Office of the Superintendent
January 25, 2024
Dear Attica Central School Community,
As we bid farewell to 2023 and turn our attention to what awaits in the new year, I find myself excited about the future of our district. If past is precedent, the hard work, dedication and resilience of our teachers, staff and administrators will continue to propel our district to new heights.
As we look for ways to create an inspiring environment filled with enhanced educational opportunities for our students, it's important we recognize the importance of finding a renewed sense of purpose in all that we do.
With months of winter stretching before us, it's easy to find ourselves burnt out. The persistent darkness and chilly temperatures can take a toll on our mental and physical well-being. Balancing professional responsibilities, family commitments and personal self-care can become a delicate balancing act during these times.
A renewed sense of purpose can serve as a balm to these negative feelings and help lift us up on a day-to-day basis. Purpose can serve as a source of motivation, provide clarity amidst uncertainty and infuse our daily actions with meaning.
It’s also intrinsically linked with the success and fulfillment of our students. By embracing a forward-looking mindset, we can collectively work towards creating an educational environment that nurtures the unique talents of each student.
It’s our job to empower them so they can explore, discover and excel in ways that spark curiosity, foster creativity and nurture a passion for lifelong learning.
In the coming year, I am excited to continue working collaboratively with educators, parents and students to elevate the quality of education we provide. By harnessing the power of purpose, I have no doubt we will continue down the path toward a future where every student is not only academically successful but is also inspired to pursue their passions and dreams.
With the goal of ensuring that path ahead bears at least a few markers, we’ve been focusing our collective efforts on developing a Strategic Plan for our district. Once complete, this plan will serve as a roadmap, outlining our vision, goals, and actions for the coming years.
Over the past few months, we’ve been collecting input through online surveys to gain a better understanding of what members of our community value most about their school district, what they want learning to look like in the future and what needs, preferences and ideas they may have for strengthening district-community ties.
Members of our Strategic Planning Committee, which includes representatives from various stakeholder groups such as students, staff and members of the broader Attica community, will meet for the first time at the end of this month.
It will be the task of the committee to help sort through the tremendous amount of community input our outreach efforts have yielded, distill it and help determine how to incorporate it into the final version of our Strategic Plan.
In addition, I would like to take this opportunity to inform our community that the Attica Central School District will be bringing forth a proposition through the annual Budget Vote requesting your approval to move forward with a 21-million-dollar capital project. The District and its committees have been diligently working to bring forth a capital project that supports ongoing maintenance and safety initiatives while continuing to enhance our instructional programs. I would like to thank the Board of Education and administration for being fiscally responsible to ensure that the District can continue to offer no tax impact projects to our community.
Please continue to visit our district website and social media accounts for more information on the upcoming capital project.
As ever, thank you for your ongoing commitment and dedication to our district. I am genuinely honored to lead such a remarkable group of individuals and I am eager to see the positive transformations we can achieve together in the coming year.
Sincerely,
Dr. Kiel Illg
Superintendent of Schools