October 2023 Article
As the leaves turn golden and the air becomes crisp, I find myself reflecting on the achievements and direction of our school district since becoming a member of the district and the community in the fall of 2022. It has been an honor to serve as the Superintendent of our esteemed schools, and I am excited to share our progress and vision for the future.
Academic Excellence
Our district remains committed to academic excellence. Our educators have continued to go above and beyond to provide engaging and innovative learning experiences. We have invested in technology and professional development to equip our teachers with the tools they need to excel in the modern educational landscape.
Our students' accomplishments continue to shine. Our test scores have improved, and many of our graduates have gone on to excel in their careers, military service, colleges and universities, and this is a testament to the quality of education they received in our schools. The goal continues to be to provide as many opportunities for our students as possible while in school. These opportunities include exposure to job shadows, apprenticeships with the trades, internships, college visits or visits with military service recruiters. This will ensure students can make an informed decision on what is best for them when they graduate high school.
Facility Planning
To support our educational mission, the district has a need to create a long range plan for facilities. By having a vision for the facilities, it will allow the district to continue to be fiscally responsible while continuing to provide as many opportunities as possible for our students. We have added some beautiful facilities over the years that make a school our size a diamond in the rough. However, as we continue to see the changing needs of technology and the potential for growth, we want to make sure we have a long range plan that meets the needs of both our teachers and students. We are working with Invision Architects to help us create a facilities plan that meets the needs for the district for the long term. This does not mean the district plans to start building immediately. Our current goal remains to take care of what we have but be ready with a plan for growth when needed. I will continue to work with our facilities committee to gather feedback and shape the facilities plan for the long term. Once we have a plan in place, we will share that with the public and welcome any feedback along the way.
SIAC
Our district places great value on community engagement. We believe that the collective involvement of parents, students, and the broader community is essential for the success of our schools. The school improvement advisory committee better known as SIAC meets two times per year to discuss district data and progress toward the established goal of SIAC. I will be working with our administrative team to ensure the vision of SIAC aligns with building goals and vice versa. An operational SIAC team involves teachers, administrators, students and parents. As I work to reestablish SIAC, we will ask for parents to be involved. If this is a process that sounds interesting to you please let me know and I’ll put your name down and be in touch as the process is established.
Moving Forward
As we move forward, the mission of the district remains clear: Empowering Innovative, Adaptive and Resourceful Learners. We will continue to work toward the vision by focusing on excellence, growth mindset and collaboration. Our commitment to providing a high quality education to all students of the district will also remain at the forefront of our efforts. With the unwavering support of our community, we look forward to a bright future and the continued success of our school.
To continue to strive toward the mission of the district, it is important to get feedback along the way. There are a number of avenues to provide feedback and share thoughts. The first is that my door is always open. If you are at the school and have a few minutes, please stop by for a visit. You are always welcome to call. If I happen to be in the office and available I will take the call. If I’m unavailable or out of the office please leave me a message and I will call you back. Lastly, I still go uptown to Beans and Beignets the Tuesday before the monthly school board meeting. I’m there shortly after 7a, and generally stay until 9am or so. You don’t need to schedule a time to meet with me while I am there, just stop by. I recognize that time doesn’t work for everyone so if a different time works best please let me know and we can find a time that works.
Thank you to everyone who has provided feedback up to this point. Your feedback matters and is important to our continued growth. I’m confident together we will continue to provide our students with the tools and skills they need to succeed and to create a brighter tomorrow for our community and beyond.