As I begin my seventh year as Superintendent of the East Williston School District, I must first thank you for the honor of serving you and your children. Next, I must acknowledge the tremendous amount of support you have provided for me, our staff and our students. When our highly dedicated staff members lead our students in the pursuit of knowledge, amazing things happen.

Moving forward, we all know that our challenges and opportunities are unparalleled in the history of the district, the state and the nation, and will call for different approaches from those we have relied upon in the past. We continue to face fiscal pressures: unfunded mandates, increases in health insurance and retirement benefits and residents who are reluctant to support further tax increases. In the tradition of our school community, we must come together to make the wisest decisions possible for the greatest good of all and to consider creative solutions to difficult problems. I invite you to attend school events, community meetings and board of education work sessions and business meetings to become more informed about the East Williston School District. I encourage you to give input into the decision-making process.

For the past six years, I have asked the community, the board and the staff to reaffirm the values espoused in our school district. Last year, we began a stronger outreach to the entire community, and we restored the community's support for our budget. While there were those who spoke about erosion of confidence in our schools, we found our community to be there for us when we needed them. As we plan for this year and the years ahead, we must re-educate ourselves as to the importance and meaning of education in our district.

I am pleased to welcome Mr. Michael Maina as interim assistant superintendent for business. Mr. Maina recently retired from the Elwood Public School District after serving 38 years in public education. He started his career as a high school teacher of mathematics in the Floral Park and Half Hollow Hills School Districts. He was employed as assistant superintendent for finance and management service in the Half Hollow Hills, Lawrence and Elwood School Districts. Mr. Maina served in Elwood for 19 years, the last 15 as its superintendent. Upon his retirement, the board of education conferred upon him the title "superintendent emeritus."

Also joining the instructional and administrative team this year are two new curriculum associates: Mrs. Karen Klapper (English Language Arts) and Mr. William Van Dyke (Foreign Language), succeeding Dr. Clare Lowell and Mrs. Jerilyn Cowen, who recently retired.

As a part of improved communications to parents and students this year, we are implementing a new emergency notification procedure using a computerized system to telephone or e-mail individuals about emergency closings and scheduled events. This system will replace the PTO phone chain and will allow the district to communicate immediately to provide parents, students and staff with information in the event of an emergency.

Our district website, www.ewsdonline.org, is updated frequently and the district calendar is posted online to assist you in planning throughout the year. The activities listed are for information purposes only. This does not indicate district sponsorship or endorsement. Please note that we have a dedicated telephone number, 333-8560, for school closings and special announcements.

In closing, I encourage you to continue to offer your suggestions about how to make our extraordinary school system even more special.

If you have questions or suggestions, please contact me at 333-3782 or via email at harrisc@ewsdonline.org.