September 5, 2023
Dear Blue Ace Families,
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend! I wanted to take this opportunity to say welcome back for the 2023-2024 school year! I trust that our families had a relaxing and rejuvenating summer break, and our students are ready to get back to learning.
I love the anticipation of a new school year…new supplies, new clothes, new friends, new experiences, new learning. All of the start-of-the-year activities build excitement for the school year to come. We are off to a great start in Granville Schools. We have been preparing all summer long with building and renovation projects, curriculum planning, and hiring. When the students arrived, we started developing relationships that will support learning all year long, and our staggered start was a huge help in meeting that goal.
This year, specifically, we have been sharing research and information about the mental well-being of our students and how we can help foster agency and autonomy. Examining what are unhealthy stressors for our students will help shape educational decisions in the future. We hosted a community forum involving two leading experts in the field of student well-being. The event was insightful and inspiring as it empowers Granville Schools to think differently about the path forward. Our partnership with parents is essential to the conversation. I sign off every communication with “your partner in education,” and while it may seem cheesy, it is true. We must partner together in this process to give students the mindsets, skills, and dispositions necessary for life beyond Granville Schools. Student agency and autonomy are pathways to better mental well-being and independence.
And it wouldn’t be a start of the year message without us revisiting our Vision, Mission, and Portrait of a graduate. First, we are Learning for Life. Second, “Graduates of the Granville Exempted Village School District are well-prepared and empowered to be thoughtful, productive, and contributing members of their communities, and are equipped with the critical thinking skills and self-sufficiency necessary for success in our ever-changing world.” And lastly, our Portrait of a Graduate (PoaG) is a composite of our Values combined with what mindsets, skills, and dispositions we want our students to possess after their tenure within our district. Those traits are: empathy, resilience, collaboration, critical-thinking, adaptability. These tenets and characteristics, as always, will continue to be the North Star that guides Granville Exempted Village School District.
Thank you for your continued support!
Your partner in education,
Jeff Brown
Superintendent, Granville Schools