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September 21, 2014

Good afternoon!

I would like to take a moment and thank our great PTO for organizing a Garage Sale this weekend! These parents took a lot of their own time to organize donations and combine efforts to sell donated items for the benefit of our students.  We are very blessed to have such a great group of parents that are willing to donate their time for our children.

As I am a big believer in self-reflection, I want to take a moment to reflect on our purpose for our students:  I am continually reminded by the actions of the world and how important it is for all of us to work together to better prepare our students for the world that they are going to enter after graduation. This weekend was no exception as I went shopping for my upcoming wedding.  During this shopping experience, I passed many long lines in front of stores that were releasing the new iPhone 6.  These long lines reminded me of my last trip to Cedar Point, where we had to wait for over an hour just to ride our favorite roller coaster, The Top Thrill Dragster. Looking at these lines for the new iPhone and the number of people walking around the mall with their mobile devices in front of their faces, it was a quick reminder of how connected all of us are in our world. Not just in Mount Vernon, but in our world.

It was on December 15, 1994 that the first web browser was released, Netscape 1.0.  It is amazing to think how much things have changed over the last 20 years. Now, I am able to sit in a coffee shop about an hour away from our school and put together this blog for all of you through a Chromebook and Wifi. Pretty amazing...It is very clear that the way we prepared for our careers and our futures is truly not enough for how we need to prepare our students for their future.  Just because you go to a school on Columbus Road in Mount Vernon, Ohio, does not mean that you cannot compete against the rest of the world.  Our students are the best and the brightest and they can and will achieve great success, only if we, as a school and community, support them to do so.  To better illustrate this point, I would like to share a quick video clip with you:

CLICK HERE IF YOU CAN'T SEE THE VIDEO

Truly, we need to be intentional at school, at home, and in our community to constantly prepare and focus on preparing our students to be successful in our global economy.  This is what we are aiming to do at Columbia Elementary.

Over the upcoming weeks, you will continue to see us work with our students to get a solid baseline of where their needs are for this school year.  Our students in grades 3-5, recently took a Benchmark Study Island Test in Reading and Math.  Where as our students in Kindergarten through Third Grade will be taking a MAP Benchmark Test in Reading and Math over the next couple of weeks.  Kindergarten has also been involved in a very involved Kindergarten Readiness Test since the beginning of the school year.  These tests give us a solid data point to better address the needs of our students. Our goal is to serve the educational needs of each student.

We will continue to strive for excellence at Columbia Elementary!

Go Tigers!
Matt

Reminder: Picture Day is this coming Friday, September 26th