Columbus School District
Website: https://www.columbus.k12.wi.us/
Location: 200 West School Street, Columbus, WI, USA
Phone: (920) 623-5950
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ColumbusWisconsin/
Message From The Superintendent
This past winter break, I met up with a long-time friend for our annual breakfast and chat. It is the type of friendship that even if a year passes between interactions, the conversation picks right up where it left off. For the majority of the conversation, it was the typical light-hearted dialogue. About a half of an hour into the conversation, it took more of a serious tone. My friend indicated that he was set on making a career change. This came as a surprise to me due to his established career, growing family, personality, and age.
As I was driving home, I started to reflect. The first thought that came to mind was the respect that I had for his family to make the change. Courage and support (especially a very supportive wife) was necessary with this type of risk. My thoughts started to change more towards my family. For those of you that might not know, I have two stepdaughters. One is a junior in high school who is going through the college application and “what do I want to do for a job when I grow up" stage. I realized that I had two people at very different places in life going through a similar process.
A couple of days later, I randomly came across a graphic (attached above) that I hadn’t seen in years. It was a graphic that I used with high school students who were going through some of the same intersections as my stepdaughter and friend. Note: Most people credit Marc Winn for developing the graphic based on an ancient Japanese concept called Ikigai. The main point is that there is no “right or wrong” place to be on the graphic; however, the center (Ikigai) is where there is the most balance with purpose.
I could imagine that as a reader you might be thinking, “Flood, where are you going with this and how does it relate to the Columbus School District?” That is where my thinking continued. What can I learn from this as an educator? What does this mean for our students, staff, and families in Columbus?
I settled on the fact that change is inevitable. We live in an era where individuals are more likely to change careers or test major life changes than generations of the past. As a district, we strive to prepare our students to be thoughtful and purposeful decision-makers in this evolving world. In the buildings of CSD, we encourage our students to try new ideas, model strong decision making practices, and explore what they want to do in the future. We aim for that to be the case from the day a student enters the district until they graduate. In order to be an exceptional district, we have to provide students with the opportunity to identify and explore the following components to the graphic:
What do they love
What are they great at
What can they get paid for
What does the world (community) need
What I concluded is that we cannot make the decisions for our students, friends, or stepchild. We also cannot determine which four of the characteristics should be of most importance to any individual. We can provide the tools, knowledge, and opportunities. We know in Columbus that this is through intentional planning and actions by our great staff. Perhaps, it is beneficial to use them with your child(ren), too. Finally, I suggest finding the time to connect with long-time friends. Go Cards!
Mr. Jake Flood
Superintendent
Columbus School District
2023-2024 4K Round Up
The Columbus School District 4K Round Up for 2023-2024 school year will begin with an Open House at all the 4K classrooms in the District on Thursday, February 16th from 5:30-7:00. We have four 4K sites located at:
Columbus Elementary School-200 Fuller Street (room C105)
Columbus Preschool- 213 Farnham St.
Red Bud Day Care 4K- 144 N. Spring St.
St. Jerome’s 4K- 1550 Farnham St. (located in the small
building behind the big school)
The online enrollment form to choose your preferred site will open live at 8:00 am on Monday, February 20th at the following link:
Social Media
Facebook: Columbus Wisconsin School District
Instagram: columbusschoooldistrict
EMERGENCY CLOSINGS
The District Administrator may close the schools, delay the opening of school, or dismiss school early when such alteration in the regular session is required for the protection of the health and safety of students and staff members. The District Administrator shall have the authority to determine which school-related activities may be conducted if the school is closed for a period of time. Staff and students may be alerted by Infinite Campus notifications along with the following media stations: WBEV-1430AM, WMTV-Channel 15, WKOW-Channel 27 AND WISC-Channel 3.