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Greetings from Bemidji Area ÍáÍáÂþ»­s. As we embark into the second quarter of this school year, I wanted to share with you some updates on our district’s progress, highlight student success and some thoughts with you.

As the days continue to get shorter, I want to remind drivers to use caution around students who are waiting at bus stops. To our parents and students, we highly recommend using a flashlight or other safety light when waiting at a bus stop. Not only does this make students more visible to drivers it also helps substitute bus drivers identify where the stop is located on dark mornings.

The district moved through a process of strategic planning starting last spring. The process started with intentional listening. We listened to staff, students and community members' input. We wanted to know what these various stakeholders thought about our school and where we should be going.

After listening, we compiled and categorized this feedback, looking for patterns in the responses. We brought this information to a strategic planning committee made up of community stakeholders, with the goal of developing a plan.

As we put this strategic plan together it became evident that there were four strategic direction areas: student achievement, student support and belonging, district culture and community connection.

Student achievement: Throughout the planning process the feedback was clear that we need to focus on student achievement as our main priority. The reason that we exist is to help our students achieve their full potential. Without going too far into the weeds, our direction is to improve our reading and math outcomes by aligning our staff development, recruiting and retaining high-quality staff, committing to effective and engaging classrooms and working with community stakeholders to improve student attendance.

Student support and belonging: Our stakeholders clearly spoke to the desire for a continued focus on a welcoming and supportive school culture. We need to continue to offer rich course offerings and programs to our students. We need to ensure that these programs engage our students and are meaningful to their future success.

We also need to secure an environment in which our students feel valued, respected and find a place of acceptance within our school community. All students should find a place of belonging in our schools. Student academic outcomes are directly linked to a sense of belonging and ownership in their schools.

District culture: During the pandemic, we became much more disconnected than we would like to admit. Strong district culture is built on shared experiences, traditions, a sense of community among staff, and trust. We have an opportunity as a school district to determine our shared experiences and traditions.

It is the responsibility of leaders to develop a sense of community and build trust. I am proud of this district and yet recognize that this is an area that we need to continue to build and develop. We are committing to excellence in communication and transparency as we move in this direction.

Community connection: Based on the feedback that we received, there was a desire to engage with and communicate to our community in a more intentional manner. We continue to work to improve transparency and communication with our community.

Our focus in this area will be to ensure that you as a community understand not only what we are doing, but the why behind the actions. We also are committed to doing a better job of highlighting the great things that our students and staff do throughout the year. We also desire to better engage our community as partners in education.

Over the course of the next five years, we will be working in partnership with our staff and community to implement the vision that our stakeholders shared with us during this strategic planning process. Bemidji Area ÍáÍáÂþ»­s is your school system, working together we can and will accomplish great things.

We have several student successes to celebrate!

• Mia Hoffman finished second at the state cross country meet and is the top finish in Bemidji history for cross country running.
• Volleyball advanced into section finals, we are very proud of this team's achievement.
• Girls tennis represented Bemidji well in the tennis state tournament.
• Bemidji’s bowling club is going to state for the first time in Bemidji history.

We also saw our students being recognized recently for their academic accomplishments. Nick Rautio and Will Termont were awarded the National Merit Scholarship Commended status. Moses Son moved on as a semifinalist for the National Merit Scholarship.

As we move into our winter activities season, I want to remind everyone that we have free passes available for seniors who are 65 years old and to anyone who is a veteran of or currently serving in our armed forces.

These free activity passes can be picked up at the district office located at 502 Minnesota Ave. during regular business hours. If you have any questions about our district or would like to connect, please contact me.

Jeremy Olson is the superintendent of Bemidji Area ÍáÍáÂþ»­s. He can be reached at (218) 407-9645 or dr_jeremy_olson@isd31.net.