JH/HS Principal Newsletter

The summer has flown by and we are almost a month away from students coming back to school and us kicking off the 2025 - 2026 school year! There has been a flurry of activity here at HPS this summer with strength & conditioning sessions, camps, staff curriculum work, summer school, and building improvements. I am beyond excited to have students and staff back in the building and seeing Hershey continue to learn, thrive, and grow in the year to come!

This month’s newsletter includes a look back at some key highlights from the past year, along with important reminders for continuing summer events and the start of the new school year.

As always, if you need anything over the summer, please don’t hesitate to reach out—we’re here to help.

Wishing you all the best for a relaxing and enjoyable rest of the summer!

🏆 Academic Growth

• Improved growth in the number of students proficient in Math, Reading, and Science from Spring to Spring and Fall to Spring!
• Improved average composite scores in the Pre-ACT and the ACT test from the 23-24 school year to the 24-25 school year.
• Provided more IN-HOUSE dual credit opportunities through a partnership with Hershey instructors and Mid Plains Community College.

🎯 Student Accomplishments

• Improved participation in NSAA activities for students who participated in 1 NSAA activity as well as 2+ NSAA activities.
• 2024 Canned Food Drive more than doubled last year's efforts and blessed the Sutherland Food Pantry in a big way and students earned a whole day out of school as a result!
• South Platte Valley Conference Accomplishments
• Cross Country - Boys & Girls Teams: 3rd Place Finish
• Play Production - Technical Crew: 1st Place Finish
• Speech - 3rd Place Finish
• ACT Achievement - 1st Place Finish
• Band & Choir - Concert & Jazz Band - Best of Conference / Girls Quartet - Best of Conference
• Girls Track & Field - 3rd Place Finish
• JH Girls Track & Field - 7th: 2nd Place Finish / 8th: 1st Place Finish
• Boys Golf - 3rd Place Finish
• 2 National Qualifiers for the Hershey FBLA Chapter
• Multiple school records broken during the Panther Track & Field season.

💙 School Culture

• Initiation of Panther Homecoming Parade & Pep Rally during homecoming week as well as a 7-12 Christmas Celebration on the last day of school before Christmas break.
• Highlighted both HIGH SCHOOL and JUNIOR HIGH grade level and overall student of the months.
• Celebrated state qualifiers with send-offs and pep rallies prior to competing in state events.
• Improved tracking of student attendance, tardies, and behaviors in order to better address student behaviors through our MTSS and SAT processes.

🤝 Community Connections

• Held Fall Parent Teacher Conferences as well as the first annual Spring Parent Connection meeting helping students and parents prepare for their next grade level.
• Successful partnerships with local businesses in the form of sponsorships as well as student intern experiences.
• Continued community support for extracurricular activities and school programs

Summer Office Hours:

Monday–Thursday, 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Closed on Fridays through July

School Picture Day (Grades 7–12):

August 22nd in the HPS Competition Gym

Back-to-School Open House & Chromebook Checkout (7-12 Students & Parents):

August 14th, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Presentations from Administration, Dr. Luke McConnell, and KSB Law as well as getting a student Chromebook for 25-26 school year.

First Day of School (Grades 7–12):

August 19th – 8:15 AM to 11:30 AM

Fall Parent-Teacher Conferences:

October 23rd, 4:00 PM – 8:00 PM

October 24th, 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM

7.7.25 - Cheer Camp

7.7.25 - HS Volleyball @ NPCC Team Camp

7.7.25 - NHS Blood Drive (Activities Center)

