By Josh Meyer Superintendent USD 350 St. John – Hudson
Special to the News
Thank you to the many parents and patrons and staff members that recently filled out a survey about school district improvement. This is part of our efforts to gather information for school district improvement and for accreditation with the state. This is our final year of our accreditation cycle and we will be submitting our information to the state next semester.
There are some recent and upcoming changes in school district personnel. Lisa Cornwell is transitioning into retirement. She will be working part time as our career and technical education coordinator and grants facilitator. She will also be working closely with our new school nurse to ensure a smooth transition. Krystal Burton has been hired in the combined position of nurse and elementary secretary. She will be spending part of her time in the elementary office and some time in the nurse’s office. Mandy Sanders has been hired as the board treasurer. She will handle those duties along with some payroll, accounts payable, and transportation.
Natalie Clark has been offered an assistant director position with the state department of education in Topeka. We hate to lose her expertise, but she will be a valuable connection for us in Topeka and I know she will do well in that role. Hannah Sallee will be moving over to the business classroom in January. Tabra Ward has been hired to fill the family and consumer sciences teaching position. She is working to obtain her FACS teaching endorsement through Pitt State. Change is never easy, but I feel good about the people we have in place in these positions.
We have been working to get an operating daycare on the school campus for a while now. The holdup has been the licensing process with the state. There has been some movement on that and we anticipated that Nikki Adams will be able to open her daycare in that building at the beginning of January. If you need more information about the daycare, you can contact her at littleblessingsdaycare2022@ gmail.com.
You may be aware that the county childcare committee and Stafford County EcoDevo have purchased a modular unit that will house two daycares. When this is completed, there will be 3 different childcare facilities operating within a block of the school. This will be a welcome addition of a much needed resource for our community.
Last month, I wrote about our facility assessment committee. The committee includes school staff and a group of parents and community members. We recently had our first committee meeting. This group is taking a deep dive into the current state of our school facilities and assessing the needs and challenges that exist. They took a long tour at the meeting and got a first-hand look at everything. The group will be meeting again this month and a few times after the holiday. At some point, the committee will issue a report with recommendations for the board to consider. I am grateful for these committee members for taking time to come up with a long-term plan for our school facilities and the future of our school district.
As the year draws to an end, many of you are considering charitable donations. You might also consider the USD 350 Educational Foundation for any charitable giving. The Foundation is a non-profit organization that provides an avenue for patrons, businesses, and organizations to financially support the mission of St. John-Hudson schools.
Our Foundation really captures the giving spirit of this great community. The Foundation accepts donations to support student scholarships, library funding, and various student and school programs. Donations can be given for a particular purpose or to be used at the discretion of the Foundation board to support our schools. Information about the Foundation can be found on out school district’s website.
On behalf of the USD 350 school family, I want to wish you all a happy holiday season and a very Merry Christmas. As always, if you’d like to visit about any of these topics or have other questions or concerns, I can be reached at 620-5493564 or meyerj@usd350. com. I am proud to be a Tiger and proud to serve USD 350 with Purpose, Passion, and Pride.
