Dear SAISD Family Member,

It has truly been an exciting and rewarding 12 days on the job serving as your Interim Superintendent of Schools. As we all are aware, COVID-19 has created unprecedented hardships for our students, staff, families, and schools. Our students and staff are now in their third year of not experiencing a normal instructional environment. As we review the data since March 2020, it is evident that more than half of our students are operating a year or more below their grade level. Remote learning, while keeping our students safe from sickness, harmed them in ways seen and unseen, and we are all experiencing its toll. 

This challenge has created an opportunity for us to reflect, refresh and review the ways in which we approach our core aspirations and how we achieve and deliver on our 2025 goals. Our six aspirations: 

• A student-focused culture
• A focus on equity and justice
• Choice and engagement for families
• Strategic, equitable, and excellent operations
• A district that recruits, retains, and develops top talent
• Data-driven decision making to guide our actions

There are many wonderful examples of these aspirations in action, and we’d like to recognize and show our appreciation for the ways in which our educators model them. Our teachers, especially, support our pillars of a student-focused culture and a focus on equity and justice. During this first nine weeks, many of our educators worked extra hard to help us temporarily cover classes. Because of their dedication, our students received an extraordinary education with no interruption to their classroom instruction. We truly appreciate this commitment. 

We would also like to express our sincere appreciation to an additional 25 outstanding teachers who will be transferring to another school within our school district to assist where needed most. Their commitment to a quality education for every child, every classroom, every day, allows 682 more students to now experience exceptional instructional and learning opportunities from a highly qualified, certified teacher. These moves come at a most difficult time for both our students and teachers. They have developed strong, caring relationships and we realize just how difficult a move like this can be. That is why we are committed to assisting these 25 champions throughout the entire move process with a massive emphasis on service and value.

Our teachers serve as excellent role models for our students and invest countless hours of preparing lessons, tutoring, and volunteering for extracurricular events. While providing a positive learning environment, our dedicated teachers also support our students’ social and emotional needs and inspire even the smallest of hearts to grow big and change the world. 

Marion Wright Edelman once stated, “Service is the very purpose of life. It is the rent we pay for being on this planet.” On behalf of our Board of Trustees and the entire SAISD, please join us as we extend our sincere appreciation to these outstanding educators for their positive attitudes, their willingness to make a difference, and their commitment to serve as a “Champion for our Children.” Each day, they serve as a guiding light for all those in need, and we are so proud of their efforts to inspire us to become the school district that we aspire to be.

Have a wonderful day.

"Dr. J"
 
Robert Jaklich, Ed. D.
 
"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."
~Mahatma Gandhi