I wanted to take the time to give you a quick update on the superintendent transition and associated activities that have taken place over the last couple of months.
I am extremely grateful to have the opportunity to serve as your superintendent. I am also proud of what our students, administrators, and all our employees have accomplished this past year.
While I have found the position to be stressful at times, I consider myself fortunate to be able to serve and work alongside some amazing people.Perhaps this is why I am so grateful. Everyone has been honest with me in sharing their feelings and beliefs. The people of Oxford know what they want in their community even if they have a hard time explaining or describing it. Along those lines, I have spent some of my time getting to know local community groups. The Oxford Rotary has graciously welcomed me into their club, as has the Community Leaders group. Thank you.
As I am sure you are aware, the last couple of months of transition have presented some challenging issues. And though while no organization is perfect, I hope you feel that we have listened to you, our community, to constantly improve towards providing a world-class education that we aspire to in our vision. Speaking of our vision, some have asked how we are doing with our global initiatives. Let me try to clarify. We are not endeavoring to provide a global education; if so, we would be sending all of our students across the globe and drastically changing our curriculum. We are, however, trying to provide a world-class education whereby our students are selfless leaders prepared to work and compete in a global economy. We want our students to have the skills, knowledge, and experiences that will enable them to attend a college or pursue the career of their choice, wherever that may be. Over the coming year, we will be asking for your continued input to help us refine our strategic statement. Additionally, we will be looking at how we want to define student achievement and determining the metrics for that evaluation. I am confident that you, the Oxford community, will help us with this important work.Said another way, we want and need parent participation, as the level of your students? achievement is dependent upon your direct involvement with their education.
One question that is asked of me fairly often is whether or not there is going to be an international dorm? My honest answer to that question, at this point, is I am not really sure, but it seems unlikely. While many people have shared their concerns and anxieties regarding this facility, in the same breath, I hear that the far majority of people want us to keep pursuing the hosting of international students. Therefore, we will continue to host international students, but it will just look a bit different than the plans that have been laid out thus far. This fall we will have around one hundred international students. We will continue to host students with local families that wish to have this experience. For those students who want a more dorm-like setting to which they are accustomed, Weiming has made arrangements with a facility in Troy. We will continue to search for a partner that can provide lodging and meeting rooms so we can pursue the opportunity to host conferences and camps right here in Oxford.
Individually, I have met with over sixty people including all central office personnel, building and department administrators, as well as community leaders. After hearing from both community members and employees, it was evident that we needed to reorganize ourselves to provide better customer service and work environments for our employees. Accordingly, we have moved many offices around within our administrative building and relocated some staff. We are also changing our websiteso that it will provide for more ease of use, an increase in information, and better communication. This task will take some time, but we are confident it will be worth the effort. Our goal is to make available any and all information that we are legally able to provide. We also needed to make some investments in our bus fleet. I am happy to report that we have already obtained five, 65-passenger buses and an orthopedic bus (one that contains a lift). Maybe more importantly, we are hiring and training some new bus drivers. It is much easier to replace a bus than it is a driver. If anyone knows someone who is looking for a job to serve our students, please have them give me a call. We can always use more great people to join our team.
We have started a new chapter in Oxford Schools? history ? one that builds upon the lessons we have learned in the past and directs us towards the community and educational system that we want to become. It’s a great day to be a Wildcat! Lastly, I would like to thank theOxford Leader for printing this transition update letter for the community. I hope everyone is enjoying their summer! As always, if you have any questions, suggestions, or would like additional details, please feel free to stop in or give us a call.
Go, Wildcats!