Administrator Appreciation
In my last letter I took time to thank a significant number of people specific to our move that took place on May 20 & 21. What I did not talk about in that letter was a discussion regarding the leadership that has taken place in the district in regards to the changes we are, and will be, experiencing. While there has been leadership specific to our teaching staff that has occurred, which I greatly appreciate, my focus here is on our administrative team. The planning for our transition has occurred over many months and has involved some detailed, and at times difficult, conversations. So I want to talk about and to thank our district administrative team for just a bit.
Last December, the USD 417 Board of Education made the decision to close our Dwight school facility. Shortly thereafter, Mrs. Schrader began her planning process for the move and in preparation for the 2015-16 school year. She worked with her custodial crew to have rooms ready for the teachers to move into on May 20. She worked with all staff on coordinating how packing and labeling items to be moved was to be done. In the spring she worked with staff to develop a schedule for the new Prairie Heights Elementary School that will work in a single school facility. She helped to calm fears and to provide a vision for the positives that can come from this change. Even though this was a difficult change for her personally, considering how many years she has been associated with the Dwight school, she has done a wonderful job planning and coordinating the work needed so Prairie Heights Elementary is ready for the 2015-16 school year. I am glad that she will be at the helm of this school as this transition occurs.
As it became clear that the district would need to close down the Council Grove Middle School, I formed a committee to plan a possible schedule for the merging of our 7th & 8th grade needs with our 9th-12th grade needs. Committee members included Mike Estes, Cynthia Schrader, Kelly McDiffett, Heather Honas, Kelly Gentry, Kristen Gant, Jennifer Wilkens, and Angela Harris. This group spent many hours planning schedules for the schools. The administrators from this group spent even more time discussing personnel, coordinating intervention planning, discussing room assignments, and many other items that are pertinent to this type of grade configuration change.
We had many nervous people in our district because of this change. Mr. Estes and Mrs. Honas were a calming influence on our middle school staff at a time when they were not sure where they would be teaching or if they even had a job. The prospect of packing a career’s worth of stuff and moving from one building to another can be daunting. Our leaders, both administrators and teachers, did a wonderful job of keeping perspective and helping each other though the uncertainty.
This same uncertainty could be found in some parts of the high school. More than half the staff at CGHS is moving to a different location in the high school. Coordination and planning were equally important as the end of the school year approached. So too was the easing of concerns for our high school staff. Mr. Maransani and Mr. McDiffett spent many hours reviewing plans for incorporating our 7th and 8th grade students at CGHS. Mr. McDiffett met with those middle school teachers making the move to CGHS, both individually and collectively. While there are still plenty of topics that will need to be resolved at the start of the new school year, this team of administrators and teachers planned for the start of the new year including holding an evening open house for parents and students to come visit the school and for a special ½ day for these students to meet teachers and tour the school prior to the actual school year starting.
Even after this school year was officially over, this team met to discuss issues involved in the operation of school for this age of student. This was a learning experience for Mr. McDiffett, one that Mr. Maransani was already familiar with from his time as a middle school teacher. I am compelled to say that Mr. McDiffett has put in a significant amount of time, effort, and thought making arrangements for this change. This was in addition to what it takes to close out a normal school year. He too has done a marvelous job preparing and guiding staff for this change.
Even with all of this planning and preparation, there will still be issues that we will need to resolve. I have a tremendous amount of faith and confidence in our leadership team knowing that they will work with our teaching staff to find the solutions that are best of our students. For now though I want to tell our public that this group of administrative leaders had an exceptionally busy yet productive spring. I am very proud of the time and effort they have given to make this transition successful. We really do have a strong group of administrative leaders in our district.
One last note, I want to thank Mike and Michelle Estes for all that they have given to our students and our school district. As they transition back to Wyoming, I wish them the very best.