Ray Hemman's blog

For families returning to Hutchinson Public Schools, online enrollment will begin in mid July. Families with an email address on file with the district will receive an email when online enrollment opens.

For families new to the district or returning families who prefer to enroll in person, K-8 enrollment will be Aug. 1 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the all district's elementary and middle schools.

HHS walk-in enrollment will be on Aug. 6 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the high school. 

            Staff at the USD 308 Administration Center, 1520 N. Plum St., will begin summer hours the week of June 11 and will continue those hours until July 20.

            The Hutchinson Public Schools district office will be open for business from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and closed on Friday during these weeks.

            Additionally, the office will be closed the entire week of July 2.

Hutchinson Public Schools continues a program that provides summertime meals to children and youth in 2018 at six locations, including three community sack lunch locations.

The meals are free for any child or teen, ages 1 to 18. No reservations are required for the meals, and no identification is needed. Adult meals are available for $3.60.

With the 2017-18 school year winding down, three Hutchinson Public Schools staff members have received district honors.

Barbara Cooper, paraprofessional at Faris Elementary School, has been named Classified Employee of the Year. Ashleigh Vieyra, third grade teacher at Graber Elementary, and Janie Patterson, accounting teacher at Hutchinson High School, have been nominated as the district’s entries in the Kansas National Teacher of the Year competition.

When this year’s kindergarten class enrolls in Building Trades at the Hutchinson Career and Technical Education Academy for their senior year in 2029-30, they’ll know where that year’s home is being built.

It will be built in the same addition as where the 2017-18 home was built.

Thanks to a generous gift from a local contractor, Jim Strawn of Strawn Contracting, the district will be able to construct the next 12 years of Building Trades homes in the Oxford Point addition, said Travis Riebel, HCTEA director. Strawn has donated five lots to the district, which the Board of Education accepted and formally thanked the contractor on Monday.

During the annual Hutchinson High School Awards Assembly Wednesday (May 2, 2018), the HHS graduating class of 2018 was recognized with awards and scholarships from local, state and national sources.

The Young American Award winner for 2018 was Raegan Wessel. The Young American Award is the oldest award at HHS with this being its 90^th year. The award was started by the Oswald family in the 1920s.

            Hutchinson Public Schools Board of Education members Valarie

Gibson-Smith and Anette Roberson recently completed the Foundations for Boardsmanship training offered by the Kansas Association of School Boards in Topeka.

Hutchinson High School senior Andrew Aston has been named one of the 2018 Kansas Career and Technical Education Scholars for 2018 by the Kansas State Department of Education.

Aston has focused on CTE coursework in business and culinary arts at the Hutchinson Career and Technical Education Academy. The award was announced Tuesday by the KSDE. In all, 58 Kansas high school seniors were recognized.

The Confidence in Kansas Public Education Task Force has named 78 schools in 28 Kansas public school districts, including Hutchinson Public Schools, as recipients of the 2017 Challenge Awards. Three district schools were recognized in four categories.

The awards recognize Kansas schools that are making a notable difference in student achievement despite facing significant challenges in their school population. Since its inception in 2002, more than 1,500 awards have been presented to schools across the state.

USD 308 schools honored by the program are