It is hard to believe that we have been out of school for three weeks already! Is it about this time of the summer when our youngsters start to complain that they are 'bored', and want something to do? My granddaughter, who just finished her kindergarten year on June 5th at College Community was already bored by Sunday! It's understandable of course, the end of the school year at most schools is always jam packed with field trips, field days, and other activities that are often out of the norm when it comes to schooling. But, here's the deal: we have a long way to go! School doesn't start for most of us until August 24th. There is a lot of summer in front of us yet!
Nevertheless, it is not dull or boring around Hudson Schools this summer! Soon after the students leave, we begin preparations for the next school year. A lot of work needs to be done to get us ready for the start of the new school year. Although there is a lot of summer in front of us, it'll go really fast for those of us that are working to get everything ready for the return of the students.
Our maintenance and custodial crew is busy cleaning carpets, stripping floors, and cleaning classrooms. They are touching up paint where necessary and completing maintenance projects that had to be deferred until summertime because they were too big to be completed during a normal shift. In addition to this, ceiling tiles are being replaced, filters are being changed, and light fixtures are being replaced. This group will be working hard finishing these projects right up to the day students return!
Hopefully our students will notice a few substantial changes when they return for the new school year as well! As a starter, we are replacing the lights at the football stadium. In addition to removing the old wooden poles with 4 new steel poles that will make it look a lot more aesthetically pleasing, the quality of light on the field will be exponentially better! We also will be adding light to the South hill to improve the quality of lighting for our guests making their way to the visitor bleachers. You will also notice the walkway behind the home grandstand well lit, and will have no trouble reading the words on the scoreboard or championship board!
You have probably also noticed that dirt and grading work is continuing at a fast pace at the site of the old hotel. Our intention is to have this area completely graded and seeded with grass well before school starts! The pace at that site has been frenzied and I am impressed at how close we now are to grade in just a couple of short weeks! Our biggest holdup now is the status of the old Mediacom building. We have been working with them for some time to have this building removed. Once finished, this green space will be fenced in, courtesy of our booster club.
Speaking of the booster club, they have graciously agreed to remodel the area in the competition gym that has traditionally been used as storage space for our physical education classes and a hospitality area during our home wrestling tournament. Once completed, the space will feature a training room, locker rooms for officials, and an organized space for the storage of equipment for both physical education classes and athletics!
The Hudson PTO is also continuing with a couple of projects that are near and dear to their heart in the elementary! This includes more painting in some of the common areas of the elementary, and I understand they are working hard to secure additional funding to continue to accelerate the library project. The last I heard, they were hoping to move forward with the new circulation desk! Let's all keep our fingers crossed for that one!
Also in the elementary, the school board has made a decision to begin remodeling of the restrooms. Hopefully you all recall that attention to the elementary school was one of the goals of our Hudson 2020 plan! This summer we are completely remodeling the restrooms in the 5th and 6th grade wing!
I suppose those are the highlights, although I do fear that something was missed! This would bring us finally to what is going on in my office! Although school isn't currently in session, we continue to be open for business. For starters, our work these days is first and foremost the management of the projects listed above. We want to ensure that everything is completed on time and budget in time for the return of our students and teachers in August! Many reports are being completed for the closeout of the current school year at the same time we are preparing registration materials for the next school year, ordering supplies, and making plans for professional development and continuing our teacher leadership initiative in the second year.
The Central Office is open daily from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. However, since I am the only one in the office on Friday's, it is best to send me an email if you would like to visit us that day. I tend to be out in the district a lot viewing the progress on the various projects and wouldn't want to miss you.
Oh, and one final thing: If you are interested in getting a head start on registration material for the 2005-2016 school year, it has been posted on our website. You can find it right here. As always, it will be mailed out in July.
Continue to enjoy your summer!
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