Van Buren County’s New Director of Schools said one of his big goals is to share positive stories about the school system.
Jared Copeland took over the director’s role for the 2023-2024 school year. He said in the face of misinformation on social media, it’s the school system’s duty to share the story of all the good things going on in Van Buren County Schools.
“There are always issues and problems and things we need to get better at,” Copeland said. “And I think that’s true for anybody. But there’s definitely so so much good going on, so many great things. And so it’s our job to put that out there and tell our story and tell all the positive things our kids are doing and are involved in. ”
Copeland said the positive messages were definitely a team effort. He said the new technology supervisor and communications supervisor Cassandra Binkley had been doing a wonderful job with that. Copeland also said Miss Kelly Lewis with Coordinated Health contributed many great things.
Copeland said his overall goals for this year were student success and making sure everybody has everything they need for the school year. But Copeland said he did see that the methods for reaching those goals could change with time.
“Every day is a different day and presents different situations,” Copeland said. “So it’s just dealing with those as they come.”
Copeland said when it comes to ensuring goals are met, there is not a single method for measuring success. He said there is always the data driven analysis but that does not present the whole picture.
“I appreciate always that 30,000 foot view of looking at accountability and test scores and just success in those areas,” Copeland said. “But I think it’s just as simple too, just walking through the hallways and talking to students and talking to teachers getting a gauge on school climate. Just having a conversations with folks too. I think you can definitely gain from both of those perspectives.”
Copeland said even the first day of school came with changes and adaptations when student attendance was moved from Tuesday to Wednesday. Copeland said road clearing and power line repairs from Monday’s storms delayed that first day of school for Van Buren children.
“I’m disappointed we had to miss our very first day,” Copeland said. “But that’s okay. That’s part of it. I think everybody was safe and nobody had any damage or injuries, that was the main thing. So I’m just excited for kids to come back and get the school year started rolling again and see their smiling faces. And I hope that they’re excited too.”
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