Hastings Public Schools Foundation

Our challenge is to determine the future needs of the Hastings Public Schools that will not be supported by tax dollars but rather by private contributions and support.

Though the HPS Foundation has supported scholarships for graduating seniors for over a quarter of a century, the organization is in its infancy with regard to supporting teachers, classroom instruction, and curriculum enhancement with the goal of “expanding the horizon of opportunity” for all students in the Hastings Public Schools.  Our most recent efforts to support classroom instruction have included Staff Idea Grants and other small projects completed through restricted contributions to specific causes/needs.  An exception to this list is the Manufacturing Pathway initiative, which has been successful in steering major donor funds toward restructuring the Industrial Technology Lab at Hastings High School to upgrade equipment so that the Lab can provide instruction at the 21st century level.   

FUTURE FOUNDATION PROGRAMS

High Ability Learner Program

Now a major goal of the HPS Foundation is to support a “High Ability Learner Program” that would involve providing staff development to encourage proper use of twenty-first century learning tools (technology), and professional development to support, encourage, and provide the “know how” to initiate and sustain better differentiation of learning within classrooms.  

In the summer of 2015, with the support of alumni and the community, the Foundation is planning a summer program that would involve one week of instruction for teachers followed by one week in which the same teachers use their newly obtained skills to teach high ability students from the Hastings Public Schools.

Writing Lab:

The District would provide space for a writing lab at the high school.  The Foundation would fund a writing lab coach who would be available at the high school throughout the day.  Qualified volunteers might possibly be enlisted to provide one-on-one student support.  Students would be encouraged to go to the writing lab to receive aid and encouragement as they complete writing assignments across the curriculum.  The purpose of the writing lab would be to help students improve their writing skills (and ultimately their writing assessment scores).

Professional Development Program: 

Provide funding to institute more professional development for teachers, targeting weaknesses in the system with the goal of raising the levels of achievement for students—all grade levels. This would be a three-year pilot program. 

 Foreign Language Program:  

Insert foreign language classes in the primary grades of a chosen school.  Add foreign language classes grade by grade on a year-by-year basis.  The ultimate goal, at or before the end of six years, would be for all students to speak the chosen language for one-half day and speak English for the second half of the day.  Must be initially sustained by the Foundation.  (Estimate:  $50,000 per year for six-year program)

Pre-School Program: 

The Preschool would initially serve four- and five-year-old children in the community.  Tuition would be charged on a sliding scale according to ability to pay.  HPS would start small (using a lottery system to control enrollment).  HPS would subsidize the project by providing the building and perhaps maintenance.  This project must be initially sustained by the Foundation with the goal of the preschool becoming self-sustaining over time. 

What better way to spend your tax-deductible charitable dollars!

It’s all about KIDS! With your help we can do better!  YOU can make a difference.

To learn more about the Foundation, please visit us online! http://foundation.hastingspublicschools.org