A New Year

As the parent of a high school senior, I felt that our holiday break went much too quickly. January means only five months until graduation. In most years I hope for time to fly leading up to graduation, but this year I hope that these last five months drag a little!

There is a lot going on around the District:  Training, testing, budgeting, scheduling, sports, concerts, and a musical are just a few of the things that our staff and students are occupied with. I know that the students would love to see you at their events, so if you have some free time please check our website and schedules.
Pictured at right, high school seniors Nicholas Piato and Shawn Davern get ready for their dress rehearsal for the US Army Marching Band that they performed in at the All-American Bowl on January 5.

Report from Commission on Education: Last week the Governor announced the results from his Commission on Education.  There were eight key points from the Commission and the Governor acknowledged that not all of them would be able to be completed in short order. Instead of going through each of the eight recommendations in this blog, you can read the entire report by clicking here, and I will wait until the Governor's State of the State address this week to speak about any specific recommendations that might be featured in his speech.

Communications - Print vs Digital: We are nearing the date when we will no longer receive a local daily paper. I certainly understand the decision, and I thought that because I do most of my work in a digital environment (this blog, Twitter, Facebook, and our website) that I would not have any feelings about the change as the date gets closer. I was wrong. I really like receiving the newspaper.

Personally, I feel that printed articles help keep Government and organizations, that we as citizens support (including schools), honest. I also feel strongly that what is in print creates a longer lasting memory than anything digital. My mom still shows me pictures and box scores from my own high school days that she cut out and saved from the paper.

As with many things in life, we need to adapt and overcome. The change to our local paper is no different. We have an outstanding public relations person in Bonnie Russell, and before I could even think about what changes we need to make as an organization to keep getting our information into your hands, she sent me a list of things that will be changed to adjust to the lack of a local paper. Please check our website later this month for a story about how we will be communicating to television and print media moving forward.

We are fortunate that we are already thriving in the digital, social media environment. This week, for example, we will pass 2,000 followers on my Twitter feed, this blog will be read by over 5,000 people by the end of the week, and with our Facebook friends the weekly total reach has increased by over 120%.  If you enjoy receiving your information through these sources, please let others know so we can continue to build our information network. The last thing we want is for someone to not be aware of what is happening in their school district.

A heat wave is upon us (for my national followers and friends, that means temperatures of about 30 degrees). Not quite shorts weather, but warm enough to soak in a little sun while out for a walk. Have a great week!

Chris