Keith County Higher Education, Keith County Universities, Keith County Colleges, Keith County Graduate Degrees

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Education

The Keith County Public School Districts have successfully created an academic environment where excellence in education, student academic progress, ongoing community support and individual student development are the primary focus. All schools within the county, are dedicated to the mission that students will be provided with a safe and positive learning environment and the necessary tools to achieve academic excellence. School systems have made the educational needs and individual development of each student paramount and strive to provide a setting where each child can maximize his or her potential with the long-term goal of becoming a responsible member of the community.

District 1, in Ogallala, offers a comprehensive K-12 curriculum, with one high school, a middle school and three grade specific elementary schools. The enrollment of 1,027 students is distributed into 387 students attending high school, 241 students enrolled in the middle school and 399 students enrolled in the elementary schools. The average class size, in the core academic areas, is 11 students in the elementary grades, 20 students in the middle school and 14 students in the high school. District 1 has 87 teachers and 63 support staff employed.

The Ogallala Public Schools offer excellent educational opportunities for students. District curriculum is articulated through the grades with planned skills and experiences designed to complement prior experiences. An emphasis on early literacy, with individual assessment and instruction, develops the initial skills necessary for continued academic success in the child’s educational experiences. A K-12 Special Education program provides the specialized instruction designed to meet the needs of all students, birth to 21, who have found learning more challenging than others or who might have physical or mental handicaps. The high school offers a wide range of learning opportunities for students and extends its course offerings through distance learning classes, college classes and an alternative education program for students who learn best in a non- traditional setting.

Technology is an important aspect in the District’s approach to instruction and learning. Technology competencies are designed and assessed for both students and teachers. Multiple computer labs exist throughout the District, allowing students to access the Internet and to utilize technology through guided learning experiences. Ogallala Public Schools implemented a one-to-one laptop initiative for all teachers, kindergarten through 12th grade, and students in Ogallala High School in the 2008/2009 school year. Only high school students will have individual laptops. Elementary staff will use their computers in their classrooms to create information/ operation centers. Advantages include the ability to teach social responsibility/ digital citizenship for technology usage, the ability to teach students to deal with massive amounts of information the Internet provides, as well as students and staff all being “on the same page.”

Interscholastic sports and extra-curricular activities play an important role in the Ogallala Public Schools’ planned experiences for the students, and are enthusiastically and proudly supported by the community. In addition to the traditional sports offerings, some of the activities available for student participation include Key Club, Drama, Speech, student clubs in Art, Science, Foreign Language and Renaissance, as well as the National Honor Society.Several other schools in Keith County offer excellent educational opportunities. Paxton Public Schools, which offers a K-12 curriculum, has a total enrollment of 211, with 24 teachers and 17 support staff. Student-to-teacher ratio is 8 to 1. South Platte Public Schools, which offers a K-12 curriculum, has a total enrollment of 135. South Platte has a total of 26 teachers, 12 support staff and a student-to-teacher ratio of 5 to 1.

Keith County also offers two private Christian schools: St. Paul’s Lutheran School, preschool-5 and St. Luke’s Catholic School, K-5, where the student is offered an environment in which the school combines an emphasis on the basics of academics with a commitment to developing the Christian values of integrity, morality, responsibility and respect for the rights of others. St. Paul’s Lutheran School has a total enrollment of 71, with five teachers, two support staff and a student-to-teacher ratio of 14 to 1. St. Luke’s Catholic School has a total enrollment of 62, with six teachers, one support staff and a student-to-teacher ratio of 10 to 1.

Assessment of student performance is an important aspect to the District’s process of making instructional and curriculum decisions to improve the learning for its students. The Ogallala Public Schools is an active participant in the state’s assessment process, consistently receives very good to excellent ratings in the quality of the student assessment processes and consistently meets or exceeds the state averages in student performance on state standards. School improvement efforts utilize student performance data to develop activities and goals designed to improve student learning. All schools in the District are North Central Accredited and use their student performance model for school improvement.

Community support for the schools is strong and positive, as evidenced by the progressive leadership of the local school board and the passage in 2001 of a $1.2 million bond for the Ogallala High School to provide a two-story, 14,000 square foot addition to the existing building, with four additional classrooms, and wrestling and weight lifting facilities. In 1995, the citizens of Ogallala passed a $2.5 million bond issue allowing an addition to the middle school.

The Alternative Learning Lane (ALL) is an alternative school for high school students whom, for various reasons, are not having their individual educational needs met in the traditional classroom setting. ALL offers a one-on-one technical teaching program, which includes SAT and ACT preparation, Adult Basic Education, GED preparation, private tutoring and high school classes. The program meets accepted State Curriculum Guidelines and has the capabilities to instruct K-16. ALL is a National College Board approved CLEP testing site. A summer tutoring program is also available.

As a public institution of higher education, Mid-Plains Community College offers an extended campus at the Education Center in Ogallala. The Education Center serves the purpose of assisting in economic development, education, community service and workforce development in the three areas of Perkins, Keith and Arthur counties by offering quality education for residents.

All schools within the District are dedicated to the mission that students will be provided with a safe, positive, learning environment and the necessary tools to achieve academic excellence. This has been accomplished through a comprehensive plan of encompassing curriculum and personal development. Keith County School Systems have made the educational needs and individual development of each student paramount, and strive to provide a setting where each child can maximize his/her potential with the long-term goal of becoming a responsible member of the community.