Issues like creation of new courses, student schedules, new technology upgrades, installation of new ActivBoards, retirements, resignations, and interviewing and hiring staff keep our summer busy.  I always find it funny when people are shocked that administrators work during the summer.  Even my own children are baffled at how I could possibly find things to do when there aren't kids in the building.  By July I am normally missing the kids and the controlled chaos that is a typical day of school.  We had very low staff turnover this summer, which is wonderful for our school.  In the areas where we have had vacancies, we have found stellar people who will be a great fit for our Stratford community and are excellent educators.  In a move that was very well-received by Principals, the Board approved the addition of two new counselor's secretary positions for each high school campus.  We are currently interviewing to find staff to fill these positions.  We are excited as we feel that the level of customer service in our grade level offices will be even better with some support for our very busy grade level principal's secretaries and allow our counselors an increased level of contact with their students.  Also, please note on our home page that our phone number has changed.  We received our upgraded phones as part of a district initiative and the campus phone number changed during this process.  These new "IP" phones are a significant upgrade from the phones that were in the building and I kept expecting to find an old rotary phone hiding somehwere (my children have no idea what that is).  We keep our eyes clearly focused on meeting the needs of our students and community in the upcoming school year and, as it approaches, we will have as our focus that anything can be accomplished when you have a postive attitude.

I hope your family has a wonderful summer,

Christopher Juntti