Welcome to the 2025-2026 school year! The beginning of a new year is always a time that is exciting for our students, staff, and parents. I trust you all had a restful and relaxing summer, filled with moments that recharged your soul and created lasting memories for you and your families. It is great to once again see our buildings filled with students as we embark on a new school year.
The pace of this summer has been a bit refreshing, especially since we weren't in the midst of a major construction project! This summer, we focused on expanding and renovating our kindergarten wing, with particular emphasis on the restrooms. We also found time to install carpet on the second floor of the elementary, add an additional bank of lockers, and replace our network. While each project had it's own unique set of challenges, they all paled in comparison to the scope of work to which we have been accustomed to in our most recent memories! Even so, I do think you will be very happy and satisfied with the work that has been done over the summer. We owe a great deal of thanks to the contractors and maintenance department here for their hard work and diligence. It certainly has paid off.
In our opening Convocation last week, we welcomed our newest employees to the district and encouraged them to use the leverage and collective wisdom of our entire faculty to help them find success. Indeed we want them to find success, for their success most certainly will lead to their students' success. Being new evokes a range of emotions ranging from nervous trepidation to extreme excitement for where the journey will take us! I asked all of our our employees to consider and reminisce on their own beginnings, in an effort to recapture the newness that we all felt once upon a time.
During this opening address each year, I provide a common theme with which to ground and center our work. This year, I offer three words: Collaboration, Empathy, and Innovation.
Our greatest strengths lie in the ability to work together, share ideas, and support one another through every success and every hurdle. By working together we can tap into a collective wellspring of knowledge, experience, and creativity. Within these spaces of collaboration, we will be able to develop strong relationships with you and your children. This will enable us to uncover valuable insights into the students we serve while at the same time providing you, our families and parents the skills needed to help your child find success.
Where the strategic advantages of collaboration are readily apparent, it's full potential can only be realized by unlocking something much more profound: empathy. It's not enough to simply work alongside one another. To truly unlock the collective strength of collaboration we must also understand and connect with the perspectives, feelings and needs of one another. I reminded our staff that when each of us goes home at night, we are largely unaware of the challenges that are faced by the families we serve. Each family we serve is unique and we are well served when we listen to concerns as they are raised and validating fears and frustrations as they arise. I would also be remiss if not to remember that empathy is a two way street. Those who work with your child daily are human too. They have real struggles outside these walls and not every day will be a homerun.
Over the last several years we have been focused on facility upgrades. While enrollment growth patterns suggest facility needs will be part of our lexicon moving forward, we are proud of the fact our facilities offer the most current and up to date technological capabilities where innovation may appear commonplace. But innovation in education is not merely about adapting the latest technology or most state of the art facilities; it's about fostering a mindset of continuous improvement and creative problem-solving to better serve our students. Innovation is the engine that drives us beyond the status quo, ensuring our students are not merely the recipients of knowledge, but active creators of their own understanding. The true embodiment of our Core Purpose: 'Creating Effective Learning Environments that Result in Success for ALL Students'.
Collaborate, Empathize, Innovate. These aren't must words but active principles that will define our days and shape our successes. Let's commit to working closely together as a collaborative community with all stakeholders, leveraging our collective wisdom to navigate the exciting school year under which we now embark.
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