Dec 11, 2015 | News
Elkhorn Public Schools has been named as one of only two districts in the state to be part of the 2015 Advanced Placement Honor Roll. Nationwide, EPS is among 425 school districts across the United States and parts of Canada being honored by the College Board with placement on the 6th Annual AP District Honor Roll for simultaneously increasing access to Advanced Placement course work while increasing the percentage of students earning scores of 3 or higher on AP Exams. Reaching these goals indicates that these districts are successfully identifying motivated, academically prepared students who are likely to benefit from rigorous AP course work.
This is the fourth year in a row Elkhorn has earned this honor and EPS is the only Nebraska school district to make the list more than twice. “We are extremely proud to be on this list again,” said Superintendent Steve Baker. “This is a testament to the hard work of our students and staff.”
In 2015, Elkhorn students from both high schools took a total of 950 exams—nearly double the number taken in 2011. The actual number of students taking these exams has more than doubled in four years—from 268 to 594. Even with a leap in participation, achievement hasn’t suffered. For Elkhorn students, 78 percent of exams earned a three or higher.
Helping more students learn at a higher level and earn higher AP scores is an objective of all members of the AP community, from AP teachers to district and school administrators to college professors.
Inclusion on the 6th Annual AP District Honor Roll is based on the examination of three years of AP data, from 2013 to 2015, for the following criteria.
- Increased participation/access to AP by at least 4 percent in large districts, at least 6 percent in medium districts, and at least 11 percent in small districts;
- Increased or maintained the percentage of exams taken by African American, Hispanic/Latino, and American Indian/Alaska Native students, and;
- Improved performance levels when comparing the percentage of students in 2015 scoring a 3 or higher to those in 2013, unless the district has already attained a performance level at which more than 70 percent of its AP students are scoring a 3 or higher.
Dec 9, 2015 | Featured, News
Elkhorn was one of only five districts in the state to receive the highest rating possible from the AQuESTT system—Excellent. AQuESTT stands for Accountability for a Quality Education System Today and Tomorrow, an accountability system for public schools in Nebraska. Similar to a hotel’s ‘star’ rating, Districts across the State are rated as Excellent, Great, Good or Needs Improvement based on multiple indicators including: growth; improvement; participation; and achievement on the State’s reading, math, science and writing assessments. Graduation rates are also factored in AQuESTT ratings.
Nov 1, 2015 | News
Google Apps for Education—Google Classroom This year EPS is rolling out Google Apps for Education. Google Apps provide an online storage space for files that can be accessed from school or home. Google Apps for Education is not the same as a Gmail account. While Google Apps provides email at some grade levels, all students will have access to a suite of other Google products such as Google Drive, Classroom, and Calendar.
A Closer look at Google Drive – Google Drive provides online file storage so teachers can share documents and homework assignments with students. It extends the classroom learning environment by providing free word processing, spreadsheet and presentation tools that can be accessed at school and home. Drive allows for collaboration among students in the classroom, within a building and within the entire District. It also allows teachers to provide discreet and effective feedback to students.
Oct 1, 2015 | News
PowerSchool—the app PowerSchool is portable! The PowerSchool for Parents app is available for download from the Apple App Store and Google Play. Parents can easily view each child’s progress in a single feed to check grades, review assignments and more. After downloading the app, enter 68022 for the zip code and choose search. Select Elkhorn Public Schools and then log in using your PowerSchool parent access login. This app is only available for parents of students in grades 4-12.
Lingo to Know—What’s a hash tag? Most people can identify a hashtag by the # symbol that proceeds it—but what’s it really for? Hashtags are short links on social media sites, such as twitter, that group like content. By putting the pound symbol before a word or group of words, that topic can now be searched and grouped with thoughts, comments and information on the same topic.
An Educational App—NASA The NASA App features a collection of the latest NASA content, including images, videos on-demand, NASA Television, mission information, news & feature stories, latest tweets, ISS sighting opportunities, satellite tracking and more. The NASA app is available for free on both Apple and Android devices.
Elkhorn Public Schools Policy 507.13—Internet Safety Policy was written in compliance with the Children’s Internet Protection Act. Tech Savvy Parent tips are intended to inform and educate parents of technology that may be available to their students. Tips may feature apps that are educational as well as those that may be a cause for concern to parents.
