Growing through ‘pivot points’

This, my friends, has been a year! And, to think that school ends this week with graduations soon to follow, I have to look back and reflect on the amazing work of so many of our dedicated employees who made it happen. While the fear and uncertainty of a puzzling …

Rising to the challenge

In light of the prolific challenges we have faced in recent months, I am incredibly proud of our staff and students for being able to make the most of a situation that everyone wants to disappear. While summer planning for schools opening was intense, actually executing the plan was even …

Together, we will get through this

As we sit on the cusp of opening our schools after more than five months of relative closure, I feel confident we have developed an excellent plan that is designed to mitigate risk of spread and provide choices to students and parents. This plan is far from perfect and we …

Challenging times but light ahead

Well, we made it through April and May with mixed results regarding our conversion to remote learning. Despite gargantuan efforts by teachers and administrators to connect with each student, we averaged around 70 percent engagement through fourth quarter. Some of that was due to the manner in which courses were …

Student success reminds us of our mission in 2020

I abhor shopping and I will do almost anything to avoid having to do it. However, it seems that each time I venture out to shop in Lincoln I come home with another heart-warming story from a Lincoln Public Schools student or alum. Just recently I heard from a University …

Proud to be a part of the public education system in America

Following graduation from MacArthur High School in Levittown, N.Y., I accepted an athletic scholarship to Doane College in Crete. (Actually, my father accepted to get me out of New York post-Vietnam.) It was an interesting venture, as my family had never been west of New Jersey. It was an incredibly …

Visiting the past to appreciate the present

A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I attended a wedding in New York.  We always enjoy visiting the place where we both were raised – reminiscing about our childhoods and soaking in the memories. Long Island, New York in the 1960s was a wonderful place to grow up …

LPS believes in developing “whole” child

Football season has arrived and once again I am reminded, I really enjoy the game. In fact, I have always felt athletics offered kids incredible opportunities to experience what it was like to be on a team working toward a common goal – as a participant through my college years, …

A newspaper junkie laments challenges of misinformation

There are days when I feel like I am the last person around who actually reads a physical newspaper – as I lament their ultimate demise with a “what will I do now” reaction.  I grew up reading and believing in newspapers – in fact, I looked forward to my …