Superintendent's Message for March 2021

March has arrived at #twolvesterritory!  We have made it through a year of the coronavirus and we are still standing!  We have been knocked down, but we have found a way to persevere and we keep moving forward.  Our kids have been learning in our classrooms since August.  As we flip the calendar for the home stretch, we will begin to get back to the new normal for our students.  What is the new normal?  No one really knows what that means, but we want to pave the way for others because we are leaders here at Southwest Valley Schools.  We want the very best for our kids!

As the temperature begins to rise, the snow cover melts away, and outdoor activities increase students and staff are motivated to finish the year strong.  We are excited to host all of our concerts, musicals, prom, and graduation in person and hopefully with unlimited capacities.  Does this mean facemasks? I am not going to commit any more than saying we are looking at our data daily and we will make a decision at the end of March.  Either way, we are going to have normal activities, sports, and field trips.  We will open our schools to guests to attend assemblies and events for our kids.

The spring sports schedule is about to begin and we have many student-athletes ready to take to the tennis court, track, and golf course.  I am always extremely proud of our district and our student participation in sports, fine arts, and our clubs.  Over 70% of our kids are in activities!  

Springtime means state testing.  We will be administering the testing in April so we will have fresh data.  The Iowa assessments give teachers and administration a clear and accurate assessment of student learning outcomes.  Student growth, proficiency, and readiness indicators are reported.  This year will have new data and may show some deficiencies because our students were out of school last spring.

Southwest Valley is striving to be the Destination District and we are always looking for ways to improve.  In April, we will be sending out a short survey to our patrons to help us improve ourselves for our students.  When this survey is released, please take the time to complete it and let us know how we can improve our delivery of education at Southwest Valley.

Have a great month!  Go Timberwolves!