Harvest Hills Elementary

"Snow much fun! Mrs. Love's 3rd grade class is building snowmen and making winter memories that'll last a lifetime

Miss Beach and Mr. Rohde teamed up to teach a combined PE/Music class with the 5th graders. They played rhythms with basketballs and buckets and made their own ensembles with the PE equipment!

Mrs. Matousek's second graders finished their Writing Like Scientists unit! They learned how to research, take notes, and write paragraphs, procedures, and lab reports. Students combined what they learned in writing with what they were learning in science do research about boats, take notes and write a paragraph about boats. Then, with a group they designed a boat, built it, and filled out a lab report while they tested it.

Mrs. Collins' second graders are busy getting into the holiday spirit this week! They have played fun games, measured each other with candy canes and made a wish to help others this season!

Happy Holidays from some of our Harvest Hills 2nd Graders!

Grown up carolers! Mr. Boone's former students made a visit with their choir to sing to the central office admin this morning. They brought a lot of smiles!

Third Graders in Mrs. Love's class worked on a project in class to BRIGHTEN each other's day by giving kind adjectives.

First graders are visiting the north pole today!

Students in Miss Clymer's 3rd grade class used their knowledge of rhythms and melody to make Pentatonic Snowmen.

This week in math, first graders are creating and completing their own graphing project. They created a question with choices and gathered data from their peers today.

Mrs. Schram's 4th graders worked with electrical energy this week! They created a switch to keep their circuits running.

The elf in Miss Beeson's first grade classroom needed some serious writing help! The first graders got to the job right away teaching about handwriting and spelling skills.

Dr. Kendra Schneider Named New Director of Special Education
Gretna, NE – December 9, 2025

Gretna Public Schools is thrilled to announce Dr. Kendra Schneider as the new Director of Special Education, effective July 1, 2026, following Paul Duin’s retirement. Dr. Schneider has served as Assistant Director since 2021, leading program supervision, compliance, and professional learning initiatives.

“I’m extremely excited to serve as the Director of Special Education for Gretna Public Schools,” Dr. Schneider said. “Paul Duin has been an incredible mentor, and I’m honored to build upon the strong foundation and high-quality programs established by him and Deb Siemers, the previous Director of Special Education. I look forward to working alongside our talented special education team, collaborating with families, and ensuring every student receives the support they need. Gretna Public Schools’ commitment to excellence in special education is evident, and I’m eager to contribute to our continued growth and success.”

Superintendent Travis Lightle added, “We are excited to announce Dr. Schneider as our new Director of Special Education. Her leadership over the last five years has led to positive changes in our district, and our department’s retention rate remains the envy of the state because of it. Dr. Schneider’s experience and genuine dedication to Gretna Public Schools make her the ideal person to continue advancing our programs.”

Dr. Schneider brings more than 20 years of experience in special education and also serves as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. She holds a Doctorate and two Master’s degrees from the University of Nebraska and is actively involved in statewide initiatives advancing special education.

A huge thank you to the Harvest Hills PTO for putting together indoor recess carts! For those cold days we can't go outside due to low temperatures, these new fun games keep our spirits high!