Dear Wright District Families,

 On behalf of the Governing Board and the staff of the Wright School District, I welcome you to the 2011-12 school year! As Wright District begins its 145^th school year we look forward to the continuing academic success for each child in the District. We will continue to improve, monitor and appropriately adjust our instructional program to best meet our students’ needs.

 Last year Wright Charter School added an 8^th grade classroom and held their first 8^th grade promotion ceremony. It was an exciting year for all. This year the Charter School team looks forward to continue to build on their success. Their emphasis continues to be on high academic standards with a focus on eco-literacy and project based learning. The school garden continues to enrich our curriculum and adds a new focus for the local community. As the garden grows and takes shape, student involvement in learning through the garden adds richness to their education. While students learn to tend to plants throughout their life cycles, teachers and staff are expanding student application of concepts from core curricular areas such as science, math and history. The garden offers students tremendous opportunities to link academic concepts to work in the garden and to contribute positively to the quality of the school environment.

 Robert L. Stevens School, under the helm of new principal Lori Pola Hoard, had a fantastic year and is ready to continue the practices that have made the school a Title 1 Achievement School and a Distinguished School Award recipient. We continue to look for innovative ways to raise achievement, especially among our students who are learning English as a second language. We have also been able to provide, through district funding, two ten-session rounds of “Jumpstart” Language Arts intervention, one in the fall and one in the spring. This is a program which is designed for second through sixth grade students in need of a “boost” in Language Arts to get the year started and prepare for STAR testing.

 We are also excited that J.X. Wilson School, a national Blue Ribbon School, moved to a Modified /Balanced Calendar last year. The key difference in the school year is the addition of breaks within the year, which extends the length of the school year. The school is closed for part of these breaks, but there also will be three Power Weeks during the year, in October, January, and March, where students who could benefit from additional instruction will come to school for 3 ½ hours a day with grade level teachers providing the instruction. The goal is to have less of the “summer loss” we often see and to provide a way to build up students’ skills during the year so they don’t fall behind. Students, teachers, and parents reported that they were very happy with new schedule. Struggling students were able to catch up with the rest of their class and found new confidence when returning to school.

 As you can see, great things are happening throughout Wright School District. Unfortunately, due to budget cuts the calendar was reduced by 3 days for the 2011-2012 school year. We hope that with a favorable state budget we will be able to add those days back in to the calendar. If that happens, parents will be notified. In the meantime, Wright District is committed to retaining quality programs and continuing to foster academic success for all our students. We continue to offer small class sizes in grades K-3, and support library and music programs when so many districts have been forced to cut or reduce these programs in the face of financial crises. The Governing Board has consistently focused on providing a full educational experience in the most fiscally responsible manner possible.

 At Wright School District, we are proud of the positive relationships we maintain with our community and partner school districts. To enhance our communication we continuously update our District website with links to our school websites. Please check out our website, www.wrightesd.org, which provides a wealth of information about our schools with links to other organizations in our community.

 We have added a new parent notification service that can be used in case of school closure or other emergency. Edulink will also be used to make attendance and “balance due” lunch program account calls. The system is setup to allow texting and email in addition to standard phone calls. Please be sure to include your cell phone and email on your child’s emergency form. This way we are able to send messages to all of our families within 2 hours. For more information on this new service, please contact Chelsie Brockett, 542-0550 x114.

 We know that a child’s success in school is greatly enhanced with parent and community involvement. We invite you to visit and volunteer in our schools and to become active participants in your child’s education.