Continuing a long tradition of success

Dear Parents/Guardians:

It is a pleasure to welcome you back to a new school year. The district had a busy summer cleaning buildings, refurbishing equipment, ordering materials and supplies, and hiring staff to get ready for a new year of learning, accomplishment, tradition and fun.

You will see some changes as you walk through the halls of the various buildings and look into the classrooms. The availability of technology, including SMART Boards, has increased and will continue to grow throughout the school year. New instructional initiatives will be in place in many areas, including career academies at the high school with a focus on engineering, business, or medicine, as well as a continued K-12 math articulation that will allow formal communication across grade levels. A new student management system, eSchool, will help facilitate better access to student data, including academic analysis by teachers.  There will even be a few new faces to get to know this year with staff positions that have been filled, and you can learn a little more about them from their profiles that will follow in The Baldwin Beat. Please also visit the district website regularly at www.baldwinschools.org throughout the school year for information on our schools and programs. In the case of inclement weather or district- or school-related concerns, we will once again communicate with you quickly through the automated messaging system, ConnectED. Be sure that all your contact information is up to date in the main office of your child’s school, including e-mail addresses and cell phone numbers.

Baldwin students have had a long tradition of success. Our goal is to provide a multitude of opportunities and avenues to continue that tradition. By working together we can build upon those past successes and create the new opportunities necessary to ensure the achievement of our children.

Mapes is superintendent of schools at the Baldwin School District.