Dear Flier Nation,

I hope everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable summer that felt much more normal than it probably did last year. As we enter into the new year I am excited about several things, but I also realize that we unfortunately still need to ensure that we are taking precautions to ensure the safety of our students and staff.

In regards to some of the positive changes for next year, we are excited about some of the academic opportunities that we will be implementing or putting into practice in the near future. One of our new items is the STAR assessment program that we will now be implementing at the Middle School and at the High School for 9th and 10th grade reading and math. This program allows us to track student progress beginning in kindergarten and now will follow a student through their tenth grade year.

We will also be using some of our COVID relief money to offer after-school tutoring for students in all of our buildings. We hope that this will help to alleviate some of the gaps that may have been created due to the inconsistent academic instruction that occurred in the last year and a half.

Lastly, we are beginning a new writing study to hopefully better align our writing program across all grade levels. It is certainly our hope that we can concentrate more fully on the academic aspect of our responsibilities this year. We feel these changes will certainly help in meeting the needs of our students.

Here is to hoping for a consistent school year and much academic success for all of our students.

Warmest Regards,

Dennis