Dear Lansing School District Community,
I hope that this newsletter finds you well. As always, it is a pleasure to be writing to you all.
This week we saw some cold and bad weather, but we kept school open, as did East Lansing, Okemos, Waverly, Haslett, Holt, and others. As we have discussed numerous times, we try very hard to work with our neighboring districts. This week was a great example of the larger, more urban districts staying open and the smaller, more rural districts closing. I was personally on the roads at 4:30 am, driving around checking the safety of the streets, as were our facilities and maintenance teams. By 5:00 am, the local superintendents were all texting each other discussing conditions and we came together with a plan. Hopefully, you were all safe and sound, warm and dry in those early hours of the morning. And please know, as we have said before, if you, as a family, feel that it is not in your child's best interest to attend school because of inclement weather, it is certainly your prerogative to keep your student home. However, if you do feel comfortable sending your scholar to school, we will welcome them with open arms and smiles. There is no exact science to these decisions, but with 10,000 students relying on us for education, two meals a day, heat, and love, we will always lean toward staying open if we can. I hope you all understand where we are coming from.
As you all know, this is the last week of school until the Winter Break. We will have one more newsletter on December 22nd and then take the next two weeks off from writing, with our next newsletter coming out on January 12th, 2025. I hope all of you can take a break and relax. Two weeks will hopefully afford you all significant time to be with friends and family and some time to yourself, too. Self-care and some reflection time are always a good thing so that when the new year comes, and school opens up again, you are ready to take on the world.
As part of that self-reflection time, during these two weeks off, I really do urge all of us to think critically about this first half of the school year. Ask yourself: what worked, what didn't, what positive things are you seeing, and what needs work? In order for us to be the best district possible, we need to constantly ideate around how to get better. There have been many wonderful, positive changes in these three and a half years since I arrived. But that change meant that some folks who had been comfortable are now a bit less comfortable. Some folks who were less comfortable have now found their place of positive action. With change comes unease and discomfort, but if we want to get better, we can't continue to do the same things over and over again.
Thus, I ask you all that you ask yourself honestly: what structures or systems, actions, or activities have been long-standing in our district that have not led toward the desired outcomes? For instance, we brought in a brand-new ELA curriculum this year. This made sense. Our previous years of teaching the old curriculum did not lead to student success. Yes, there were wonderful teachers in our district and pockets of success toward proficiency, but as a district, in aggregate, our performance was poor. Thus, bringing in a new, high-level, high-standard curriculum made sense. Did it cause folks who were used to the old way of doing things some consternation? Of course. But as long as we understand this is a much-needed process, we can hopefully jump in with both feet. We are going to be doing the same thing with math next year.
But please understand that if folks ask why we need to change or why we are disrupting what has always been done, the answer is simple: what has been done before did not lead to excellence throughout the district. We can't be okay with mediocrity. Our students, our staff, and our community deserve better.
So, what area of the district can you help bring to excellence? Is it in the classroom, getting more students to grade level and above grade level? Is it on the basketball court bringing our students to a state championship? Is it in the auditorium performing a stellar production to a packed house? Is it in the cafeteria where we hold a vibrant PTA meeting? What is the specific outcome you want to hold yourself accountable for in the new year?
Feel free to let me know. I would love to hear your ideas. I will happily create a huge list of all the amazing goals that you sent me for our district. Please feel free to create goals that aren't just about test scores; they must be outcome-based. I can promise that if you send me a goal that is reasonable and student-centered, I will (if you want) highlight it in a coming newsletter, and then when (not if) you hit the goal, I will write about it again, highlighting the work that got us to the goal. We are doing some incredible work in this district, and so many of you deserve credit. I can't wait to see your goals for the new year and for us all to meet them.
Thank you so much for all of your incredible support of our district. Together, we will do great things for the children of Lansing.
Benjamin Shuldiner, Superintendent
Lansing School District
