Hoven Schools Receive High Marks - Tomorrow Takes Technology

The future of our society is influenced majorly by how we educate our upcoming generations. In Hoven, this responsibility falls to Peggy Petersen, Superintendent of grades K-12. She’s been on the job here for only two years, but has won our school system a “perfect review” from the South Dakota Department of Education. The Review interviewed her to learn more about how a Hoven education stacks up compared to others.

What’s the quality of education in Hoven? What is their five-year plan to improve what they have? The state inspectors ask these and other questions every five years in a program that reaches every school in the state, and the accreditation review digs into many aspects of the school, from top to bottom. During this year’s inspection they checked everything from the records kept to how closely the teachers’ daily and weekly lesson plans are accomplishing the required goals for each grade. It is all done by checklist, and no deficiencies were found in any area of our school. Hoven’s school is one of a very few to receive a perfect review, according to the inspectors.

“Standards and expectations are constantly being upgraded and have come a long way in the last twenty years,” Ms. Petersen explained. What happens at every level is different now from what it was years ago. Nowadays most of those in kindergarten are able to read. Technical skills are a must, and by seventh grade students are using computers to create papers and give presentations. Students entering college are expected to be able to handle many different computer applications as well. This requires that competence with newer technologies be stressed for all students. To ensure this familiarity and ability means the students must be able to work extensively with computers.

We are lucky to be one of the few schools in the area to benefit from Governor Round’s Tablet Program, Superintendent Petersen told the Review. This program provides every high school teacher and student with a device called a “tablet” to use through the school year. A tablet is a portable wireless computer with a screen that can be written on directly so the computer can read it. These devices have many special features making them great classroom tools.  A teacher can link all the tablets in his class to his own to show the same lesson, or he can give quizzes and check up on a student’s progress on an assignment. Homework assignments, even teacher summaries of missed classes can be transmitted to a student’s tablet to ensure everyone is on the same page. This is especially helpful when a student is out sick or at a track meet and misses a class. Text, pictures, even video lessons are now possible for each student to study at his own pace so he can absorb the data as well as possible.

Other areas our school excels in are the small class sizes and the quality of our teachers. For example, in the past six years, 33 Hoven students have taken Advanced Placement Courses in Math, and 31 of those scored so well that they received college credit, saving them time and money in subsequent education. Next year will see the expansion of this effort into Advanced Placement Courses in English. The Review was shown a list of state honors students, and Hoven had more students on that list than any other single school in the entire state besides Huron, which is a much larger school.

Hoven students have much to look forward to: a grant is making a mid-morning snack of fresh fruit and vegetables possible so students are not distracted by hunger. Grades 4-6 plan on departmentalizing, which means that instead of one teacher for all subjects, the students will rotate classes between three teachers who will then be able to focus on his own subject and hopefully get that much more teaching done. With our new generation now raised so heavily on TV and video, classroom upgrades include a plan to obtain Promethium Boards. A Promethium Board is a white board, like the blackboards of old, sixty inches across, but this one links to a computer to show lesson materials to an entire class at once.

Ms. Petersen addressed a particular subject of concern. Some locals have expressed a fear that if Hoven’s student body shrinks to less than a given number, the school will be in danger of closing. “That is not true,” according to Superintendent Petersen, “Our school comes under regulations pertaining to ‘sparse schools.’” Sparse schools, meaning schools in rural areas, are not required to maintain a certain size. In any case, by a count of area children coming up the line now, student numbers are predicted to remain rather level for the next five years at least.  Our school is far from being at risk; even funding is majorly handled by local property taxes, so Hoven is not so dependent on outside sources.

With many news services reporting scandalous levels of violence in US schools, Ms. Petersen was asked about discipline situations in Hoven. “The biggest thing that hits my office is kids not doing their homework,” she confided. And this is handled by sorting out the problem with the individual student.

How else does our school address behavior issues? Last year, surveys of staff, parents and students revealed concerns about bullying and a having a safe school climate for all students. The staff started the Dakota Character Project to promote positive values. A two-prong approach: each younger student was paired up with an older student to promote involvement and understanding across age gaps. Then the entire school began monthly assemblies, each one addressing a topic. Self-Control and Responsibility were among the subjects already highlighted to improve student awareness.

But Hoven has a head start in good manners. Of all the places she’s been, Superintendent Peggy declared, “This is the friendliest community I’ve worked in.” When on field trips, the students consistently carry Hoven’s high standards with them. “On field trips to Wind Cave and Jewel Cave, part of the National Parks system, we got a fee waiver because our kids behaved so well. In fact, they’ve been so good that we now have a perpetual fee waiver from the US Department of the Interior!” Same as on the Senior Trip to Orlando, “Every one pitched in. Doing dishes, being on time, making breakfast: there was Lindsey Hartung cracking eggs, someone else in the assembly line was buttering the toast. They didn’t need to be asked.”

So, what is her goal for all these fine students? “I want kids to go out of here with the skills they need to find a job and be successful.”

Article from the Hoven Review by Darrell Edrich
9 May 2009