It’s August Pampa!! That means our staff, students, and families are gearing up for the first day of school. Our theme this year is #iBelieve----- #iBelieve this is going to be our BREAKTHROUGH year in Pampa schools. We have so many wonderful systems in place, we have shown incredible growth in academic and extra-curricular success, and we have recruited and retained some of the best teachers in the Panhandle! All we need now are the kids!
Our mission as a school district is to produce learners who are compassionate, competent, confident, and future-ready! In order to do that, we must create a safe environment where our students and staff engage in high-quality, challenging, and meaningful learning experiences that empower and prepare us all for the future. Our purposeful attention to educating the whole child is evident in every decision we make and in every action we take.
We have taken extra measures to make our schools safer including restricting entrances on all campuses and limiting access points to the outside public. Pampa High School will experience more safety measures as we have installed more security cameras and have changed our parking by requiring all students to register vehicles. We want to know who is parking around our campus buildings as much as possible. As with most safety and security measures, implementing these measures will be a change for everyone and maybe somewhat inconvenient at first. We thank you in advance for your patience and support as we continue to do everything we can to ensure the safety of our students and staff.
In addition to measures to “harden the target” of our campuses, we are taking extra efforts to “soften the hearts” of our students as well. We believe that supporting and nurturing the social-emotional well-being of all of our students is an important part of educating the WHOLE child. This year, we will implement in grades K-8 a social-emotional curriculum that will engage our students in opportunities to become more self-aware, reflect on their beliefs and values, and empower them to develop stronger emotional intelligence. We are also working to secure grant funds to support the implementation of an 8-12th grade curriculum that provides our older students with the skills to “read” people and to enhance their ability to be more situationally aware of their surroundings all the while improving their personal performance in all endeavors.
Additionally, we will begin the work of digging into our Profile of Graduate competencies to ensure that every student at every grade level has the opportunity to practice and acquire the seven skills that our community values most. We want each student who leaves Pampa schools to be self-directed, to have excellent communication and collaboration skills, and to be able to think critically and creatively to solve problems. Additionally, we want each of our students to have a solution-oriented disposition and practice making ethical decisions throughout their entire lives. Who wouldn’t want these skills?
As a district, we made huge academic gains in the classroom and we are poised to have our best year yet in 2018-2019! I am excited about our staff who has been working countless hours, many all summer, learning innovative and engaging strategies to bring meaningful experiences to our students. I am #PampaProud to be a Harvester and am thankful every day both as a Mom and as a Superintendent to be a part of Pampa ISD. We are so blessed and we thank you in advance for your continued support! Bring on the kids!
Tanya Larkin
Superintendent
Published on 08/21/2018
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