As we prepare to celebrate the New Year and reflect over the events of the last year, I see a year filled with challenges, opportunities, successes, divisions, and angst over the future. From horrible terrorist attacks to what many have said was the most contentious presidential election in recent history, from hate crimes to lawsuits over gender identity, and from the excesses of the 1% to the struggles of the poor, it’s easy to see the growing differences between people at every level. Yet despite these differences, the country continues to move forward, the world continues to grapple with many issues, making progress on many, and we all continue to look towards improving our lives in some measure.
The district has also faced challenges and continues to work on overcoming these to improve student opportunities and success. From the state’s perspective, the district has improved its educational standing by moving to a level 2 district, with all schools except the middle school now rated as level 1 schools. From the more local perspective we were able to get a budget passed during the first round of annual town meetings and have moved forward on several fronts to gather information on how the district can meet future needs. As always, our staff focused on our students in many areas, including academics, athletics, the arts, social wellbeing and physical wellbeing and these efforts continue to pay dividends. On the facilities side, our staff have done a great job of maintaining and improving the buildings and were able to bring the new well on line and well under the original projected budget. And even with the new constraints around healthy eating, our cafeteria staff continues to provide a wide range of food options for our students and employees. We’re also fortunate to have a variety of volunteers supporting the district in many different ways as well as an educational foundation that continues to support innovative learning projects within the district.
Given this, I believe we have much to look forward to and the capacity to do well in our endeavors whether they are at the local, state, or national level. There will certainly be new challenges but these may also bring new opportunities. Changes in how government operates certainly seem to be in the cards so it will be interesting to see how these changes are managed and watch how the constitutional balance between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches plays out over the next year. The new year is certainly shaping up to be neither boring nor predictable.
My hope for everyone is that you are able to learn from the past year and use this to plan for the future. That as you experience the future you are deliberate in your choices, diligent in your efforts, and fortuitous in the unknown so that the coming year is even better than the last.
