The start of the new school year is upon us! School administrators have come back to prepare to open our schools. Teachers and support staff will soon return to prepare for all of their students too. In reflecting back on last school year and what could be in store for our district this year, I am thankful that we have been able to smoothly transition between superintendents. With that being said, we are still in the middle of transitioning our entire instructional program and continue our work to operate more efficiently.
The instructional transition includes more work on standards implementation. Expectations for students and staff have greatly increased through the new standards. We are fortunate that we have built in collaborative time for our staff to work on aligning the higher expectations from the standards to the curriculum and everyday practice in the classroom. With a greater emphasis on critical thinking and application, our students need the opportunity to experience more relevant activities in and out of the classroom. We are on that path and I am confident, through our commitment to continuous improvement, that more differentiation to meet each students’ needs will occur.
For several years now, our district has been re-examining a variety of internal processes with an eye on eliminating redundancies and improving efficiency. With the current fiscal climate in the state, we will continue this focus so that we can provide the best possible experience for each of our students with the resources we have available. The most valuable resource we have is time. Being efficient and focused in determining student needs creates more time to work with individual students. This can be done through collaborative teaming where hard questions are systematically asked by peers. Our staff has been refining their processes and as we get more assessment information in regards to the new standards we will be able to refine the processes, interventions, enrichment opportunities and questions to make progress toward the new targets the state will define for us. The targets may seem to be difficult to reach, but I am confident our staff is capable of making the necessary adjustments with our students to reach these new, lofty expectations.
It is easy to say that each school year is a new beginning and in many ways it is, but for our district we have been on the road of continuous improvement for years. We have quality staff that work very hard everyday. That has not changed and I am thankful that is the case. While we celebrate the beginning, I also celebrate the long term commitment and focus we all have on preparing all of our students for their future.
I look forward to the new school year and the continued focus we have for all of our students!
Beginning again
The start of the new school year is upon us! School administrators have come back to prepare to open our schools. Teachers and support staff will soon return to prepare for all of their students too. In reflecting back on last school year and what could be in store for our district this year, I am thankful that we have been able to smoothly transition between superintendents. With that being said, we are still in the middle of transitioning our entire instructional program and continue our work to operate more efficiently.
The instructional transition includes more work on standards implementation. Expectations for students and staff have greatly increased through the new standards. We are fortunate that we have built in collaborative time for our staff to work on aligning the higher expectations from the standards to the curriculum and everyday practice in the classroom. With a greater emphasis on critical thinking and application, our students need the opportunity to experience more relevant activities in and out of the classroom. We are on that path and I am confident, through our commitment to continuous improvement, that more differentiation to meet each students’ needs will occur.
For several years now, our district has been re-examining a variety of internal processes with an eye on eliminating redundancies and improving efficiency. With the current fiscal climate in the state, we will continue this focus so that we can provide the best possible experience for each of our students with the resources we have available. The most valuable resource we have is time. Being efficient and focused in determining student needs creates more time to work with individual students. This can be done through collaborative teaming where hard questions are systematically asked by peers. Our staff has been refining their processes and as we get more assessment information in regards to the new standards we will be able to refine the processes, interventions, enrichment opportunities and questions to make progress toward the new targets the state will define for us. The targets may seem to be difficult to reach, but I am confident our staff is capable of making the necessary adjustments with our students to reach these new, lofty expectations.
It is easy to say that each school year is a new beginning and in many ways it is, but for our district we have been on the road of continuous improvement for years. We have quality staff that work very hard everyday. That has not changed and I am thankful that is the case. While we celebrate the beginning, I also celebrate the long term commitment and focus we all have on preparing all of our students for their future.
I look forward to the new school year and the continued focus we have for all of our students!
Have a great year!