by Dr. Amy Crouse, Loveland City School District Superintendent
The days leading up to end-of-school are always busy and full of excitement, and I’m often asked if I look forward to summer vacation. The truth is, while the work over the summer changes, it doesn’t slow down much; it simply means I’m given a couple months to work with my fellow administrators and staff to make our district even better for our Tigers when they return for the new school year in August.
This summer we will focus on Building Tiger Nation, continuing to refine our options for the most affordable way to fund the facility master plan adopted by the Loveland Board of Education in April. The master plan addresses the needs outlined in the building assessments and includes the enhancements described as priorities by our community through the many meetings and focus groups we’ve held over the past year.
Although we are excited about the plan and moving it forward, it’s critical that we thoroughly vet all funding options as the cost of the master plan will affect our taxpayers. We will use the summer months to be diligent in this work – our commitment is to leave no stone unturned until we create the most advantageous funding structure. To this end, we have added two board meetings in late July so we can still make the ballot filing deadlines set by the Board of Elections for a November vote. The meetings are scheduled for Monday, July 22 at 9:30 a.m. and Friday, July 26 at 9:30 a.m., and will be open to the public.
We will also “deep clean” the buildings after another busy year of activities. As they do every summer, the maintenance staff will be hard at work making repairs and getting our buildings ready for the new school year. While they do an amazing job with the upkeep, our facilities have reached the point where the cost to maintain over the next 10 years will exceed the cost to upgrade and renovate or, in some cases, rebuild. We appreciate the extensive involvement of our community over the past year as we developed a facility master plan that provides solutions for the many issues with our buildings that stand in the way of providing the best possible experience for our Tigers.
On the academic end of our preparations, we will begin to incorporate the themes of the Portrait of a Tiger into our action plans for 2019-20 and beyond. Each school’s improvement plan has been updated and will be implemented to achieve our goals for growth, care and innovation, which are all aligned with the Portrait. Regarding the education at Loveland, all decisions will be focused on how to ensure that every Tiger has the experiences identified as essential by more than 800 students, staff, parents and other community members in the process of creating the Portrait of a Tiger.
Last, but certainly not least, teachers and staff will continue to improve their craft by taking classes, participating and leading book studies, and attending and presenting at professional workshops throughout the summer. Our administrative team will complete a long list of interviews with the intention to hire only the best new teachers and staff to serve our students. We look forward to fresh perspectives that align with our mission and contribute to the work we do every day.
I will greatly miss the students over the summer, but welcome the opportunity to take a step back, reflect and plan to bring them even better experiences in the fall. I wish you all a safe summer, making many happy memories.
In service to our Tigers,
Dr. Amy Crouse, Loveland City School District Superintendent
