It’s hard to believe we are already half of the way through the first quarter of the school year.

It seems like yesterday was the first day of school. I would like to thank all of our staff who contributed in making the start of the school year an excellent one. We kicked off the school year with two awesome guest speakers: Ohio Department of Education Superintendent Paolo DeMaria and Hall of Fame Cincinnati Bengal Anthony Munoz.

Mr. DeMaria visited our district to recognize the staff for their hard work to raise test scores and implement innovative practices in their classrooms. He fired up the teachers and encouraged them to challenge their students and strive for continuous improvement. Mr. Munoz’s speech highlighted the teachers who influenced him as a young man and challenged him to become a better student and person. Both of the speeches were live-streamed via Facebook.

On Aug. 20, our students came back to school ready to learn. We would like to thank all the parents and families who submitted pictures to our Facebook page of their child’s first day of school — you still can view some of the great photos by going to our Facebook page.

With the new school year brings new exciting challenges and opportunities. On Aug. 23, we held our first Visioning Committee meeting comprised of 73 business owners, parents, teachers, administrators, and staff. The committee was asked to identify the top three shifts they would like to see in teaching and learning in Xenia and they indicated they would like to see instruction and learning that is tailored to individuals’ unique needs and interests, students having a more active role in their learning, and learning that is focused on applying academic concepts to real-world scenarios.

The conversation will continue at the committee’s next meeting Thursday, Sept. 27 at the Xenia Community Schools Central Office.

As always, if you have questions, concerns, or just want to chat, please send me an email, or stop me while I’m out and about.