Discoveries

I knew in 2010 that I wanted to be the Superintendent of Columbus Public Schools. Just as I knew what I needed to do then, I now know it is time for me to relinquish this position of responsibility.

On Monday, December 18th, I will ask the CPS Board of Education to accept my "Notice of Intent to Return and Extend" letter that is called for by my employment contract. With this notice, I am indicating to the Board that I wish to retire from the District as Superintendent effective June 30, 2024.

I hope I am leaving Columbus Public Schools better than I found it. I owe this District a tremendous amount of gratitude for the 14 years of professional opportunities it has provided me. I did not know I would be given the opportunity to work for this District as long as I have and we now consider Columbus our home. CPS has allowed Kim and I to live and raise our children in a great community where everyone has helped us prepare our children for their future.

I am proud to have all five of my children be graduates of CHS. The district has allowed me to be a part of many service efforts and boards within our community and throughout the state to hopefully make things better for all students and staff.

Follow this link to read Dr. Loefellholz's full letter.

In the past month, the Columbus Public Schools Board of Education has approved CPS to go into contract with JNW Consultants out of Scottsbluff and Lincoln to help guide our school district in developing our next five year strategic plan. The district is long overdue in developing a new plan. The past three years have been historical due to the pandemic. There is urgency in getting our practices and procedures back to normal. You may ask yourself the question, does the district really rely on the strategic plan in decisions they make? The answer is, yes.

Thank you to all of the 1,069 voters from the May 9, 2023 election who completed and returned the survey. Of those returned 640 voted YES and 429 voted NO. The need has not gone away and this was the first step in again working with the community on a solution to meet the needs of our students.

“We all thought it was a bit of a scam, to be honest,” Centennial Principal Andy Luebbe said.

Who doesn’t think that when a check for $10,000 arrives in your mailbox?

Read The Story Here!

CMS eighth-grade students recently participated in the annual Reality 101 workshop
hosted by the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce where they were tasked with “adulting.”

Students are randomly assigned a salary and a life situation (such as marital status and number of children) and then navigate financial decisions including housing, childcare and
transportation with the help of Chamber volunteers.

Read The Story Here!

It isn’t only the magic that makes the holiday’s merry and bright.

In the right hands, this time students in Chelsea Konwinski’s third-grade class at Lost Creek Elementary, it can come from a box of crayons.

“We want to make the holidays special for veterans,” Etta Nelson asked her classmates, “and send wishes to each of them and their families.”

FIND MORE PHOTOS HERE

The project, organized by the Nebraska Admirals Association, collects Nebraska-shaded ornaments that are decorated by school-aged children across the state. They are delivered to vets in the Nebraska Veterans’ Homes, those abroad on the USS Nebraska submarine and the USS Omaha LCS. Etta’s mother, Miranda Nelson, said the response to the ornaments is truly felt.

“I received a photo and a note from one of the 'back-on-land' sailors with his wife, pointing out their Christmas tree ornament,” she said. “He had received it a decade before the photo was taken! It was so heartwarming to get their reactions to the ornaments.”

Holiday Break

• Friday, December 22 through Wednesday, January 3.
• Students return Thursday, January 4.
  

• Monday, February 12 through Thursday, February 15.
• No school for students February 15 and 16.

• No school Friday, March 8.
• Monday, March 11 through Friday, March 15.

And mark it on your calendars -- CHS Graduation!

• Sunday, May 19.

Be sure to add the address to your bookmarks to stay current on potential closures!