Superintendent's Message for October 2022

October has arrived with great fall weather and the dry weather will lead to a productive harvest season.  Please be aware of the farmers as they are making their way down country roads or highways. I have never understood why we need to get by them so quickly; take your time and pass with caution.  Let’s do our part to ensure a big and safe harvest for our local farmers.

We continue to work to achieve our goal to become a destination district for our students and prospective students.  We have retained over 90% of the staff from the 2021-2022 school year.  Our facilities have improved over the past four years with renovations at Enarson elementary school and the middle school.  We demolished the old middle school building and replaced it with a beautiful new greenhouse and maintenance building.  We have painted the agriculture building, installed a new exhaust fan for the classroom, added new concrete on the north side and a Southwest Valley decal on the west side of the building.  We have repaired our roofs and fixed our HVAC at the high school.  We are currently renovating the auditorium with new carpet, lights, sound, and sound panels.  The activity center will have a new boiler and HVAC installed hopefully by the end of the year or this summer, which will include air conditioning for that building.  The activity center gym has had a significant facelift with fresh paint, decals, and a new American flag.

The Corning board will be proposing a bond referendum in March 2023 that will unofficially include: renovating the elementary school, playground equipment, and upgrades to the baseball and softball press boxes and bleachers.  Also, on the list are new fencing around the baseball, softball, and football fields, new lights for the track/football complex, and a bus barn to be located outside the flood zone.  The concession stand, restrooms, and ticket area at the track/ football complex need to be updated to meet ADA compliance.  This is just the facilities.

The academics have improved in the past four years as well.  Enarson elementary was on the Schools in Need of Improvement list when I arrived.  The Villisca board and I worked to put a new fulltime leader in that building.  Enarson elementary is now off the list, with one grade level receiving a 100% score on their state testing!  The middle school is under new leadership and the climate and makeup of the building are very different from when I arrived.  We have so many kids participating in activities and clubs and the academics are improving every year.  The high school took on new leadership four years ago and we placed a School Resource Officer (SRO) in our building to help our students feel safe and to also help with student issues.  The SRO position continues to grow by helping the district with emergency planning and scheduling guest speakers to communicate to our students on various topics.  The academics have improved drastically in our high school. Corning Elementary took on a new leader the same year I arrived at SWV.  I have enjoyed watching the culture change as well as great improvements academically at Corning elementary.

We continue to reach out to you to help support our clubs in their mission to support Timberwolf activities.  The Athletic Booster Club has very few members, but they have continued to be great supporters and operate the concession stand at football games and track meets.  They have provided so much support financially for Timberwolves' activities.  If you could donate some time to attend a monthly meeting, it would help our school programs so much!  Our Music Boosters help our Fine Arts and they also need new members.  Please consider taking the time to become a member.

Moving forward, we are constantly trying to improve our programming and the quality of education for our students. Our biggest challenge is retaining our current staff and not losing staff to other districts.  This is why it is so important to continue to support the school projects and understand that we are in a battle with all area schools to keep our students and staff.  The younger teachers and families are drawn to districts with excellent facilities.  We have two great supporting communities that I know will battle with us to keep our students and staff moving forward.  If you want to become more involved in the school community, please contact the school.  We will let you know where we need the most help to continue building toward a destination district.