As I complete my first year serving this amazing community and its children, I am so thankful for the many relationships I've built and experiences I've had. Cascade is truly a unique and special place.

 

We are already looking forward to next year and new opportunities for our students! We will be offering AP courses in English, Social Studies, Science, and Math. We have Mrs. Hardy teaching a Dual Credit Art class, and Ms. Corrigan, our new Agriculture teacher, offering Dual Credit Welding. There are also online Dual Credit classes offered.

 

I admit I was curious when we made "Every student will complete every assignment at a 70% or better" a policy. It seemed too good to be true. After holding to that policy over the course of the year, and especially through the pandemic, I am a true believer. We had 8,470 assignments that were below standard or completely missing. Thanks to teachers, support staff, parents, and administration giving students extra support, these assignments were completed to expectations. We realize this level of commitment requires extra work from staff members, and I'm grateful they care enough about their students succeeding to put forth that extra effort.

 

Thanks to this policy, we do not have any students needing to repeat classes. Other districts are having discussions about cutting electives to accommodate all the students needing credit recovery options. We are brainstorming ideas on how to bring our students even more enrichment options. Cascade Public Schools may be small, but we are mighty, and we care about our students learning and succeeding.

 

As with any year, there are bound to be some staffing changes. We wish Mr. Mercer congratulations on his retirement, and Mr. Fredrickson, Mr. Tait, Mr. Tilleman, Mrs. Workman, and Mr. Wright well on their next adventures. We have been busy interviewing applicants for the open positions the last few weeks, and I am very excited for the knowledge and enthusiasm our new hires will bring to Cascade Public Schools. 

 

If you have not attended the last few board meetings, we discussed how we are Targeted in the High School based on our data from the 2018-2019 school year, meaning we are in the bottom 5%. This is unacceptable and we are taking steps to better support and challenge our students. We recommended the board hire the best candidate to propel our students' educations forward. Please keep on the lookout for Staff Spotlights in the coming months to learn more about our new teachers.

 

I hope to see everyone during the summer and look forward to the next school year starting. 

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