By Wally Leipart
MAPS Superintendent
Celebrating our Students: As winter is coming to a close we want to take this opportunity to celebrate the success of our students. Over the past few weeks we have showcased our talented young artists at the high school art show; our students’ musical talents were enjoyed by many at the district solo and ensemble; our winter sports honored the dedication of our senior athletes; and, throughout the district, students have demonstrated their use of iPads through learning activities in Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM).
Jay Stadium Update: With spring in our sights, it’s time to start planning and developing the Jay Stadium renovation. At the Feb. 22 special board meeting, the MAPS Board selected Point of Beginnings (POB) to be the project manager. POB has partnered with Miron Construction to provide construction management services throughout the project and Bray Architects as the architectural firm. Both Miron and Bray are two highly reputable firms that have worked with the District on other projects and throughout our region. Miron Construction is the same firm that is managing the Merrill Aquatic Center.
We are excited to get this project underway and completed by our first home football game on Aug. 26, 2016. Initial construction is scheduled to begin immediately after the last home track and field event. Athletes will still have access to the track facilities leading up to the state track and field tournament. We are confident that the construction timeline will be met. Throughout the construction phases the community will be informed of the progress, our neighboring landowners will be aware of construction schedules, tours will be scheduled, and a timelapse camera will provide a live feed of the project from start to finish. This is truly a community project and we want to celebrate and showcase this facility as a community.
Engaging our Community: Many have heard us talk about becoming a destination district where students are motivated and engaged in the process of learning. As we set our sights on the future, we are interested in hearing from our entire community to develop a shared vision, establish common ground, and develop specific action plans to get us on our way to becoming a destination district. This fall we will conduct a community conversation in which we will develop a road map to a destination district.
A community conversation is a process of actively engaging community members, school board members and district staff to develop a clear, shared vision that will address the evolving needs of our students’ future. While this conversation is focused on our future, we will start by looking at our past and present conditions so that we can establish common ground themes and identify why we are focused on the future of our students. Our desired outcomes include things such as, identifying what our students need in order to be successful in our community and beyond; identifying issues and/or trends that are shaping our community and schools; identifying key indicators to measure the success of the district; and, strengthening our community and school district partnerships.
We are committed to developing the trust necessary to create a culture of high performance and we are confident we can achieve our goals by engaging our community in the process. We believe that you will find this community conversation will include representation from all stakeholders in worthwhile work that will make a difference in the future of our students. While a specific date in the fall is not available at this time, we will provide more information over the upcoming months.
Thank you for being a part of an amazing community that cares about our kids!