October 20, 2025

Dear GRPS Staff, Parents, and Patrons:

I would first like to thank our students, staff, parents, and community members for a great start to the school year. Gordon-Rushville Public Schools is fortunate to have so many caring staff members who consistently go above and beyond for the youth in our community. We are also fortunate to have a caring community where individuals, families, businesses, and community organizations are eager to work with the school in order to provide opportunities for our students.

For the past year, the Gordon-Rushville Public Schools has engaged in a facility assessment process internally and with assistance from an engineering and consulting firm, JEO Consulting, from Scottsbluff, NE.  We are at a stage in the process where JEO Consulting has prepared a Facility Assessment for the district, and the results will be presented to the public at a GRPS Board of Education Work Session to be held on October 30, 2025, at 5:30 PM at the high school gymnasium.  We would like to invite patrons to attend the meeting to hear information regarding the assessment and to provide comment.  Please mark your calendar and plan on attending this community meeting.

As always, communication and collaboration are vitally important to the success of our district. We are continually looking for ways to improve our communication with parents and patrons, so I would like to outline some of the avenues where parents and community members can find information about the school and the events and happenings that are occurring in each of the buildings.

• The Gordon-Rushville Public Schools website at www.grmustangs.org is an excellent avenue to find information about the district and each of the school buildings.  District events as well as events from each of the school buildings are displayed on the front page of the website as well as a live feed that displays messages posted from building principals and the activities director.  There are also links on the front page to the Infinite Campus Parent Portal, the monthly breakfast/lunch menus, and the school board.  If you would like information regarding a specific school building, there is a link at the top of the district page titled “Schools” that will give you the option to go to a specific school building page for building information.  
• The school district also has a mobile app where information from the website, the live feed, and district and school events are listed.  If you are interested in accessing the app, search “Gordon-Rushville Public Schools” on your app store and download the school app.
• The district and individual school buildings each have Facebook pages where information about building events is updated frequently.
• Gordon Elementary and Rushville Elementary both utilize ClassDojo, a messaging system that parents are invited to sign up for.  Individual teachers communicate through ClassDojo regarding classroom specific notices, as do building principals regarding building wide information.
• The Remind app is utilized at the middle school and high school by coaches and activity sponsors as an informational tool for students participating in activities and their parents.
• School information is also advertised in and reported on by the Sheridan County Journal Star.
• In case of an emergency situation or weather-related adjustment to the school day such as a late start or school cancellation, information will be available on the school website, Facebook pages, and an automated phone call will be sent out to parents/guardians whose information has been given to the school district. Please contact your individual school building if you do not receive automated phone notifications and would like to.

I would also like to briefly mention the importance of engaging in good faith discussions.  Inevitably, when working in any organization, community, or even family, disagreements occur.  One thing that I place a high level of importance on is having good faith conversations, especially at times when there are concerns or disagreements.  To have a conversation in good faith requires an individual to be honest and respectful to the other person’s dignity, generally want to hear what the other person thinks and has to say, intends no harm by the discussion, and works in a spirit where the goal is to end at a resolution that will be mutually satisfying.  Having good faith discussions when there are disagreements can be hard to do when there is an emotional topic; however, maintaining the idea that a good faith conversation is the goal can help greatly to maintain positive relationships while having disagreements in discussions.  As we move through the rest of the school year and we engage in discussions, whether individual meetings with staff members, parents, and administrators regarding individual concerns, or in larger discussions such as facility improvement, it is important to always try and work keeping good faith in mind.

If you have any questions regarding how to find information about school happenings or how to access any of the digital information including the school mobile app, please contact your student’s building principal for assistance.  We are also open to additional suggestions for ways we can improve our communication with you.  Feel free to contact me at any time, and I would be more than happy to assist in any way. Thank you again for a great start to the school year.

Sincerely,

Nathan Livingston, Superintendent