Superintendent’s Office
Message from Our Superintendent
Superintendent’s Message: July 2024
Dear TUHSD Community,
You’ve probably noticed cars in our parking lots throughout the summer because the work never stops. We have been diligently preparing for the upcoming school year. Over the past year we have taken a good look at our business practices, and we have invited nationally renowned experts to help us determine our next steps. This has been combined with talking to our own experts in the field who know our students, parents, and community. The result is that the upcoming year is going to have a different feel to it, and our new direction is highlighted in our strategic plan.
I encourage you to review our strategic plan, but I will share a few of the highlights. The strategic plan outlines our values of Safety, Empathy, Respect, Visionary, Integrity, Curiosity, and Excellence. There is a hidden eighth value that brings it all together and it is the acronym that it makes – SERVICE. We value the service that we provide to our community.
We value the Safety of our students, so we need to implement more protective measures, and those who violate our policies need to face the appropriate consequences. On that note, the Artificial Intelligence Cameras will be operational for the first day of school. They have machine learning so they will get better at identifying weapons, fights, and other dangerous activities as we progress through the year. Please encourage your students to behave appropriately on campus.
We value Respect, but it is a two-way street. Please encourage your students to put their cell phones away during class and to be respectful of the instruction that the teacher is providing to them. Let them know that you are fine waiting for a response to your text message either during a passing period or on their lunch break. On that note, all bathrooms will be open, and we have extended passing periods from five minutes to seven minutes to allow for adequate time for students to use the facilities.
We are going to be more deliberate about ensuring that learning is taking place during each moment a student spends on one of our campuses, but we need your help. If we are going to earn Respect across Arizona, then it’s going to take teachers delivering high quality instruction, students accepting their responsibility to learn, along with parents supporting students and reinforcing school practices. We can do this together, and our four-year partnership can lead to a lifetime of success for the one you care about the most – your student!
In addition to reviewing our strategic plan, I encourage you to follow our podcast, The Education Exchange, that will launch on the fourth of July. We are going to bring in guests who will help you ensure that you maximize your student’s time with us as well as prepare for the next step – life after high school. The goal of the podcast is to enlighten our parents and empower our students. We plan to TEE off the conversations with organizations that we believe can help your student, and we are open to suggestions on who we should invite onto the show.
Again, this year is going to have a different feel to it, but if we all work together then we can hold true to our new motto: Excellence in Every Endeavor.
I want to close by thanking all the staff that have worked over the summer either preparing for the upcoming year, providing summer school, or performing year-round functions. I look forward to all staff returning soon because when I say “we” or “all,” then I do mean that it takes all of us including bus drivers getting students to school, school lunch heroes keeping our students fed and focused, school/site leaders putting systems in place, and many others. We ask you to come back because we need you to come back. I appreciate you, and I’ll see you soon!
Important Dates:
- July 30, first day of school for freshmen only
- July 31, first day of school for all students
Sincerely,
Jeremy Calles
Jeremy Calles
Superintendent
Tolleson Union High School District