWEA MAP online assessments for norm-referenced testing. Students in grades K-12 are tested two times a year providing a beginning of the year baseline score and an outcome score in the areas of reading, language, math, and science.
Describe the school's size, community/communities, location, and changes it has experienced. Include demographic information about the students, staff, and community at large. What unique features and challenges are associated with the community/communities the school serves?
Saline County School District Number 0068 (Friend Public Schools) was organized as a Class III School District under Sections 79-102 and 79-407, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska. The District maintains preschool, elementary, and high school grades under the direction of a single Board of Education. The District encompasses approximately 99 square miles and has an estimated population of 992*. The District includes the City of Friend, Nebraska, together with surrounding territory in Saline, Seward and Fillmore Counties.
For the 2018-2019 School Year Friend has 253 students enrolled from Preschool-12th Grade. There are 56 staff members to ensure that our students are successful, 29 of those 56 are certified staff, and 2 are administrators.
School's Purpose
Provide the school's purpose statement and ancillary content such as mission, vision, values, and/or beliefs. Describe how the school embodies its purpose through its program offerings and expectations for students.
MISSION STATEMENT: Friend Public School is committed to engaging all students, staff, and community to ensure a diverse education through a culture of life-long learning.
What We Believe...
- We believe each individual has value and dignity and is capable of life-long learning.
- We believe in sustaining a progressive learning environment that is physically and emotionally safe for learning.
- We believe education is a collaborative community responsibility.
- We believe every student needs to be invested in all areas of their educational experience.
Areas of Improvement in Reading Comprehension
Additional Information
Provide any additional information you would like to share with the public and community that were not prompted in the previous sections.
During the past three years the District has made a significant "investment" in our early childhood program. For example, we expanded our preschool offerings to include high quality preschool opportunities to both 3 and 4 year olds.
Additionally, our Media Specialist, Tressa Beckler, has started an e-book collection for the school library and has also put together a "Reading Counts" program aimed at increasing the level of "recreational reading" in the elementary.
Friend Public School has received national recognition for excellence in global education from EF High School Exchange Year, the leader in high school exchange. The EF High School Exchange Year Global Education Excellence Award is presented annually to high schools that demonstrate an extraordinary commitment to international understanding and global awareness.
"Friend Public School has shown an outstanding commitment to offering a global education," said Dan Sodervall, President of EF High School Exchange Year. "By welcoming exchange students into the classrooms, they created new and unique learning opportunities not just for the exchange students, but for the American students and faculty as well."
Friend welcomed 56 EF High School Exchange students. Thirty-six in the past ten years and a total of 14 over the past three years. Each of these students has returned to their home countries with wonderful memories and positive feelings toward the communities, the people and the school in Friend. Friend Public School is a great ambassador for international diplomacy. Thank you to students, staff, administration and community.
Student Performance Data
The district is using the NWEA MAP online assessments for norm-referenced testing. Students in grades K-12 are tested two times a year providing a beginning of the year baseline score and an outcome score in the areas of reading, language, math, and science.
