Message from the Superintendent
Changing Times
Change
has become the buzzword as this fall approaches and each
major
political party proclaims that it can bring more or better changes
to
Washington. This fall also brings major change to the Midland Park
School
District. Three men - Superintendent August DePreker, Business
Administrator
Louis Roer, and Director of Special Services Jim Newman
-
who worked together in the Midland Park schools for over 20 years in
one capacity or another, have moved on to new
challenges or well-earned
retirements.
As
the "new" superintendent - a term that lifts the heart of this 23-year
veteran
superintendent - I want to offer my very best wishes to each
of
these gentlemen. Their collective efforts have effectively set the
stage
for my entry on the Midland Park school scene.
Almost
every change brings with it a degree of discomfort, but also elements
of
excitement. I know that I am excited about the possibilities ahead. I have
been
most pleased with the responsiveness of the professional staff—teachers
and
administrators alike—to the initial set of educational initiatives that I have
introduced.
As the year gets underway, you will learn details of such diverse
new
learning activities as a sixth grade science symposium, a school speech
contest
for pupils in grades 5 to 8, a family fine arts night for grades 3 to 6,
a Super Scrabble Square Off for MPHS students,
and the short-term
placement
of student teachers - from a university in Lyon, France. Every activity
was
selected because it was high in quality and strikingly low in cost
(or
even cost free). The list will grow as the year progresses.
Additionally
I have already been working with the Board of Education on
some
small and larger ways that the district can tighten its belt in ways which
do
not harm the educational program. I am again feeling fortunate in
working
with a School Board which recognizes the need to be cost-conscious
at
the same time that it seeks ways to advance an important educational agenda.
While
these changes unfold, some things clearly won't, nor shouldn't
change.
From my short time in the district on a daily basis, it is clear
that
the citizens wisely recognize the central role that a school system has
in
a small community. Everyone whom I've met has realized that the
schools
are the key to the two values most important for any
community—providing
the base for the future of its young people
and
protecting the value of all residents' property. It is well established
that
property values go up when educational quality goes up. Working
together,
we can make both things become even truer in Midland Park,
while
still controlling annual costs. We can make it a change for the better.
Finally,
a fast thank you - to the support staff around the district, especially
Anne Schaper, for adjusting to me and my
style, and to the many citizens
who have extended words of welcome over my first
few months.
Dr. William Heebink
Superintendent of Schools
