August 13, 2012
Canadian Community Members,
As we look forward to greeting approximately 940 students this coming year, we anticipate that this will be another outstanding year in CISD history. We have hired a number of quality new staff members to add to the existing group of excellent teachers. I encourage you to get to know them and make them feel a part of our community. Our team of teachers is excited about the privilege of working with your children. A great number of our teachers have worked to improve on curriculum and instructional strategies. I hope you can appreciate the countless trainings and workshops that our staff takes part in to provide your children with the best educational experience possible.
Academic achievement remains a top priority for Canadian ISD. We will continue to focus on implementation of technology. It is the world we live in and it is especially the world to which our students relate. Canadian ISD will be introducing IPads to learning on a number of grade levels. We want to prepare our students to be successful for the jobs of tomorrow and give them the skills to be competitive in a highly technical global society. We want to give our students the tools to have ACT/SAT success and facilitate them through college requirements and opportunities. We hope to help them be college and job-force ready. The much more rigorous STAAR test is a major challenge. We will prepare our students in this area to allow them to be successful. We have work to do, but I am confident that our teachers will lead them to success. Finally, we want our children to learn life lessons to prepare them to be productive citizens and gain a sense of ethics with the content they are taught.
One of the biggest factors in the overall success of our students will be our ability to work in partnership with parents and community. We especially want to encourage parents to take an active part in the education of their children. We encourage you to allow your children to show you their work and the things that they are accomplishing. We hope that you feel welcome in our schools. Parents are encouraged to communicate with their child’s teacher. You will have an opportunity to really get to know the school as we offer Open House at all campuses. Please look for notification concerning Open House very soon. Our campuses post a great deal of information on our website at www.canadianisd.net. I encourage you to visit the campus websites periodically for information and announcements. Please remember that you can track your child’s progress through the Parent Portal via the website as well.
It is a difficult time in our state for public education. The 82nd Texas Legislature enacted drastic cuts to Texas schools. Senate Bill 1 cut Canadian ISD some $500,000 in 11-12 and will cut another $300,000 in 12-13. As the 83rd Texas Legislature prepares to meet in January 2013, I hope you’ll encourage our representatives to make education a priority.
I want to remind parents that the school district provides some insurance for students while they are at school and participating in extracurricular activities. This insurance is secondary and is not intended to be primary coverage. Our insurance carrier makes extended 24 hour coverage available at a very reasonable cost to parents. For information on this extended coverage, contact any campus office.
As we move toward the start of another school year, we are planning for great things in 2012-13. We always want to strive to enhance the excellence that we enjoy. We will continue to pursue our vision: Excellence: Every Child, Every Day. Please share with us in supporting our students to do great things. We appreciate the support this community gives to our schools. Our students benefit greatly from the interest you take in their education. When all stakeholders pursue excellence, anything is possible!
Kyle Lynch