Welcome back to our MS and HSers. Mr. Klinkhammer, Mr. Reynolds, and staff took time this morning to greet both groups and introduce themselves.

The Bison Football team practices Thursday night "under the lights."

Bison supporting Bison. Some of our football players came to the soccer team's first game.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to our school community. What a great turn out last night for our welcome back to school event. It was awesome to see so many students excited to see their teachers, their classrooms, and their friends. The Hot Springs School District staff is equally excited to begin this school year. Monday is going to be a great day. If families were not able to attend, do not worry whatsoever. We will get all students where they need to go and ready on a positive note Monday when we see them. Make this last official weekend of summer a good one.

Bison 6th grade through 12th are invited to pick up their computers tomorrow (Thursday) 9am - noon and then starting again at 2pm through the conclusion of the Bison Are Back event in the Tech Room in the HS. Our preference is that computers are picked up with the student's padded backpack.

Secondary students (Grades 6-12) and parents, Please check out your computer on Thursday, August 15, in the high school library. You can come from 9am-noon or from 2pm -7pm. See you Thursday!

It is an amazing experience for so many people when a school's graduates come back and teach at the school. Hot Springs has three graduates that will begin their teaching career here in their home town. Welcome back Ms. Remington, Mr. Shanklin, and Mr. Maciejewski.

We welcome these new employees to the school district.

Hot Springs High School received the Education First Global Education Excellence Award. Thank you to Jan Becker for nominating the school. She and her students have been a pleasure with whom to work.

This message is for all of our school district staff. We are so excited to get started tomorrow ensuring that 24-25 is going to be amazing. If you see a school district employee today, please let them know how much you appreciate their service to our youth.

Hot Springs School Board Meeting is Monday, August 12th at 5:30pm. Reminder that our community Open House will be this coming Thursday, August 15th from 5-7. Teachers will be available from 5-6 in their classroom and then will join the BBQ. We will also have tables with school information along with outside vendors (activities and groups available to school aged students). If your group would like to support the school and share what services you provide our youth and families, please contact Dr. Cumbow (kyley.cumbow@k12.sd.us) before this Tuesday at 5pm.

Our last simulator was delivered last week. The CDL machine even required being partially disassembled since it is so big. Training occurred on the other simulators last week. High School Students are going to enjoy this format of learning.

Make sure you get the app so that you are "in the know" this school year.

If you do not have a Parent Portal account, please reach out to one of our outstanding building secretaries. Parent Portal allows you to monitor your student's grades and attendance. From a parent's perspective, it is a great tool to have.

We are opening a Photography class for 7th and 8th grade students for the 1st semester. If you are interested, please contact Sheila Siebenthal.

Families: Save the date. BISON ARE BACK will be held next Thursday, August 15th from 5-7pm. Our teachers will be welcoming students and families to their classrooms from 5-6pm and then will join the community BBQ outside from 6-7. We hope to see all of our families next Thursday.

These kindergartners are ready to school year 24-25. It has been such a joy to experience their excitement to start school. Thank you to the families for opening your homes to me to meet them and you.

Hot Springs Community: This is such a wonderful asset to the students of the Hot Springs School District and the community. The opportunities that this facility are going to give our students is significant. If you are new to the area and/or still needing to register for the 24-25 school year, please reach out to the building offices. Tentative Open House is scheduled for Friday, September 13th before the Homecoming Football game. Check out the great pictures of the CTE building here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1wtyb1H5Aj-tfEimbXnPJ5NUDdBEQkydeOc2e3RlSP_I/edit?usp=sharing

What an exciting time for the elementary building. New flooring.

So very excited for today! I am starting to meet with the incoming kindergartners (aka- The Class of 2037) today. Today's visit is also an amazing coincidence in that I taught the mom of this future Bison when she was in 7th grade at Georgia Morse Middle School in Pierre. I have several scheduled but not 100%. If you have a kindergartner for 24-25 and we do not have a visit scheduled, please reach out to me at kyley.cumbow@k12.sd.us or 605.295.2322. Since I am new and our kindergartners are just starting their educational journey, I thought this would be a great opportunity to get to know the names of 30 of the Hot Springs students. I also think that it will be awesome to not only give them a small gift from me as they start their educational career but hopefully to hand them their high school diploma in 13 years.