7.7.25 - HS Football @ North Platte H.S. 7 v 7

7.8.25 - Cheer Camp

7.8.25 - HS Volleyball @ NPCC Team Camp

7.8.25 - Summer Library

7.9.25 - Cheer Camp

7.10.25 - HS Football @ Cozad Team Camp

7.11.25 - HS Football @ Cozad Team Camp

7.11.25 - HS Volleyball @ UNK Team Camp

7.12.25 - HS Football @ Cozad Team Camp

7.12.25 - HS Volleyball @ UNK Team Camp

7.14.25 - HS Football @ North Platte H.S. 7 v 7

7.14.25 - Hershey School Board Meeting

7.17.25 - HS Volleyball @ Steve Morgan Team Camp

7.18.25 - HS Volleyball @ Steve Morgan Team Camp

7.19.25 - HS Volleyball @ Steve Morgan Team Camp

7.21.25 - Hershey Youth Football Camp

7.22.25 - Summer Library

7.22.25 - Hershey Youth Football Camp

7.23.25 - Hershey Youth Football Camp

7.30.25 - JH Football Team Camp

7.31.25 - JH Football Team Camp

8.4.25 - Hershey Band Camp

8.5.25 - Hershey Band Camp

8.6.25 - Hershey Band Camp

8.6.25 - Fall SPVA Kickoff Meeting (Bayside G.C.) @ 10:00 AM MST

8.7.25 - Hershey Band Camp

8.11.25 - Start of NSAA Fall Sport Practices

8.11.25 - HPS School Board Meeting

8.14.25 - 7-12 HPS Kickoff Meeting & Chromebook Checkout

8.19.25 - HPS First Day of School (11:30 Dismissal)

8.22.25 - School Picture Day & Fall Sports Media Day

Hershey 7-12 students received access to their schedules on PowerSchool prior to the school year ending in May. Students had the opportunity (where needed) to make changes and adjustments to their schedule for the upcoming school year.

If there are changes that still need to be made, these can be done in the week leading up to school with 7-12 counselor, Jolene Pettera. THANK YOU to Mrs. Pettera and Mrs. Ostmeyer for all their hard work on preparing the schedules to be ready for the 25-26 school year prior to school being released for the summer!

All students and parents in 7-12th grade, please save the date for our 2025 Kickoff Event! On Thursday, August 14th at 7:00 PM we will hold our annual kickoff night in the new Hershey Activities Center.

This night will include a presentation on social media and electronic devices from Dr. Lucas McConnell, a presentation from 7-12 HPS Administration, and the Chromebook checkout for all 7-12 students.

Please mark your calendars and plan on joining us on August 14th here at Hershey Public Schools.

Families of students are reminded that the annual school picture day will be on FRIDAY, AUGUST 22nd and will take place throughout the day here at HPS. Ordering information will be shared electronically via email to all parents/guardians in the days following picture day.

Additionally, we will be hosting pictures for SENIOR BANNERS and FALL SPORTS after school at 2:45 PM on FRIDAY, AUGUST 22nd as well. We encourage all students to be dressed up and looking their best on that day!!!

Below is the proposed bell schedule for the upcoming school year. We will again plan on having ONE LUNCH for all 7-12 students with a staggered release from 5th period as detailed below:

1st Period 8:15-9:01

2nd Period 9:04 - 9:50

3rd Period 9:53 - 10:39

4th Period 10:42 - 11:28

5th Period 11:31 - 12:17

1st HS Lunch 12:17 - 12:50

2nd HS Lunch 12:20 - 12:50

JH Lunch 12:23 - 12:50

6th Period 12:53 - 1:39

7th Period 1:42 - 2:28

8th Period 2:31 - 3:17

Homeroom Period 3:20 - 3:42

On Friday, school will be eight periods in length and no Homeroom period with students dismissed at 2:42 PM.

Starting with the 205-2026 school year, Hershey Public Schools will now utilize Opaa! As the food service provider for the district. More information from Opaa! will be shared as we get closer to the school year and as always, district and breakfast menus are updated, they can be found on the HPS website.

The most important part of any school is the safety and well being of the students and staff! Several items exist within schools to support school safety. These include:

• Secured access during the school day. Visitors to school must check-in at the main office after they are allowed access through the office doors. All other doors are to be closed and locked during the course of the school day.
• Standard Response Protocol (SRP) is established. This provides a consistent student and staff response to potential emergencies. More information about SRP can be found at this LINK.
• Minimizing deliveries during the school day. We understand that a parent may wish to deliver food to students for special occasions, and we appreciate this. We discourage this from being a regular occurrence.
• Minimizing student visits to vehicles during the school day. Students that forget a school-related item in their vehicles may check-in at the main office before they are allowed to visit their vehicles.

We appreciate the important part our students, staff, and families play in keeping our school safe. This year we plan on running eight fire drills, four SRP drills, two tornado drills, and two bus evacuation drills all in an effort to help students and staff be prepared in the event of an emergency.

We believe that we want to continue to prepare our students in the case of an emergency so that we are prepared in the case of a true emergency!