Bethel Park Students, Parents and all Community Members,
It's hard to believe we just passed the halfway point in another school year. While it's still been a challenging year in many ways, we’ve been successful in keeping students in school and out of remote learning. It appears like we are on an academic growth path for all students that resembles learning before the pandemic began.
I want to thank the board members who left the board at the end of their last term for all of their time invested and contributions they have made to advancing the Bethel Park School District. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with all of them over the past few years and will miss the experience and perspective they brought to our board discussions.
I also want to welcome the new board members who were just elected to the board. Over the last few weeks, as I've gotten to know many of them, I’ve found they all bring many different points of view regarding issues in front of us. That’s so important for the board to arrive at solutions that are in the best interests of the community as a whole. Thanks to all the Bethel Park voters who played an active role in electing this board.
In 2021 the board, administration, and countless community members did something we haven’t done in a very long time, if ever by the BPSD. We created a strategic plan, centered around student achievement and their continued growth, that will guide us in key decision making to ensure we are proactive vs. reactive in our actions. Like starting any journey, you won’t get to your destination unless you have a plan to get there. That’s why this investment of everyone’s time is so critical to the future opportunities and success that our students have in front of them.
Building on the strategic plan we created in 2021, we’ll be working hard to operationalize that plan. The BPSD board, administration, staff, and community members will work to ensure that the priorities identified in our plan have active and measurable progress. I encourage everyone in the community to become familiar with our strategic plan that can be found on the BPSD website under Quick Links from the homepage. Please reach out to the board members with questions, comments, and suggestions for improvement.
I hope all of our students have an excellent second half of the school year and finish up strong academically. We also want to welcome our newest and youngest students for next fall and encourage parents of incoming kindergarteners to register their students through the links on the district website. Finally, I wish that everyone in our community stays safe and that we soon put the challenges of the last two years behind us.
Best regards,
Barry Christenson,
President, Bethel Park Board of School Directors
This message appeared in the March 2022 issue of the Bethel Park Chronicles.