There is much to be excited about this year as we build on the gains we achieved in 2013.
By DANIEL J. WARWICK
SPRINGFIELD - It’s the early weeks of school, and our students and teachers are fully engaged in teaching and learning. As I visited schools on the first day, it seemed as if classes had already been in session for weeks.
I could have heard a pin drop as I walked the hallways of the High School of Science and Technology where all students were in their classes, notebooks open.
At Washington School, a teacher’s voice wafted out of the open windows of her classroom into the parking lot as she gave the first English language arts lesson of the year.
Across the district, students greeted teachers with smiles and tales of summer sleep overs, family trips and community events.
Aug. 25 may have been my 39th school opening with Springfield Public Schools, but the first day of school still brings me as much joy and excitement today as it did when I was a teacher myself.
There is much to be excited about this year as we build on the gains we achieved in 2013.
We are making great strides on the opportunities for continued improvement that we now have available for our dedicated teachers; we are embracing 21st century technology like never before; we have made new pathways to better address the needs of the whole child; and we have brought some of the nation’s best, results-driven curricula into our schools.
We have also invested heavily in the future leadership of our school district. This summer, Springfield Public Schools launched what we entitled “The Springfield Institute.”
The four-week course provided 21 Springfield Public School emerging leaders with intensive coaching and internships. The program is an investment in our next generation of leaders and proved to be very successful. As I spent time with the class during their graduation ceremony, I was impressed by the caliber, diversity and dedication of the institute’s first students.
Across the school district, we are poised and ready for success.
From student growth (last year our students’ academic growth rate outpaced their peers throughout the commonwealth) to the school buildings themselves (we have invested more than $300 million in school building improvements in recent years), Springfield Public Schools is focused on creating a district where proficiency and equity is a commonality shared by all students, in all classrooms, every day.
Though fall is ascending, educators often greet each other with “Happy New Year” around this time of year. I hope that throughout the year you will stay alerted to Springfield Public Schools.
We know there will be successes, and we know there will be challenges. As I said to the more than 4,000 Springfield Public Schools employees during our back-to-school convocation recently, we are all in this together.
“We” extends beyond the school district and into the community. As always, we welcome your support, your views and ideas. We’re already off and running and hope that you will be a champion of public education alongside us this year.
Daniel J. Warwick is superintendent of the Springfield Public Schools; you can learn more about the Springfield Public Schools online at sps.springfield.ma.us.