Dear Parents and Families,

Where does summer go? Just yesterday (it seems) we were saying goodbye to our 8th graders, and on Monday we will be welcoming new kinders and 600+ returning students to our schools. 

We had a lot going on in our district over the break: almost all of our teaching staff engaged in a week-long symposium coordinated by Director of Learning and Innovation Jason Borgen, additional teachers were trained in Readers'/Writers' Workshop, and many staff were trained in the use of our data analysis tool, Illuminate. We also began the search for a new principal at Ormondale (see story below).

As for infrastructure, we conducted the annual cleaning and maintenance of our campuses, the two playing fields were restored, and we replaced flooring in many of our classrooms. An architect has been selected to guide us through the Facilities Master Planning process, an enterprise you'll be hearing more about in the months to come.

Now we are ready to launch a new year of growth and achievement -- for our students and for ourselves. Our 4th and 5th grade students will now receive their instruction from a science teacher assigned to that role, and our K-6th grade students will be taught mathematics using a new curriculum ( Math Expressions). This year are teaming up with Stanford's Challenge Success program to help staff and parents better understand the realities of adolescent life in our high performance environment.

I invite all of you to join us in tackling the challenges that we've given ourselves. Keep your eyes open for invitations from the schools and from me to become involved.

And about summer flying by so quickly? Well, there's always Labor Day!

-- Eric