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COVID-19 and Gibbon Public Schools

Since March 16, 2020, Gibbon Public Schools, like all schools across the nation, has grappled with COVID-19 and the challenges of ensuring quality educational experiences continue to be delivered to students. Remote learning, alternate learning environments, face masks, hand sanitizers, and Return to School Protocols have become the new normal. From the school’s perspective, we have realized a minor impact on the number of students and staff placed in quarantine or who have tested positive for COVID-19. At this time, we have had just one staff member test positive and there have been five students test positive for COVID-19. Currently, we have 17 students home in quarantine and who attend school via ZOOM. Although the school district has seen positive cases, we can definitely claim these cases are not traced back to the school. We can confidently say folks were exposed to the virus through relatives or when attending special events such as weddings. Recently, we received inform

Update from the Superintendent

Gibbon Nation, The school district has closed a history-making end to the school year, and it is important that we celebrate all that was accomplished in response to a monumental challenge called COVID-19. Teachers were thrown into an alternate learning environment with little time to prepare, students were thrown into an environment and asked to manage their own time while attending to academic requirements, and parents were asked to monitor learning while they also tended to the needs of their families. OUR collective response has been overwhelmingly positive and I wish to thank students, parents, teachers, and our community for their tremendous effort. What can parents, students, and the community expect for the start of the 2020-21 School Year? We are hopeful that we can start school in a “normal environment” with students arriving at school on August 12th. However, news and conditions associated with COVID-19 changes daily requiring us to consider a number of different ap

Update from Dr. Fisher

Hi Gibbon Nation. Wow. These past several weeks have been interesting and panic associated with COVID-19 challenged a sense of normalcy for the entire world. What was considered normal a few weeks ago is no longer normal today. That is especially true for educators and public schools. Students, families, educators, and support staff left for spring break and the world was somewhat normal. I venture to say no one thought March 12th would be the last day school would operate in the traditional sense. On March 16th, the COVID-19 Pandemic immediately threw the school district into a new normal, “alternate learning environments,” without an opportunity to adequately prepare for this experience. As a result, students, parents, families, educators and entire communities were thrown into a world where folks were asked to stay home and education would occur … “differently.” Overall, I am extremely proud of the way parents, students and the school district has responded to this cha

LEARNING WILL CONTINUE IN GIBBON PUBLIC SCHOOLS

I am sad to share Gibbon Public Schools will continue to operate without students in the building, and we are preparing for the fact this might be the case the remainder of the school year. While the building may be closed in the traditional sense, PLEASE COUNT ON INSTRUCTION TAKING PLACE TIlE REMAINDER OF THIS ACADEMIC YEAR. This means learning for all students will continue in an alternate setting, and instruction will occur through Zoom, instructional packets, and other venues identified by the classroom teacher. Gibbon Public Schools just finished our first week in an alternate learning environment, and we understand the Coronavirus Pandemic has placed additional burdens on our families. After all, parents and guardians must work to provide shelter, clothing and food for their children. However, we can’t ignore the ethical obligation to continue your child’s education. It is extremely important that your children participate in the learning experiences designed by teachers. Failu

The Approach to Public Concern Over Corona Virus

Gibbon Nation, I am confident you have had several opportunities to listen to multiple news reports on the Coronavirus Outbreak, and I am also confident folks have many questions about how your school district is responding to this crisis. This version of SUPTs On is intended to share the district’s approach to this public concern. This past Sunday, every superintendent in the state of Nebraska participated in a video-conference call with the Commissioner of Education to learn more about the outbreak, specifics associated with the virus, and how school districts across the state of Nebraska are responding to a particular incident. These conference calls will occur each Sunday until we have weathered this particular storm. Today, superintendents from school districts across Central Nebraska, met at Educational Service Unit #10 in Kearney to visit with Jeremy Eschliman, the Health Director at Two Rivers Public Health Department. During this meeting, I recommended that area super

Access to the School Facility

I was recently made aware of Facebook posts claiming the school district is not allowing representatives of the community to use the school facility. This claim is highly inaccurate and using social media to make posts of this nature creates confusion, frustration and sometimes anger that unfortunately places the school district in a negative light with the community. This version of SUPTs On is intended to address this false information. I’ve listed several “FACTS” that supported the district’s decision to tighten up safety and security through a keyless entry system and a facility use form. FACT: Given events that have occurred internationally, nationally, and within the state of Nebraska, we can no longer ignore the reality that violence can occur in our community or in our school district at any time. Think back to this past summer when an incident that involved a shooting occurred in Gibbon. This reality demands a practice and the commitment to constantly seek ways of making our c

See Something Send Something App

In the October 2019 version of SUPTs On, I mentioned the school district’s efforts to strengthen our ability to respond to emergency or crisis situations. Given events that have occurred throughout the world and the amount of harm encountered in all kinds of settings, Gibbon Public Schools believes it is necessary to constantly review how we maintain a safer learning environment. A step we are taking is to arm students and staff with the “See Something, Send Something” App. This app is free and offers students and staff the ability to report suspicious and criminal behavior, safely and securely, anonymously or self-identified, from their smart devices. Once a tip is submitted, an individual can receive updates as local law enforcement moves through the investigation. We chose this app in collaboration with the Buffalo County Sheriff’s Department and the district’s Operations Team. In addition, the National School Security Information Sharing System has partnered with the See So

Safety and Security

We take safety and security seriously in Gibbon Public Schools. A sign of this behavior is reflected in our efforts to stay abreast of best practices and current trends, and enhancing our ability to respond to potential threats made to students, staff, guests, and our school district. Gibbon Public Schools utilizes an “Operations Team” that focuses on four areas – Safety, Security, Medical Response, and Tragedy Response. Members of the Operations Team are divided among these four areas and develop plans to improve procedures and protocols. For example, we review the number of individuals on our staff trained in CPR and we use that information to design the necessary training. Members of the Operations Team include – Samantha Schemer (Nurse) – Medical Response Amy Danielson (Classroom Teacher) – Security Deanna Stall (Technology) – Threat Assessment Ed Oden (Technology) – Threat Assessment Troy Lutz (Secondary Principal) – Security Rick Brown (Bui

Professional Development

Providing ongoing training for educators is absolutely critical to building knowledge and skill in the use of technology, curriculum development, instructional practices, classroom management, and keeping abreast with changes to federal and state accountability measures. Time is required to provide training experiences so educators can build these skills, and time is necessary for teachers to collaborate with their peers on effective practice. Gibbon Public School’s has implemented a concept called Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) to provide that needed time. Experts and researchers have identified PLCs as a powerful school improvement strategy that improves student achievement, increases the level of academic performance expected for all students identifies interventions to help students who struggle, and provides enrichment opportunities for students who have already experienced academic success. Implementing PLCs is a journey and Gibbon Public Schools has begun our jo