School district building on successes of past year

The year 2015 had several big events occur for the New Prague Area School District, and those events will help set the agenda for the coming years, according to Superintendent Tim Dittberner.

By far the biggest event during 2015 was the passage of the bond referendum to construct an addition to the middle school, renovate the Central Education Campus, construct an indoor pool and make improvements to transportation facilities and other district facilities.

“It wasn’t so much that it passed, but it passed by such an overwhelming margin,” Dittberner said. “I think people believed that what we were asking for was a need, and they saw the collaboration we had with the city to partner in operating the pool, to make things financially smart. It was sold that this project was for the entire community from toddlers to senior citizens.”

Another positive from 2015 was the continued high rankings of the district in statewide test scores. New Prague’s MCA tests showed the district ranking fourth in science, eighth in math and ninth in reading among the 389 school districts in the state.

Finally, Dittberner points to the high marks the district received in parent surveys.

“Parents agree overwhelmingly that we have safe schools, that teachers use technology effectively and the education their children receive is of a high quality,” Dittberner said, noting favorable ratings in the 90 percent range for each of those statements.

What’s ahead The top priority for the district in the coming year will be to oversee the construction and renovation of district facilities.

“The first set of bids, for the middle school, will be coming in shortly, and the CEC and other bids will follow,” Dittberner said. “In talking with the architects and contractors, they want to get going before frost is even out. Obviously, we want to make sure everything is going right and we will be carefully monitoring everything to make sure it’s done right and on budget.”

He’s confident the district will receive favorable bids and stay on budget.

Another goal of the district is to increase the opportunities for college credit and career education at the secondary level.

“We are increasing the numerous CIS (College in the Schools) classes,” he said. “Currently, students can earn up to a year and a half of college credit by staying at the high school. We are increasing that. We are also working to grow our career exploration program by working with local businesses and expanding the theater program and arts programming, both in what we offer in classes and as extracurricular activities.

“We’ll always keep academics at the forefront, and we strive to continue to improve in academics at all levels,” Dittberner said.

Another priority is to continue to work collaboratively with communities in the district to become more efficient and cost effective. Dittberner said they will do this by working with the City of New Prague on new athletic fields and with Elko New Market in other programming.

“Our aim is to be fiscally responsible, and not duplicate services,” he said.