Roughrider District News
Southwest Public Schools
Superintendent Message
Can you believe how quickly February flew by? It was filled with exciting games, fun activities, snow days, and late starts—thank you to everyone for being flexible! On February 22nd, we celebrated School Bus Driver Day, giving a well-deserved shoutout to our incredible bus drivers. Their reliability, dedication, and commitment to safely transporting students to school, games, and events are essential to keeping our community running smoothly. This month, our elementary school also hosted Parent-Teacher Conferences, providing a valuable opportunity for parents to connect with teachers and learn about their child's progress. A huge thank you to everyone who attended and made it a success!
March is shaping up to be another exciting and busy month! It's hard to believe that spring sports practices can start as early as March 3rd, and the end of the third quarter is on Friday, March 7th. Congratulations to our students and staff on your outstanding third quarter! On Monday, March
10th, we'll host Kindergarten Orientation at the elementary school, starting at 5:30 PM. We're
thrilled to welcome our newest Roughriders and their families to the Southwest Public Schools
family! Later, on Friday, March 14th, and Monday, March 17th, everyone can enjoy Spring
Break. Whether you're relaxing at home or exploring elsewhere, take time to recharge during this
well-deserved break. Throughout the month, our students will participate in MAPS Testing,
which is our school district's assessment in math, reading, language, and science. We wish all our
students the best of luck and are proud of their hard work. We're cheering you on!
We are very thankful for the teamwork and support from our staff, students, families, and
community. You all help make Southwest Public Schools a great place to learn and grow. Look
out for more news, and let's make March a special month!
Sincerely,
Drew Billeter
Superintendent
March will be a busy but exciting month at our elementary school! With the arrival of warmer weather, we’re eager to spend more time outdoors and enjoy the fresh start that spring brings.
This month, we are thrilled to celebrate Read Across America and Dr. Seuss’s Birthday, making it a perfect time to promote a love of reading among our students. We have planned a variety of fun activities throughout the month to engage and inspire our young readers.
Mark Your Calendars for These Upcoming Events:
- March 3rd-7th – Read Across America Week
- March 9th – Daylight Savings Time (Spring Forward!)
- March 10th – Kindergarten Orientation @ 5:30 PM
- March 12th – Late Start (10:00 AM)
- March 14th & 17th – No School
- March 18th-31st – MAP Growth Spring Assessment
Kindergarten Orientation
Do you have a child who will be 5 years old on or before July 31, 2025? If so, they are eligible to start kindergarten! Join us for Kindergarten Orientation on March 10th from 5:30-6:30 PM at the elementary school. This event provides valuable information about our program and gives incoming kindergarteners a chance to explore their new school environment.
To register, please call the elementary office at (308) 364-2613. If you are unable to attend, contact Stacy at the same number, and we will mail the information to you. We look forward to welcoming you and your child to our school community!
Warm regards,
Tara Fries
Elementary Principal
Mrs. Smith
This month, I’ve had the pleasure of working with students across all grade levels on important social-emotional topics. Kindergarten through 3rd grades have been focusing on kindness, and we've even had "secret friends" who practiced random acts of kindness for one another. It's been wonderful to see their compassion in action!
In 4th and 5th grades, we've been discussing kindness and respect—for ourselves and others—and learning how to manage our emotions, especially when life’s challenges affect us. Looking ahead, we’ll be diving into career exploration, and 5th grade students will soon start preparing for their exciting transition to middle school next year!
In celebration of Read Across America, the Rockin' Riders will be hosting a Spirit Week and reading to individual classes throughout the week. It's a fantastic way to encourage a love of reading! A quick reminder to all families: reading at home every night is so important for students’ growth. Even just a few minutes of reading can make a big difference in building confidence and skills. Keep it up!
The 2024 - 25 year has been a great educational success at the high school. The staff and the students have spent a lot of time working toward reaching the goals they set back in August. It doesn’t seem that long ago we were getting ready for the first week of school and trying to decide how the year would look. Amazingly we are now all getting ready for the last quarter of the year, and graduation of our seniors.
Setting up class schedules for students will begin for next year in a couple weeks. The reason we have students register early is to give us a preliminary look at the classes we need to offer based on student request at the high school. These schedules will not be final but it will help us schedule classes that students feel would help them after high school. Please take time to talk with your child and help them decide on the classes that would challenge them, as well as, prepare them for thefuture.
The students will start to take the maps test for the second time. These test are used to measure growth from year to year. This also helps us define areas in our curriculum that we need to focus on. The results are available for parents to see and compare from year to year. Those results will be added to each kid’s information on Infinite campus.
Please contact our counselor or myself if you have any questions regarding classes
for next year.
Matt Springer
Junior / Senior High Principal
Mr. Schake
Seniors:
Scholarships:
- Seniors can access scholarship applications at www.swpschools.org
- Hover over the Jr. Sr. High School tab at the top
- Go to the bottom of the selection and choose “Senior Scholarships”
Click the google link.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tUvMVTpzKq3umttYJmzwmBM64aNEs60AOFPMJARU_jQ/edit?gid=0#gid=0
*The spreadsheet is organized by monthly due dates so be sure to look at the months in advance, so you have time to fill the applications out before the due date. This is updated as I receive scholarships throughout the year.
*The scholarships highlighted in red are not updated and the scholarships highlighted in green are always open and have differing due dates so be sure to look back on these frequently.
Seniors wanting to improve their ACT scores can take it through February to use on their college and scholarship applications.
FAFSA:
Reminder to ALL seniors, as of this year the State of Nebraska requires the FAFSA to be completed before you graduate (it is a graduation requirement). If you plan on not attending college or do not plan on using student loans to pay for college you MUST fill out an exemption form before graduation. These forms are found in Mr. Schake’s office.
Juniors: Southwest will be administering the ACT to all Juniors on March 26 th . This is a form of state testing we do as a school. This ACT test will be given at no cost to the students and the results may be submitted for college entrance as well as scholarship applications. Juniors will be completing a John Baylor ACT test prep program in Mrs. Slaten’s English Class in preparation for the ACT test.
