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Dear Parents & Caregivers,

Welcome back from a well-timed spring break!  With the return of students and staff, there will be nine weeks of classes before the summer recess is upon us.  As I have done in my weekly Sunday afternoon messages, I encourage students to demonstrate regular attendance and fully engage in their daily learning.  The last quarter of the school year is always a hectic time, with spring sports soon to be in full swing,  including several culminating activities for classes and clubs.  The pinnacle activity is graduation, and this year’s end will be no exception!

McCLYMAN RETIRES FROM SCHOOL BOARD 

Monday, April 8, 2024, will officially be Bob McClyman’s final board meeting.  He has faithfully served as a board member for over 40 years and has been a part of some historical projects in the district, with two such projects serving as bookends to his long-tenured service.  He claims to have cast the motion to take another run at the Spring Hill referendum a little over 30 years ago, and he continued to serve the board with the 2018 capital referendum to construct a new WDHS.  On behalf of the past and present board members, the district thanks Bob for his decades of service to the School District of Wisconsin Dells.  

SURVEY TO GAIN FEEDBACK

Last month, I shared information on a community survey that is coming out in early April.  In the next week, the district will send all district residents a survey to gain feedback on finalizing a plan to update school facilities and to gather feedback to help guide them on what to do next.  The survey will seek feedback regarding remodeling at Spring Hill Elementary, Wisconsin Dells Middle School, and the retirement of Lake Delton Elementary with a potential PK-1 school.  This carefully chosen plan would allow for equitable educational services and see students attend school with their grade-level peers from four-year-old kindergarten through their senior year.

To further provide some background information, PRA has presented on two occasions over the past year.  As the master planning process evolved, the prospect of a PK-1 school quickly became the most affordable option.  Additionally, we have communicated with districts that have taken the route of developing a sequence of schools that equitably serve all students within their grade level cohorts, and the consensus of these districts is that they feel they are providing the best education possible and doing so in the most efficient manner.  As such, the summary of the master plan would create a new PK-1 school, see Spring Hill Elementary shifting to serve students in grades 2-5, the middle school would continue to serve students in grades 6-8, and the high school continuing to serve students grades 9-12.  Please see the master planning slides they recently presented at the Monday, February 12, 2024, board meeting by clicking on the following Link.

Lastly, the survey will also assess support for early childhood education planning to determine whether offering four full days of 4K (pre-kindergarten) would be supported.  Currently, the district offers two full days a week, but since the pandemic, the district has seen students come to school with far greater school readiness needs.

FORTHCOMING REVISED STRATEGIC PLAN

Recently, the district leadership team, along with board members, came together to develop a third version of the district's strategic plan.  This plan will be presented at the April 22, 2024, school board meeting with the intent to have this updated plan help guide the district for the next five years.  The district renewed its commitment to strategic planning in 2016 and again in March 2020, right before the pandemic impacted our schools and the world.  The forthcoming plan will see the consolidation of belief statements and a much more robust focus on Continuous Performance Report (CPR) cards.  The use of the CPR cards will further allow the district to focus on short and long-term goals for the district.  Before publicly presenting the plan, team members are fine-tuning the CPR cards.  Since committing to strategic planning, the district has become much more adept at staying on course to achieving annual and long-term goals as the plan serves as the north star aiming point always on the horizon.  

Finally, let me close out this newsletter article by saying thank you for the opportunity to serve our community’s children, for it is both our highest priority and privilege to do so!

Respectfully submitted,

Terrance R. Slack

Terrance Slack