Environment

Clear Direction

Beatrice High School’s mission is to guarantee that all students will meet or exceed their individual academic goals and exhibit responsible citizenship. Beatrice High School has worked with students to identify student goals, encourage and discuss those goals and revisit individual goals at various times throughout the school year. Beatrice High has utilized the Boys Town Social Skills platform in the past to instruct students to be responsible citizens. Beatrice High created a motto this school year of #ONESCHOOLONEFAMILY to further teach and discuss the concept of family, interpersonal relations and positive social skills for all BHS students and staff. This motto is a solid reminder in our school and drives our improvement process along with the Marzano High Reliability School platform. Direction and school improvement action begins at the Beatrice Public School District level and flows through building administration, school improvement teams, PLC leadership teams, academic departments and various student organizations.

At the conclusion of each school year, Beatrice High School holds a school improvement retreat to review the school improvement goals and set the vision and purpose for the upcoming year. In addition, teachers attend several days of back-to-school orientation during which administration further focuses the staff on the school’s purpose and direction for the coming year. Instructional staff members receive materials and training through the staff handbook to clarify the roles and responsibilities of administrators, teachers, and support staff on campus. Additional professional development regarding directional ideas is offered throughout the year during staff professional development days, as well as through various district offerings.

Through Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), teachers consistently develop goals and continuous improvement plans to stay focused on helping students achieve success and become college and career ready. The Beatrice High staff has been trained on the Marzano Instructional strategies. Administrative leadership at BHS provides focus for the school’s direction. Expectations for aligning teaching and learning to be engaging and innovative and are discussed and disseminated at PLC department leader meetings, as well as monthly whole-staff meetings. Additional direction is provided through informal walk-throughs and twice-a-year formal observations using the Marzano iObservation Focused Model Evaluation System. This system is used to give instructional leaders feedback in professional knowledge, instructional planning, and instructional delivery, assessment of and/or for learning, learning environment, professionalism and student progress.

In addition to teacher contributions to the school’s direction, students, parents, and community members are also encouraged to commit to the school’s mission and purpose. At the beginning of the year, students and parents attend 9^th Grade Orientation to see the campus, to meet administration and teachers, and to learn the goals for the upcoming year. Incoming freshman students attend a special orientation, Freshmen First Day, led by BHS staff, National Honor Society and Student Council members. Students continue to participate in furthering the school’s direction throughout the school year through Student Council, SIP Focus Groups and various student clubs and organizations.

Throughout the school year, community members actively engage in campus activities. Students, staff, and families attend sporting events and band competitions, as well as music, dance, and drama performances. Community groups such as Orange Boosters, Fine Arts Boosters, and independent volunteers/guest speakers take time to assist Beatrice High School and improve student educational experiences.

In the spring and again prior to the start of school, incoming freshmen and their parents are invited to an Incoming Freshman Orientation Night to gain direction on classes and extra-curricular offerings. Our counseling office provides consistent directional focus to our students and parents through many college visit opportunities, College and Career Night presentations, SENCAP Career Academy Susan Buffett Scholarship workshops, College Club and guidance with registration and dual credit course offerings. Additionally, they provide special events such as the SCC Admission assessment, College Access events and College Week to keep students on track.

To celebrate the achievements of BHS students, the school holds a Scholastic Banquet awards night at the end of each school year for parents and community members to acknowledge student accomplishments. Stakeholders also contribute to the school’s direction through community distribution of the BHS OrangePeal newsletter, the Beatrice Public Schools website, the BHS Twitter feed and BHS Instagram posts. Students, parents, and community members are able to find a wealth of directional information from these resources, including the high school course and registration guide, student code of conduct, district and school calendars, student and school accomplishments, as well as a substantial amount of guidance on college and career preparation from our BHS Counselors Twitter and Facebook pages on the school district website.

While the Beatrice High School mission statement aligns well with the Beatrice Public Schools Strategic Plan, we actively review the current vision and mission statements to assure that they best describe Beatrice High School’s goal of supporting the district’s plan. In the past few months, the BHS staff has completed two HRS Level 1 & 2 questionnaires to provide a basis for discussions regarding how we view our current mission, school improvement items and how we can use innovative practices to best serve our students. These surveys provide evidence that stakeholders from all areas are committed to supporting the school’s mission and values.

Positive Culture

Leadership at Beatrice High School is committed to maximizing opportunities for teachers and staff to collaborate on a professional level, as well as to interact in more informal, social settings, in order to foster cohesive and trusting relationships among stakeholders within the school community. As a result, the relationship among teachers, staff, and administration is positive and supportive, and the social and professional culture at BHS is positive.

Opportunities for instructional staff to interact start at the district level. This collaboration permeates through all levels on the BHS campus. Additionally, BHS teachers are key members of cross-district collaborative efforts to develop and align educational goals and student safety standards.

Collaboration is not only enjoyed at the department level; BHS leadership, including administrators and instructional leads, are also actively involved and readily available on a daily basis. Leadership fosters an “open door policy” approach over a regimented, scheduled appointment approach. Teachers and staff can almost always expect to walk into the front office and speak directly with an administrator at any given moment. To encourage further communication, staff meetings always begin with the sharing of “kudos,” such as student victories, teaching success stories, and department achievements. This open dialogue provides an opportunity to recognize the hard work and dedication that we all put into our classrooms, school clubs, activities, and events, which helps us to learn more about each other and our students, as well as to make important connections and strengthen bonds.

In addition to these daily and weekly interactions, teachers and staff are also formally recognized through Staff Member of the Month awards. Teachers and staff nominate peers for these awards, further fostering positive relationships among all employees.

Finally, it is important to note that the staff outside of the classroom—attendance clerk, nurse, registrar, reception staff, facilities workers, custodians, school resource officer, media specialist, and counselors—are not only integral members and participants in the greater Beatrice High School family; they also enjoy a high level of camaraderie within and among their respective teams. Beatrice High School truly strives to become #ONESCHOOLONEFAMILY