From the Superintendent's Desk (8-15-24)

We are building energy! The Freshman Camp 28 was a resounding success, with 3/4 of the class in attendance. The Kinder Camp surpassed our expectations, leading us to add an additional teacher. This is a testament to the enthusiasm and engagement of our students and the support of our parents. Athletics start this week, remember your physical and insurance documents. I am excited to see our students in action and represent our district with intensity and class. While participation in extracurricular activities is a privilege and students must maintain eligibility, it is so important to be a part of something bigger than themselves.

 A reminder:

• Our first day for WES is is the 27th for full classes with "meet the teacher day" on the 26th. 

• Middle School and High School are all in on Monday the 26th.

We will focus heavily on attendance, as we need all our students to be present to learn. Regular attendance is a key factor in academic success and we all have a responsibility to ensure our students are in school. It is not uncommon for a student to miss school when they are sick or have unavoidable appointments. However, in reviewing some of our data, we have a large number of students who will miss the equivalent of an entire school year over the course of their Willamina education due to absences.  This puts students behind and our staff in a catch-up situation that we hope to avoid moving forward.  

We will be putting together many parent education opportunities this year.  We want to help families understand how to support our students as we work collectively to move the needle on our academic success.  I believe we need to have high expectations for all students and hope to expand programming to meet their needs as we move through the year.

I continue to meet with community organizations and share my vision for our future. I am always humbled to be the leader of our community schools and continue to watch and learn as we move closer to the start of our 2024-2025 school year. We have lots of exciting events coming up in the near future!

Great to be a Bulldog!

Mike Gass 

Superintendent