Superintendent's Message for February 2021

February has arrived at Southwest Valley and our second semester of the school year is in full throttle.  Our staff and students have done a fantastic job of adapting to the protocols we have had to put in place to keep everyone safe.  This is what education is all about.  Teaching our students how to adapt to things when adversity happens in their lives.  You always have two choices: to lay there and accept your circumstance or get up, dust yourself off, and continue moving forward.  Without a doubt, Southwest Valley has taken the hit, dusted ourselves off, and started moving forward. 

The last week of January, I listened to state senators say that Iowa public schools are failing and parents need a choice to send their children somewhere they can learn.  I sat in silence and listened to the senator indicate that a private school could potentially be the answer.  However, what others may not understand about private schools is they take who they want.  They are selective.  They do not educate students with disabilities, either an academic disability or a behavior disability.  No, that is up to the public school.  We educate them and deal with their behaviors that sometimes disrupt other kids’ learning.  Public education will accept anyone and do our best to educate all students.   Private schools do not have to report their student’s academic achievement as public schools do, but by all means, let’s send public money to private schools.  I know a lot of the blame was being thrown at Des Moines Public Schools, who have not been back to school in person since the pandemic began and did not allow students to open enroll out during this time.

So how will this impact Southwest Valley in the immediate future?  I do not believe the effect will be significant at first and may not hurt us for a while, but vouchers are a slippery slope and do not belong in public education.  We have one building in the district that is labeled comprehensive, but I am excited to see the test results in May.  In the past three years, we have put leaders in charge of our four buildings, making tremendous improvements through their leadership.  They each have a unique leadership style and are bringing the best out of their staff and students.

Before the pandemic hit and we shut down the school for the year, the district leadership team had met with state and AEA personnel to begin developing our plan to improve our district academically.  The pandemic shelved this discussion, but we did not stop.  Our school leaders meet with their Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) weekly or monthly to discuss how we can improve our delivery of instruction.  I meet with our principals biweekly and we discuss how we can get better in facets of the district.  Our district is not failing our kids or giving up on them in any way.  Our goal every year is to produce positive, productive, lifelong learners.

It is always a great day to be a T-Wolf!