We hope you’re enjoying the summer following another great school year, which officially closed with our Class of 2024 Graduation Ceremony.

Families and friends packed the bleachers June 28 at Colgate University to help us celebrate the amazing accomplishments of our Class of 2024, which graduated together on a picture-perfect summer evening. We were particularly impressed by the inspirational speeches delivered by Valedictorian Dominic Fowlston and co-Salutatorians Haleigh Fisher and Adam Paliana, as well as the 30-plus graduates who earned scholarships totaling $145,450 this year.

The “Last Marauders” are to be commended for their resilience and perseverance, completing their high school journeys in a year of big changes. Our recent graduates, as well as underclassmen, were instrumental in selecting the new SECSD nickname, Timberwolves, to help us comply with state regulations. They also endured the beginning of a major Capital Project designed to enhance our facilities, becoming the first SEHS class to graduate at Colgate as renovations to our stadium – the traditional graduation site – started in early June.

We thank Colgate University – truly a terrific neighbor – for graciously hosting our final event of the 2023-2024 school year. Special thanks to Colgate’s Cody Tipton, Director of Conference Services, Summer Programs and Auxiliary Support; Jamie-Lee Broedel, Assistant Director of Conference Services, Summer Programs and Auxiliary Support; Mark Hine, Director, Classrooms, Media and Events; and the SECSD Facilities Team for helping us bring it all together.

Speaking of our Capital Project, we are in Phase II now, and stadium renovations are in full swing. Phase II will include work on the MS/HS Auditorium in the fall and continue through next summer with enhancements and improvements all over campus. If you want to keep track of the Capital Project, we’ll be posting monthly updates provided by the Construction Management Team on our website as soon as they become available. Rest assured that, outside of areas under construction, students, faculty and staff will have normal access to the majority of our facilities during the Capital Project.

There always will be challenges and struggles along the way, of course, but that’s where we find value in our efforts to make SECSD the best it can be for everyone. The same can be said for our Every Day Counts campaign, which has helped cut chronic absenteeism at S-E Elementary School from 32 percent to 18 percent. Massive credit goes to our administrators, faculty and staff here, and we’ll continue to work together to lower that percentage even more. With the help of SECSD parents and guardians, a realistic goal of lowering our chronic absenteeism rate to 10 to 15 percent district-wide is within reach.

Please be sure to visit our website and social-media pages (Facebook and Twitter) to stay up to date on SECSD news, including the July 29 Board of Education work session regarding our student cell phone policy for the 2024-2025 school year. Faculty and staff will return to campus September 3, and school will start back up for students September 5. In the meantime, have an awesome summer!

 

Superintendent of Schools

Sherburne-Earlville CSD