Community Pulse: Future is bright for Coal City schools

I am excited and honored to be taking over as the Superintendent of Coal City Community Unit School District 1. In 1998, my wife and I moved to Coal City and I began my career teaching physical education and driver education at Coal City High School as well as coaching basketball and track. I then moved on to be the Dean of Students between Coal City High School and Coal City Middle School. Next, I was the Principal of Coal City Early Childhood Center and Coal City Elementary School. After my experience at the elementary levels, I moved back to the High School as an associate principal and then the eventual High School Principal. During this time, my wife and I had our two children, they both went through the District 1 school system and graduated as Coalers! This leads into the 2022-23 school year, where I just took over the superintendency after the retirement of Dr. Kent A. Bugg.

Throughout my 24 years in the district, the Board of Education has allowed me to gain experience in almost all of our buildings. This experience has provided me the opportunity to meet many of the stakeholders of the district, which include the amazing administration, faculty, staff, families, supportive community and most importantly the students. I am looking forward to working with all of these groups to make District 1 the best it can be.

The start of school is quickly approaching and that means finalizing plans to get the schools, staff and students ready. To help prepare for the future of the district, the Board of Education will be hosting a Strategic Planning Meeting on July 13 to assist in the development of its future goals. We have invited nearly 70 stakeholders to participate. The group will be diverse and includes faculty, staff, students, parents and community members. The district secured Lori Grant from the Illinois Association of School Boards to facilitate this meeting. We are excited to work with Mrs. Grant and the district stakeholders to create a new strategic plan that aligns with our mission statement “to prepare today’s learners for tomorrow’s challenges.”

To prepare for the start of the 2022-23 school year, many of our teachers spent the first few weeks of summer with the department leaders and curriculum director to update curriculum and create or improve common local assessments for our students. Teachers tallied more than 800 hours in those first few weeks of the summer to improve teaching and learning. We appreciate those that came in and dedicated their free time to this important process. This collaboration is a valuable part of what we do in the summer to prepare and improve each school year.