It is an honor to welcome you back to another school year. Each year, as I look at all that we have accomplished in our schools and as I look forward at what we have planned, I take enormous pride in being a part of this thoughtful, supportive, and growth-minded system of schools. And this year is certainly no exception.

This year opens with a significant focus on the health and safety of our students as well as a continued emphasis on high expectations and rigorous learning goals for all.

We begin this school year with new bell schedules and revised bus routes to provide our older adolescents with a more appropriate and healthier schedule that allows them more sleep time in the early mornings. This change has been a long time coming, and while it has involved a great amount of community discussion and ultimately compromises from all, we are excited to finally offer school schedules that come closer to aligning with the biological clocks of most of our children.

While this structural change is an important step in providing healthier schools, please know that we have and will continue to address concerns about student stress levels holistically, by reviewing homework expectations, revising our practice of reporting class rank, providing greater parental controls and supports for district-issued Chromebooks, by maintaining exceptionally positive class sizes, and by increasing opportunities like music instruction within the school day. Most important, however, we will continue to work with our teaching staff on the experiences within our schools and classrooms. Our principals and teachers will continue to work with programs like “Choose Love,” “Look for the Good,” and “Start with Hello” to build a positive and inclusive overall climate and will continue to examine and refine teaching practices to be more responsive to and supportive of social and emotional needs. We continue to expand mindfulness training and encourage teachers to include mindful practices into their teaching, and this year we will continue to focus on providing classroom tasks that engage student interest and encourage student agency in ways that build flexibility and resilience as students learn.

Additionally, please know that this summer saw a number of both efficiency and security upgrades taking place in several of our schools, we will be expanding teacher training requirements and revising protocols around lock downs in our buildings, and we will pilot a new visitor badging and monitoring system at our high school as we continue to find ways to increase safety and security at our schools. We are also proud to announce that this year our Guilford community will be partnering with the Sandy Hook Promise organization to bring greater awareness to safety concerns and to provide an anonymous reporting system to all community members. Police Chief Jeff Hutchinson and I are both very excited to be working together on this project and look forward to a community launch in the fall.

As we begin this new school year together, and as I once again marvel at my good fortune in being a part of this particular community, I want to encourage us all to build on the positive relationships that make Guilford a truly special place. Through working together and respecting each other, we hope to have another productive year and continue to grow this wonderful school system.