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Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2022 – I hope this year is full of joy for all of you. Even if we may not know exactly what’s around the corner, I know that I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Being back home and experiencing the holidays in my childhood town has been so heartwarming.  Just the other day, one of my youth hockey coaches came up to me during lunch and said, “Remember me?” Well, of course, I did. It was great to catch up, and it reminded me all the more of what a special opportunity it is to serve our community and students. Whatever this next year may hold, we here at Austin Public Schools hope to help our students have the same chance to grow and learn here in Austin, just as I did.

New beginnings are always a popular topic for the first newsletter of the year, and this one is no different. I want to give you all a heads up on where we are with our strategic plan and look ahead to how our students will experience their education here at Austin Public Schools.

Strategic Plan Development & Graduate Outcomes

We’ve officially completed our community survey, and the district and school teams are now meeting to take a deeper dive into the data. As you may know, the community survey gave us a broad look at where we’re at as a district. Over the next month, the district and school teams will begin a deeper investigation into the data that will inform our next moves as a district.

A big part of our strategic plan is determining how our students will experience their education. From the first day of early childhood family education to the day they get their diploma, our students should be developing their strengths and seeing how it will apply beyond their education here. In the coming months, we’ll focus on developing strong career pathways and a clear vision for students who enter our system.

Creating a new and better plan for excellence in our school system won’t happen overnight, but I know the progress we’ll see this year will be tremendous! A big part of this, too, is thinking about our daily desired experience — not only for students but also for our teachers, staff, and parents. Day to day, and week to week, what do our employees want to experience in our district? How can we better serve our students’ parents?

I’m very happy to be on this journey with all of you, and I wish you all a wonderful 2022!