On Halloween, High School DECA students hit the streets during trick or treating to collect non-perishable food items to be donated to the local food pantry. In total, over 500 items were collected. Thank you to those who were able to donate, supporting both Hudson DECA and the local food pantry!
Excellent representation of our Hudson Middle and High School band and orchestra students who participated in the All State Honor Band/Orchestra. Hudson had eight students invited to participate. Having one student participate is quite rare, but 8 is amazing! Congratulations HHS students Ben B (featured Orchestra clarinet soloist), Graham C. (featured in WI State Percussion Ensemble), Dylan S., James Q., Ben W., and HMS students Carly M., Kyra Reierson, and Tyler S. #WeAreRaiderProud
Project Lead the Way POE Electric Car Races were held this week. We have new winners and new record holders of the 50 ft. race at 6.16 seconds!
Hudson Raider Girls Tennis team is having a fantastic season! The team has won 15 matches up against only three losses so far this year.
The teams most recent tournament was the Menomonie Invite. The team won all 5 matches they played defeating conference rivals River Falls 7-0, New Richmond 4-3 Menomonie 5-2 and two other teams.
Coach Steve Grosz said the following: “The team has really rallied around the motto of Respect All, Fear None. With only two of the top 10 players returning from last years varsity team, many new players have had the opportunity to step into the starting lineup and are representing Hudson with honor and pride. We hope to see you at a future Raider tennis match.” #WeAreRaiderProud
Congratulations to our Hudson School District Music Departments for being recognized as a NAMM 2023 Best Communities for Music Education District. This the 13th consecutive year that Hudson has received this award! #WeAreRaiderProud
Pictured above from left, Caroline Wolf, Katy Cook, Samantha Thrane, Melissa Miller, Susan Erickson, and Anita Horne.
The Education Foundation of Hudson awarded Star Grants in May for innovative classroom projects and curriculum training. The foundation awarded grants totaling over $21,000 for seven projects involving several educators and touching many schools in Hudson.
Foundation Board President Lynn Krueger, and other board members, presented the awards during ceremonies at Hudson High School on May 11. He told recipients that the foundation and community are proud of the educators’ efforts to bring innovative ideas to the classrooms of local schools.
Grant recipients are listed below.
In addition to Krueger, current Foundation board members are Dr. Ron Berth, Jodell Krause, Doug Stohlberg, Joan Thompson, John Kramer, Heidi Gilbert, and Scott Snyder. Steven Keller is the organization’s volunteer executive director.
Star Grants offer financial support for innovative classroom projects and also projects furthering the education of teachers — all items that would not typically be funded in the normal budgeting process. The foundation awards Star Grants twice each year. Application deadlines are November 1 and April 1. The foundation also selects winners of the Star Excellence Award each year. The award is presented to outstanding educators in the spring. Those individuals are nominated by the public and nominations are due April 1 of each year.
The foundation, founded in 1990, is a private organization established to strengthen community participation in local schools and inspire both teachers and students. With the May grants, the foundation has funded just under $2,000,000 in local education projects and awards since the organization’s inception.
The foundation is funded by private donations, mostly coming from local and area businesses, individuals, and foundations.
Prom is almost here – we want to see photos of the event. The Hudson School District and The Hudson Star Observer are asking you to share your photos with us for the newspaper and social media. You can share your photos by using the following link or QR code with this post. https://forms.gle/a3esrknFxLL5h5WF9
The Hudson School District has a long history of being fiscally responsible and committed to maximizing the community’s investment. This referendum reflects the compromises made based on community feedback. We believe this plan is good for our kids, staff, and community.
The Hudson School District has two questions on the ballot.
Question #1 would allow the Board of Education to exceed the annual revenue limit by $8 million. This question is in response to increased operational costs and expenses related to retaining an exceptional workforce. At the same time, the School District has experienced lower student enrollment and stagnant state funding.
Question #2 is for capital maintenance not to exceed $29 million to pay for the costs of facility improvements at EP Rock and North Hudson Elementary Schools and Hudson Middle School.
The decision to go to referendum for the three schools identified in Question #2 resulted from a three-year planning process that included research and feedback from a Facility Task Force, a community-wide feedback survey, and facility planning interviews with school principals, facility and grounds staff, and other administrators. The Board of Education has communicated that maintenance needs exist at other schools, some of which can be completed through the District’s annual maintenance budget of approximately $2 million and others are dependent on enrollment trends over the next three years. The Board is committed to addressing any emergency maintenance needs or unsafe conditions should they arise at any of the District’s facilities. Safety of students and staff is always a priority.
The referendum addresses needs at multiple buildings. In addition to replacing aging infrastructure, the District would invest in safety and security in both elementary buildings with secured entrances, fire sprinkler systems, and updated fire alarm systems. The changes to flooring will reduce ongoing operating costs as we move away from products that require waxing and stripping every summer.
Our classrooms do not resemble 1950’s era learning spaces. They have been updated with technology and furniture to help meet the needs of our kids. We currently do project-based and collaborative learning in all of our elementary schools.The amenities in the EP Rock and North Hudson classrooms are similar to River Crest. However, the ancillary spaces adjacent to classrooms as seen at River Crest and Hudson Prairie will not be added to this project.
The updated electrical services are not just for chilled water plants but are also necessary to bring our older buildings up to today’s standards. We do not have final calculations on the savings because this is part of the building design process. We will evaluate multiple options to find the most cost-effective and efficient solution for our buildings. Without a complete design and modeling of the systems, it would be very difficult to provide information about the costs or savings of the cooling systems. We do know switching to LED lighting in our buildings will save on energy costs. Again, we cannot make any definitive statements about overall energy consumption until the new systems have been designed.
The School District and Board of Education have worked to be transparent in this process. Information and documents from the three years of planning are posted on the School District website under the “April 4th Operations & Facilities Referendum.” Documents include a 10-year facility plan developed by Wold Architects, Facility Task Force Final Report, an Enrollment Projection Study completed by the UW-Madison Applied Population Laboratory, and the progression of options that led to the final referendum questions.
Our community engagement process began three years ago. There have been regular updates at the Board of Education meetings throughout this time. Families and staff have received regular email updates. Parent meetings and building forums were held, and opportunities were provided for questions and answers. Quarterly community newsletters have been sent to all residents and included information on the Board’s progress in developing their 10-year facility plan and decisions on establishing priorities. Following the community-wide feedback survey, the Board of Education did additional research, held more community meetings, confirmed enrollment trends, and only then used all the feedback and information gathered to develop their referendum questions. Most recently, the School District hosted three in-person and virtual community meetings to answer questions about the referendum.
Again, this referendum reflects the compromises made based on community feedback. We believe this plan is good for our kids, staff, and community.
To learn more about the April 4th referendum and the planning process click here.
Please vote and don’t forget to look at both sides of your ballot.
Voting information can be found at myvote.wi.gov