Hard to believe it is already September – whatever happened to June, July and August? In the old days those were the top three mythical reasons that some folks went into education, but today educators work straight through the summer months.
And right now we’re already almost four weeks into the new school year.
I just returned from a presentation at the “Pathways To Prosperity” symposium in Lincoln – hosted by the Nebraska Departments of Economic Development, Education and Labor – featuring key Nebraska leaders who presented a thought-provoking vision for how we can regain educational leadership by developing multiple pathways to educational and economic success. I came away motivated by the positive energy from across the state (K-12, higher education, business) and inspired to continue our journey toward a new offering of career and technical education.
I like where our school district is positioned right now with teams from Southeast Community College and Lincoln Public Schools researching and visiting national, contemporary models for vocational technical schools. We intend to have a recommendation shortly after the first of year, and though it would be nice to have something for our students in 2014 – that is probably a bit aggressive.
The new LPS District Office building is looking great. The weather has been a real positive for construction even though it hasn’t been so great for local gardeners. Rather than worry about setting my sprinkler on the right dates, I just shut it off. I know many others did as well.
Meanwhile, once again enrollment is up as we rapidly approach 37,000 students. Our growth is indicative of the progress in the city. Our principals report new families arriving from all over the country as well as from some new places all over the world.
Looking ahead, we continue to work on developing a technology plan for our school district, creating a definition for the most effective 21st century classroom. Finding sustainability for Community Learning Centers continues to be one of our high priorities as I work with the mayor and Lea Ann Johnson (director of Lincoln’s CLCs) to continue making progress.
Finally, if you have a chance, please check out the most recent videos and interviews on our website. Kudos to our communications team for a great start to the 2012-13 school year.
Steve
