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Boardman schools start Monday, with new superintendent at helm
BOARDMAN
Boardman students head back to school Monday, with a new superintendent at the helm of the school district.
Timothy Saxton, who previously served as high-school principal, then district operations director, started the job Aug. 1 after longtime superintendent Frank Lazzeri retired.
One of his first acts as leader of the district was to lay out a clear vision of what he believes the district’s mission should be.
“Together we transform lives through academics, athletics and the arts,” he said, reciting the mission statement that he worked to whittle down to a simple, easily remembered mantra.
It was important to him, he said, to establish a statement teachers and administrators can memorize, and by which they can live. He sees it as every staff member’s duty – whether they are serving lunch, teaching in a classroom, or driving a school bus – to work in tandem to move students forward.
“Our goal is to take a kid where we receive them, and move them,” he said. “Some kids will get a five on an AP test. Some will go from a D to a B. That’s transforming a student.”
Saxton also has identified three goals on which he’s focused. First, he wants to improve the district’s communication with parents.
He also plans to review district programs to ensure they are all accessible to any student who wants to be part of them.
His third “area of focus,” as he dubs them, is what he calls the “secret sauce” – atmosphere.
“Atmosphere makes all the other As [athletics, academics and the arts] work so much better,” he said.
He noted a favorite quote of his: “It’s attitude, not aptitude, that determines your altitude.”
“It’s a movement to take a look at: Are you focusing on the positive?” he said.
In other district news, the school year starts with another big change: realignment of Center and Glenwood, with all fifth- and sixth-grade students going to Center, and all seventh- and eighth-grade students attending Glenwood.
“Our goal is to make sure it’s a smooth, joyful transition,” Saxton said. “We’ll have all hands on deck for the first couple of days.”
One change associated with the realignment is expansion of fifth- through eighth-grade music education. Now, all students at Center and Glenwood are required to take four years of music classes, instead of just three.
“When we did the realignments, we said, ‘Look, that is something we want to go back to,’” Saxton said. “We feel that is such a key piece to a kid’s development.”
Saxton noted that the building changes represent a significant change not just for students, but for the many staff members who are moving as well.
“It’s a change, but the feedback is that they’re excited,” he said. “At first, that’s a little bit of challenge, but it’s invigorating and it’s a good way to start the school year with a fresh start and to see things with new eyes.”