Superintendent Blog – October, 2023
Well, it’s been a good start to the 2023-2024 school year. We have a lot going on in extra-curricular activities and academics and I’d like to highlight a few for the October Blog:
- We have continued our Get Better Faster training for our teaching staff with inservice on August 9th and again on September 22nd. Instructional improvement and deeper looks into data is always a good area to help our teachers. More training is scheduled in November and February.
- Football, volleyball and cross country running are in full swing. I’m writing during homecoming week and all three have games/events this weekend; good luck to all! Our FFA has also been very active in preparing for regional and state competitions and a trip to the National Convention.
- Student attendance continues to be a top priority for our district but apparently we aren’t the only district in this situation. The Commissioner of Education, Susan Cordova, recently sent an e-mail, that I shared with all of our staff, about how this is a state-wide issue that needs to be addressed. Mr. Schmitt, HIgh School Principal, presented data at the last school board that showed the correlation between missing school and failing classes, it was overwhelming! We need everyone’s help in making sure our students come to school so we can ensure their success in education (and life)!
We have a few big events coming up this month that I would encourage you to participate in:
- As I mentioned last month our district has a bond proposal on the ballot in the November election – please vote. Ballots should be arriving in your mailbox within the next two weeks.
- Not only is the bond on the ballot, we have six candidates running for four seats for the school board. The district will be hosting a candidate forum on October 10th at 6pm at the Community Center and we highly encourage everyone to attend. There will be questions asked of all the candidates present so you can learn about them and why they are running for the Board. Attendees will have an opportunity to turn in cards with questions prior to the event and we will do our best to summarize similar questions into one question. There will also be an opportunity to visit with each candidate after the Q&A section has concluded. I will be at the event around 5:30 with renderings for the possible new construction and will/can answer “fact based questions”.
- Parent/Teacher conferences will be held October 16-18. Look for more information coming soon from your campus.
That’s all for this month. Have a great October and we’ll see you at a Bear’s event soon.