The end of another school year is upon us. A school year is a lot like the Nebraska weather. We definitely survive our tornados and hail storms, but there are so many days (like today) that are just perfect. As I look back on my first year as superintendent of Callaway Public Schools I can’t help but feel a little prideful and very fortunate. My year was focused on two guiding ideas. First, you can make a perfect system with imperfect parts. Secondly, excellence is not an accident.

These mantas helped me to attack problems, helped me to keep the main thing the main thing, and helped me to focus on our direction and not get caught up in the fires of the day.

You can make a perfect system from imperfect parts. We are all human and as such we are going to make mistakes and come up short from time to time.

In a perfect system we support each other when it is needed. There are always going to be challenges for teachers, students and their families during a school year, but if you feel that the people around you are there for you, you can handle almost anything. A perfect system will develop resilience in the face of adversity and it will foster consistency. Our goal at Callaway is to work just as hard on April 15th as we do on September 15th. This is way easier said than done.

Knowing that we are imperfect parts of our system we have to have grace and flexibility. For Callaway Public Schools to be perfect we have to pour our effort, energy, and attention into the students. When I see one of our custodians walking down the hall with an arm around a student I know that we are creating a kid focused, “perfect system.”

Excellence is not an accident. This is an easy slogan, but it is a mindset that breeds success. In a world where most of the population just wants to be able to pay their bills for the month and we can worry about next month when it gets here, excellence is an underappreciated quality. When I was a teacher I spent a few summers working at a golf course. When the sun came up we were out mowing greens and fairways.

No matter how well I did that day was not going to matter the next morning because the grass was going to grow again, but I always wanted to make the straightest possible lines. I wanted the green to look perfect. Did mowing greens help me become what I am today, “NO.” But, being intentional about doing the absolute best at whatever task is in front of you is how you reach your potential. As a school we cannot be satisfied with the status quo. We aren’t here to make our kids average. We want our kids to understand that being from Callaway is different than being from anywhere else. We expect excellence and we know that you aren’t just going to stumble into it.

So, reflecting on year one is our school perfect and have we achieved excellence? Nope! But the improvement is measurable and the momentum is inspiring.

In my last article I mentioned that we wanted 710. We ended up improving 1358 total points on our NSCAS and ACT tests. Our journey at CPS is just beginning, but I really like the direction our trip is headed. Have A Great Summer!