Superintendent Dr. Steve McCammon

Dear Community,

It is my pleasure to welcome our students, staff, parents, and community to the 2009-2010 school year. We are proud to continue the excellent work that has evolved in our district with the National Standard Bearer Network. We truly believe that this work is having a very positive impact and is continuing to push the levels of excellence in teaching and learning to unprecedented heights in our district. Please visit the following link to read some important information regarding demographics and assessment results in our fine district (click to view).

I thank you for taking the time to visit our award winning web site. Please take the time to visit our WOW Refrigerator (click to view) and see examples of the most important aspect of our school district which is the student work itself. I would also urge you to visit the school sites and read the building school improvement plans (click to view). These documents will allow you to become very informed about the actual plans that each school has put in place to improve student learning in our district. Also of great use are the events and athletics calendars (click to view) which are intended to keep our community informed about opportunities to become even more involved in the great things that are happening around the district. This past year we have added a district blog (click here to view) in order to allow you to give feedback and affirmation to our students and staff about the great work that they are doing in our schools. Our roll out this year is another exciting communicate forum which is known as Twitter. I will be posting an update to exciting things happening around the district on my Twitter page. Please click here to view and access the ability to follow along on our journey through another great school year in Fife. I plan to post photos of district walkthroughs and exciting samples of student work as well.

We are very excited about the coming school year. We are striving to become even better and continue to need your support and input to ascend to ever-higher levels. We will recommit our promise to you this school year of continuing to build quality programs while operating in a fiscally responsible manner. This year we will implement the sixth and final year of the technology levy that the community was so supportive in providing. This continues to be a time of great challenge financially as we are certainly impacted by the sluggish economy which is coupled with a gap of funding from the state with regard to transportation and special education. As I have mentioned in my communications to you last spring and early summer, we will be experiencing a slight rise in class sizes but are moving staff around to accommodate the best learning environment that we can with existing staffing. We are pleased however, to maintain a solid fund balance (district savings account) of 4% just over one million dollars in order to ensure that the district remains financially strong.

Finally, we will be celebrating new faces in leadership positions this year as well. Please welcome Nancy Fitta as our new Director of Special Programs.

I look forward to seeing several of you at one of our many activities this fall and throughout the school year. Thank you again for your steadfast support of our important efforts in Fife School District.

Dr. Stephen McCammon
Superintendent