The new year is off and running with all the excitement that goes along with a new start. There are some great things happening at Central Public Schools and I want to mention a couple of those to begin the year.
First and most important for our district, we made Adequate Yearly Progress on the MCA II assessments given by the state. This was for all our buildings and the district as a whole. This is no small accomplishment and we are very proud of the fact that our staff, students and parents were able to pull together to achieve this goal. As such, we are off the state’s list of schools under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which is up for reauthorization this year.
The elementary project has progressed nicely and we have battled some weather late in the process, but the inside of the building is complete and ready to go. All the systems inside the building have been revamped and the functionality of those will provide both consistency in the environment and energy savings for the district. The view from inside the building out the windows is certainly a positive change from what the building offered previously. Once all the finishing touches have been put on and around the building, we will have an open house to show off the project.
The new year brings many new faces to the district. Tom Erickson takes over as the high school principal coming to our district from Springfield. New teachers to the district include, Tiffany Benoit – 5th grade, Sarah Berg – Birth to three, Hilary Birdsell – Family and Consumer Sciences, Kristy Cardinal – Elementary Special Education, Katherine Carmine – 5th grade, Hannah Conrad – HS Special Education, Kathy Dvorak – 2nd grade, DeAnn Fink – Elementary Special Education, Stephanie Getty – pre-school, Krysta Hanson – MS Special Education, Alyssa Haugen – Title I/English Language Learners, Rebecca Litzau – Elementary Music, and Lisa Maschino – Early Childhood Special Education. We are very excited to have these new teachers on board and hope you will help us welcome them to our communities.
As I begin my 6th year in the district, I am excited about the improvements and continued success of the schools for which I am charged with operating. There are so many positives about our district that to try and put them all in one week’s article would not be possible. Thanks for your continued support of our district and the outstanding professionals that work with your children.