Greetings Thompson School District Students, Parents, Staff and Community Members:
December marks the halfway point of the school year in Thompson School District, and there is much to celebrate and highlight. I would like to focus on a number of key areas that we are actively engaged in to support the work of our great District and the students who attend our schools.
Last month, the community generously supported the passage of a bond and a mill initiative that will provide critical resources to support our building infrastructure and growth, safety and security, technology, curriculum needs and a commitment to attracting and retaining best-in-class employees. As we head into 2019, you will see your tax dollars immediately at work to support these priorities. We will also be utilizing our citizen oversight and audit committees in order to provide transparency around our bond and mill dollars. Thank you again for your tremendous support and trust in the Thompson School District.
We continue to work on our Strategic Plan initiative by actively engaging all stakeholders within our school and District communities. As I have shared, at the core and heart of any organization is its mission, vision and Strategic Plan. These necessary components provide a direction and a compass as well as a “True North” for what we aspire to be and what we hope to achieve. This year, Thompson School District has embarked on this journey to bring into focus our future direction and vision with the ultimate goal of developing and then deploying our new Strategic Plan. By June 2019, we plan to deliver a Strategic Plan for the Board of Education to consider. We then hope to deploy this new Strategic Plan for the start of the 2020-2021 school year. It is not too late to get involved and lend your voice to this development process.
Our next community forum will be held this coming Monday, December 10, at 6 p.m. at the district administrative building, located at 800 S. Taft Avenue in Loveland.
At this follow-up meeting, we will discuss and determine the tools and opportunities that are needed to ensure that our students are graduating with the preferred traits and skills that have been identified by our community.
Starting with the graduating class of 2021 (our current 10th graders), students are required to meet enhanced graduation requirements as set forth by the Colorado Department of Education. Chief among these enhanced requirements is a student demonstrated competency in literacy and mathematics. While we have the substantial requirements currently in place for TSD, we are working to finalize and systematize these requirements across all five of our high schools to build in consistency and uniformity for all students – no matter which school one attends. We will provide information to our parents and students this spring regarding our final plan in a clear, well-defined process.
Student achievement is a central and core commitment within Thompson School District. As we head into the second half of the school year, we will be finalizing and seeking Board of Education approval around a unified, systematized and coordinated middle school mathematics program. We will also be looking at our literacy program at the elementary level to ensure that we have consistency and fidelity across the District. In addition, we are proud to announce that we are in the exploration phase of considering a new Early Childhood Center as well as an expanded and enhanced Career and Technical Education (CTE) program. Both of these initiatives will capitalize on the work we are already doing around early childhood and CTE. We recognize that successful student achievement is rooted in early childhood experiences as well as multiple pathways for students to explore later in their academic careers.
As we head into winter vacation and this holiday season, I again extend a warm thank you and sense of appreciation for your support of Thompson School District. Enjoy the winter break and have a happy new year – I look forward to an equally successful and prosperous 2019.
Dr. Marc Schaffer
Superintendent of Schools
Thompson School District