Dear Heritage Families:

We’ve had a wonderful first (short) week back with our students! It was such a joy to welcome their smiling faces into the building. The halls truly feel complete when filled with our students and staff.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for Back to School Night. It was a great opportunity for your child(ren) to meet their teachers and begin getting excited for the year ahead.

This week, students focused on learning school routines and procedures while beginning to build strong connections with their teachers and classmates.

We’re thrilled to have many new faces in our building this year, and it’s been heartwarming to see how warmly our Heritage students have welcomed each one into our community.

We’re looking forward to our first full week with students next week and to all the great moments this school year will bring.

Here’s to our best year yet!

Take care,

Congratulations Cruz in 3rd grade for earning a Heritage Hero Award! Cruz was caught being Respectful, Responsible, and Kind by putting his supplies away and also helping others do the same without being asked! Keep up the good work Cruz!

Students are invited to eat breakfast and lunch at school daily, and may enjoy our cafeteria options or bring a lunch of their own.

Elementary meal prices are $2.05 for breakfast, $2.95 for lunch, and $0.60 if they wish to purchase a milk to have with their lunch from home (milk is included with the cafeteria meal).

Families also have the option to purchase snack milk for their students. Snack milk is optional, and separate from the lunch program. Snack milk is $53.40/semester.

Important note: Cafeteria meal payments, 1st semester snack milk, and 2nd semester snack milk are all separate items in the myschoolbucks store.

Heritage will have many opportunities to volunteer and assist our wonderful staff and students! In order for family members to volunteer they must complete the volunteer application process. There are multiple levels for which families can volunteer. There are different expectations and procedures for each level. The levels are:

As you start looking ahead, it may be of benefit for you to complete this process if you have a desire to be a room parent or accompany the class on a field trip.

We would love to have as many volunteers covered and ready to go to properly be prepared for anything or any activity our classrooms may be doing in the future. Now is the time to get prepared for the wonderful activities we have planned throughout the school year.

Please let our office know if you have any questions or you can email me at kwoodrich@bennps.org.

PTO Memberships for 25-26 are available: You can now purchase your Membership for the 25-26 school year. We would love your support and welcome all parents, guardians, AND staff to become members of the PTO. You can purchase your membership on the PTO website today, through the MySchoolBucks App, or through our Venmo page! We are also excited to bring back our Membership drive. Simply complete all of the checklist items on the PTO Flyer and return to PTO for a chance to win a giftcard!!

2025 FUN RUN Fundraiser: Be on the lookout for information on the FUN RUN Fundraising program on our Facebook page starting in September. This will detail the prizes, incentives and experiences that students will be eligible for this September!! This year’s theme is “Out of This World” and more information is available HERE.

Adopt the Lounge : We are kicking off the new school year and would love to STOCK THE LOUNGE for our Heritage Staff! Check out their Amazon Wishlist for easy purchase options, or if you prefer to donate funds you can scan the Heritage PayPal QR code below to donate funds directly. Just notate “Adopt the Lounge” in the text field. Or you can contact heritageptooutreach@gmail.com to coordinate a donation drop off. 

Baker’s/Kroger Partnership : We have been approved as a Community Rewards partner with Baker’s/Kroger Supermarkets! This is an exciting opportunity to exercise passive fundraising to funnel donations to Heritage. All you have to do is designate “Heritage Elementary PTO” (Org#: NU711) in the rewards section of your Shopper’s account - a portion of every transaction will be donated to Heritage on a quarterly basis!  

Casey’s Cash for Classrooms : Did you know that you can turn those easy pizza dinner nights into DONATIONS for Heritage Elementary?!? Heritage is now partnering with Casey’s Cash for Classrooms!! Another fantastic example of passive fundraising!! Create a Casey’s account (or log in if you already have one) on the Casey’s app. Navigate to “Preferences” and then “School Donations”. Add “Heritage Elementary School” (verify the address is in Bennington) and convert your pizza, gas, and donut dollars into donations for Heritage.  

All information regarding upcoming Bennington community events, sports camps, and activities are posted on our district website, and shared through the weekly district newsletter, the Badger Update.

If you wish to have your event or activity shared, please click here to complete a google form. For questions, please contact the District Communications Coordinator, Stacy Hawn, at shawn@bennps.org.

The Bennington Public School District does not discriminate on the basis of sex, disability, race, color, religion, veteran status, national or ethnic origin, age, marital status, sexual orientation, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical condition, or other protected status in its programs and activities and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The following persons have been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies: Students: Mr. Dan Bombeck, Director of Student Services, 11620 North 156th Street, P.O. Box 309, Bennington, NE 68007 (402) 238-3044 (dbombeck@bennps.org). Employees and Others: Dr. Matt Blomenkamp, Assistant Superintendent 11620 North 156th Street, P.O. Box 309, Bennington, NE 68007 (402) 238-3044 (mblomenkamp@bennps.org). Complaints or concerns involving discrimination or needs for accommodation or access should be addressed to the appropriate Coordinator. For further information about anti-discrimination laws and regulations, or to file a complaint of discrimination with the Office for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Education (OCR), please contact the OCR at 601 East 12th Street, Room 353, Kansas City, MO 64106, (800) 368-1019 (voice), Fax (816) 426-3686, (800) 537-7697 (telecommunications device for the deaf), or ocr.kansascity@ed.gov.

The Bennington Public School District is committed to offering employment and educational opportunity to its employees and students in a climate free of discrimination. Accordingly, unlawful discrimination, harassment and retaliation of any kind by District employees, including, co-workers, non-employees (such as volunteers), third parties and others is strictly prohibited and will not be tolerated.