So, yes, I announced a few weeks
ago that I would retire from Lake Forest School District as of June 30,
2014. This has been a great place to
work and as a team there have been a lot of accomplishments.
Over the next six months this
space may be used to comment on how things used to be as well as how they will
be in the future. I might speak a little
about some of the things of which we are most proud. I may speak a little about the search for the
new superintendent.
One of the things I am most proud
of is the logo. When I came here in 2003
we really didn’t have a district logo.
Business cards carried the coat of arms and some of them had these words
to go with LFSD – Learning Focused on Student Diversity. I would ask people what it meant and nobody
could translate it for me.
Early on, I was struck by the
freedom of choice in Delaware. There are
many private and charter schools. The
state encourages districts to support parent requests to send their children to
public schools other than the ones where they reside. It was clear that our parents had choices
where to send their children. I want
them to look no further. We needed to
say something about that. So, in the
summer of 2003, when asked to order some trinkets to pass out at a parent
education fair, I ordered a bunch of magnetic, six inch rulers with the phrase
“Lake Forest – your best choice”.
With the help of some volunteer
graphic artists that was eventually translated into our logo which has become
the Lake Forest brand. Once we ordered a
few shirts with the logo, everyone wanted them.
We are all Spartans from our Spartan Sprouts and Little Spartan day care
program to our high school scholars and teams.
I know one thing. When I decided to accept the position as
superintendent of Lake Forest School District in the summer of 2003, it was the
best choice for me.
