Dear Panther Families and Community,
Welcome to the 2026-2027 school year! The building has been active over the summer; we were very excited so many students attending activities throughout the summer in the building!
To access the entire newsletter, please click this link! Hershey Public Schools District Newsletter - August 2026
As we are preparing to begin a new school year, I want to take a moment to thank our staff, students, and community for their continued support and partnership. This summer, we’ve made exciting progress on several projects across the district. the Competition Gym Floor and the Activity Gym Floors were sanded down and resealed, and we also installed new carpet in the several classrooms, added fresh paint and updated some paneling in the building, and completed deep cleaning of classrooms, walls, furniture, and cabinetry. I want to express my sincere gratitude to our outstanding summer custodial team—Todd, Savanah, Clay, Malachi, Franklin, Lew, Jennifier and Alisha—for their hard work and dedication all summer long. I also want to thank our office staff: Stacy, Diana and Stacey for their work this summer. Many behind the scenes jobs are completed to prepare for the new school year! They do a great job getting us ready for the new year! I also want to thank Kort Smith and Kim Davies for setting up our Chromebook and network needs to prepare for 2026-2027!
We are excited to welcome students back for the 2026-2027 school year, which will begin on Monday, August 17th. I’m pleased to invite all families to our upcoming Back-to-School Open House events. First, the 7–12 Chromebook Checkout Night will be held on Thursday, August 13, from 7:00–9:00 PM. Students and parents can pick up Chromebooks, visit classrooms, and attend a presentation about Student Services from Dr. Luke McConnell and a presentation on digital citizenship from KSB School Law. Then, on Monday, August 17th, we’ll welcome PreK–6 students and families to visit classrooms. These events are designed to help families connect with our school community, get acclimated for the year ahead, and understand the digital tools students will be using. Throughout the fall semester, we will provide more information on this topic to parents, teachers, students, and stakeholders.
I want to take this opportunity to welcome the following new staff members to Hershey Public Schools:
Lyndsey Douglas – 7-12 Principal
Brent Bauer – 7-12 Assistant Principal/AD
Jaleyn Dicke – Elementary Special Education
Mandy Abbott – 8th grade Math and Middle School Intervention Teacher
Shalee Pollard – Behavior Intervention Specialist
Debbie Johnson - 7-12 Sped Para
We are excited to have these teachers and staff members on board! Please take a moment to welcome them to Hershey Public Schools when you get a chance.
On August 21st, we will kick off the evening with a volleyball scrimmage at 5:00 PM, followed by a Community Pep Rally featuring our cheerleaders at 6:30 PM. After the pep rally, the football scrimmage will take place at 7:00 PM. We invite everyone to come out and support our Panthers! It’s shaping up to be a busy and exciting few weeks as we celebrate and prepare for the 2026-2027 school year.
We will be continuing our Digital Citizenship and AI Initiative for 2026-2027 which is designed to help students use technology safely, responsibly, respectfully, and thoughtfully. The program is built around six core principles: finding balance, protecting privacy, understanding the power of words and actions, thinking critically and creating responsibly, developing a positive digital identity, and being kind and courageous online. Through classroom discussions, weekly social media messages, school signage, family communications, guest presentations, and student and parent feedback, the district addresses topics such as social media use, digital footprints, online safety, misinformation, cyberbullying, healthy technology habits, and the ethical use of artificial intelligence. By involving students, staff, families, and community partners, Hershey Public Schools is preparing students to make smart choices and thrive in an increasingly digital world.
Communication between teachers, coaches, students, and parents will continue to utilize “Rooms.” Rooms simplifies the digital classroom while bringing all communications into one place. If you change email addresses or cell phone numbers, please let the office know as this is also utilized for our school-wide messaging service, which can send a text, email, and phone call to parents and students. Thrillshare or Apptegy is tied into our Hershey Public Schools App as well. Please search the app stores with “Hershey Panthers” to download and install.
Hershey Public Schools is excited to continue working with Safe2Help NE as our anonymous reporting system for 2026-27. This system is designed for students, staff, and parents to anonymously report concerning behavior that could impact the safety of students or school across Nebraska. More information will be shared on this through our website, and student handbook.
PowerSchool also has a mobile app for students and parents so that you can keep up-to-date on grades and assignments daily. Please download the PowerSchool app from the app store as well. It is available on all platforms.
Hershey Public Schools does have a social media presence: Facebook (Hershey Panthers), Twitter (@hersheypanthers), and Instagram (@hpspanthers). On each social media platform, you may search for Hershey Panthers. If you follow Twitter, you can follow using #hpspanthers. We now have a Hudl presence and we are able to stream more activities and events through Hudl or on our YouTube Channel. You will see a link on www.hpspanthers.org to watch the activities!
Communication between all school stakeholders will be increasingly important this year! We will communicate any significant changes as soon as possible. We look forward to a great school year!
Educationally,
Mrs. Jane Davis, Ed. S.
Superintendent