Superintendent's Report

Superintendent's Report
Posted on 08/15/2022
Superintendent Ty Gray

Parents and Dolores County Residents,

 

Welcome to the 2022-23 School Year! It’s been a quick summer and seems like we were just walking the graduating class of 2022 through the gym. Staff is now returning to the buildings and students will begin school on Wednesday, August 17th this year. 


As we begin the new school year, our goals are to continue to build on the progress we have made in student achievement and academics the last few years. We had 100% retention of our entire staff from last year, and we will welcome two new paraprofessionals to the staff this year. One of the biggest variables to improve is building consistency with the staff and school so there are fewer learning curves for instruction and relationships in the buildings. With our entire instructional and support staff returning this year, we will be able to pick up where we left off last spring. 


Within our buildings, we will continue to focus on the improvements we have made along with implementing a writing program called “Step Up to Writing” so there are consistent writing expectations across the district. All instructional staff have been trained on “Step Up to Writing” this fall and are expected to implement it in all their classes when writing is completed by students at their grade level. 


As the buildings are getting ready for teachers and students, we have been busy at the district level as well. As everyone knows, we have received the BEST grant for 12.6 million dollars to help build a new elementary school, but we must obtain a voter approved bond for 10.3 million dollars for the matching funds for the grant. As we have gathered information and communicated the needs for a new elementary school to our community I would like to clarify that the 12.6 million dollars will only be awarded by the passing of the bond. If the bond fails the 12.6 million dollars will go to another school in the state to complete their project.


Along with preparing for a new elementary school, we have begun working on cleaning up the district property in Rico by removing the old teacherage building behind the school, and the board has been working through the process to sell the district's property in Egnar including the old school building. The process for creating a district strategic plan is also underway. The board has hired a group to help create a strategic plan and they are asking for input from the community. On August 30th there will be a meeting from 1:00 to 3:00 and 6:00 to 8:00 and on August 31st there will be a meeting from 10:00 to 12:00 and 4:00 to 6:00 to gather input for the strategic plan. If you are interested in participating in the strategic plan process you only have to attend one of the meetings listed. If the meeting dates do not work for you, the gentlemen facilitating the process will be set up in the Superette on August 30th from 3:30 to 5:00, and the Sinclair on August 31st from 1:00 to 2:30 if you would like to stop by and visit with them.


We are excited to see all the students return and get the year started. Please stop by the elementary school Wednesday evening from 5:00 to 6:00 for the ice cream social and open house. We look forward to seeing you at the social and are ready for a great year. 


– Superintendent Ty Gray


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