Text Box: Text Box:   4 Text Box:   FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT   The District’s Annual Report is our opportunity to provide information to the citizens of St. Francis about its schools and how the District uses its dollars to support student learning.   When you visit your child’s school, go on a field trip, watch a school play/concert, or receive your child’s report card, you are seeing the impact of your tax dollars at work.  What you cannot see, but what we know is true, is that the better your child is educated and the longer he or she stays in school, the better life will be for your child and for all of society.  Educated people are more productive, live longer, are healthier, earn higher wages and contribute more to their communities.  In fact, a person with only some high school education makes less than half that of a person who graduates from college.  The point is that your tax dollars continue to produce results for our children (and society) long after they have left the St. Francis Public Schools.   Every year, students in grades 4 through 8 and grade 10 are tested to determine if they are considered advanced or proficient, especially in reading and writing.  The United States Department of Education requires us to administer these tests known as the WKCE (Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exam).  The majority of our students continue to score at the proficient or advanced level, but still many others do not.  Our educational goals are clear.  We must close this learning gap and challenge all of our       students to do better.  To accomplish this, we have reduced class sizes in our very early grades,          purchased reading materials that are leveled—written at a variety of reading levels—so all students can develop a love for reading.  We are introducing a special reading program at the High School called, “READ 180,” that has been proven highly successful with struggling readers.  Teachers and administrators worked  together throughout the 2006-2007 school year to clarify exactly what we want students to know and be able to do, the first step to improving student learning.  We will continue this work during the 2007-2008 school year and also improve how we determine if students are learning and what we can do to support them if they are not.   We are challenged to keep our technology equipment up-to-date, a must for our students, so that they have access to new sources of information and so that they develop the skill to use and manipulate   technology for learning.   The St. Francis School Board has agreed to pursue a school referendum next spring.  The Board and a citizens’ group will be reviewing options for the referendum with a focus on improving our High School, as it has outlived its projected life span.  Student learning and health is adversely affected by poor air quality, poor acoustics, obsolete lighting, and insufficient and failing heating/cooling systems.  We look forward to a conversation with you about how we can best improve our High School.   Again, in the 2006-2007 school year, we remained a School District of choice for many families who reside in other communities.  In fact, we are unique because thirty-five percent (35%) of our students do not live in St. Francis.  However, each child who enrolls from another district brings over $6,000 into the St. Francis School District.  Without these students, the District would not have the financial resources to offer comprehensive instructional and extra-curricular programs K-12.   We have much to be proud of, but, as is the nature of public education, we face on-going challenges to educate our children in a time of declining financial support from the state and increased accountability.  The good news is that we are up for the challenge.  With all of us working together, we can do it!