Greetings Sacred Heart Families,
It is a real privilege to belong to a community as wonderful as Sacred Heart School. From the teachers, to the staff, to the students and families, Sacred Heart is truly a community centered on Christ.
I teach sixth grade Reading and Religion as well as seventh grade Religion. In my classroom I try to engage students with diverse learning activities such as, group read alongs, book clubs, small group discussions, essay writing, real-life connections, visual arts, kinesthetic review activities, as well as technology infused lessons.
This will be my fourteenth year in the teaching profession and all of those years have been spent here at Sacred Heart School.
Growing up, I attended St. Albert Catholic Schools in Council Bluffs. After high school I went to the University of Iowa where I earned my Bachelor of Arts in Religion. Then I earned a second Bachelor’s degree in Education from Upper Iowa University.
Throughout my teens and twenties I volunteered at the St. Thomas More Center in Panora, Iowa. During that time, I was actively involved in the Catholic Youth Camp, Teens Encounter Christ, and Quest ministries.
My wife, April, and I have been married for seventeen years. I have a son named Casy in who is a freshman at Valley Southwoods and a daughter named Lily in third grade at SHS.
In the year ahead, I look forward to a great deal of fun with purpose. In my experience, the most successful instruction is accompanied by laughter and lively conversation, which are only possible in a safe and comfortable environment. And it is precisely that environment that I try to cultivate in my classroom.
Thank you for investing in a Catholic education and for trusting me to be a part of your family's life. If you have questions, concerns, or suggestions, please feel free to contact me at dan.nieland@sacredheartwdm.org.
I look forward to a wonderful year together.
Daniel Nieland