Superintendent's Message for August 2025

Welcome to the 2025–2026 school year!

As we begin this year, our focus remains on providing high-quality education, supporting every child, and fostering strong partnerships between schools, families, and the community. Together, we will continue to create safe and engaging learning environments where every student is empowered to thrive.

Throughout the summer, we have been hard at work preparing for the return of our students, from upgrading facilities such as our Middle School entrance to upgrading our High School Science rooms. We have also been enhancing our teaching practices with summer classes and improving safety measures for our school. We are ready to welcome everyone back on August 25th, our first day of school, for another great school year.

NEW STAFF MEMBERS
We would like to welcome new staff to Chariton Community Schools. From left to right are Dawn Morgan, K-5 Music, Riley Mackey, 4th Grade, Macey McConahay, 2nd Grade, Jenna Fassbinder, MS ELA/Language Arts, Brad Krutsinger, MS Social Studies, and Luke Lahart, MS PE/Health. If you see them out and about please introduce yourself and give them a BIG Charger welcome.

School Registration

Currently, we have 85% of our families registered, and this number continues to grow every day. If you have not registered your child for the upcoming school year, please do so. Families will now need to complete it online or go to the building where their child will attend.

Summer Construction Update

The summer at CCSD has been filled with numerous construction projects and improvements to our district. While this work is exciting and rewarding, it can also be filled with frustration.

Our HS science room project has not gone as planned and will be delayed due to the discovery of lead paint and asbestos during the demolition process. At this time, the extent of the delay is unknown, but rest assured, staff and students will be impacted as little as possible to start the school year. This renovation project will serve our district well for many, many years to come, and we must get this right.
Our middle school entrance has gotten a facelift that is not only pleasing to the eye but also increases the safety of our students and parents for dropoff and pickup times. We have also completed the underground drainage system in front of the building, and added supporting mechanisms to support the building's foundation.
We have also completed our entry door access project and are in the process of completing additional security cameras and measures to ensure the safety of our students and staff. This will be a great addition to our current system and will enhance our building's camera coverage.

Initiatives Our School Districts iS Engaging in During Professional Development

The following district initiatives are not new to our school, students, or staff. These initiatives are what we are all about and strategies for us to accomplish our district mission which is “Successful Learning for ALL students’.

The first initiative is mainly for our staff which is called Professional Learning Communities or PLCs. This framework is to enhance teacher collaboration which we use our Wednesday early outs to accomplish. With this framework, we refine our skills and improve “best Practices.” We are utilizing two primary resources while learning. The first is a book - Learning by Doing, the 4th edition. This book has several authors: Richard DeFour, Rebecca DeFour, Robert Eaker, Thomas W. Many, Mike Mattos, and Anthony Muhammad. The second resource is All Things PLC. This resource is very important and will be utilized to do the work this year. Staff can gain knowledge and information from the website to support their journey. Ultimately, the PLC framework and philosophy is to support our teachers in their professional growth, which will directly impact the learning experiences of our students. The following information was taken directly from the website to communicate the concept of PLCs and what we are trying to accomplish.

Collective inquiry into best practice and current reality (from allthingsplc.info)

The teams in a PLC engage in collective inquiry into both best practices in teaching and best practices in learning. They also inquire about their current reality including their present practices and the levels of achievement of their students. They attempt to arrive at consensus on vital questions by building shared knowledge rather than pooling opinions. They have an acute sense of curiosity and openness to new possibilities.

Collective inquiry enables team members to develop new skills and capabilities that in turn lead to new experiences and awareness. Gradually, this heightened awareness transforms into fundamental shifts in attitudes, beliefs, and habits which, over time, transform the culture of the school.

Working together to build shared knowledge on the best way to achieve goals and meet the needs of clients is exactly what professionals in any field are expected to do, whether it is curing the patient, winning the lawsuit, or helping all students learn. Members of a professional learning community are expected to work and learn together.

The second district initiative is called Capturing Kids Hearts. Our staff chose this initiative and its philosophy to support our students in their social and emotional learning. It was chosen specifically because it supports and grows relationships with students in our classrooms, buildings, and school system. This initiative is for our entire learning community, teachers, administrators, students, and all support staff.

This quote from their website sums up what we are working on to achieve.

Through experiential training, expert coaching, a character-based curriculum for students, and personalized support, Capturing Kids' Hearts® equips professionals in K-12 education to implement transformational processes focused on social-emotional wellbeing, relationship-driven campus culture, and student connectedness.

Last year in our first year of implementation every building in our district received an award which compelled our entire district to be awarded their Rising Star District recognition. Each school was presented with a banner similar to the one below which is proudly displayed in our School Board room.

The Charger Way

The Charger Way is also a way of doing business as a school district. The goal is to develop consistent messages and philosophies that our district believes in regardless of your age or attendance center. The schools and staff were all doing GREAT things, but we needed to discuss and develop collective commitments to share with students and families as a school system. We started conversing at the administrative team level, the District Leadership Team, the Building Leadership Teams, the School Improvement Advisory Committee (SIAC), and the school board. Our conversations centered around our district’s vision and mission statements. The following graphic, which contains our philosophies and current practice, was formed and adopted aligning with our district mission - “Successful Learning for All Students.”

Please visit our website at https://www.charitonschools.org/ for additional information about our school district.

GO CHARGERS and THINK BIG !!!!

Mr. Baker, #LBE

Phone - 641-774-5967

Email- brad.baker@chariton.k12.ia.us

Twitter - @Super_Charger