June 7, 2024
To Our Columbia Educational Partners,
Writing to all of you at this moment, it is difficult to process the fact that it has already been a year, as it seems like yesterday we had the Halloween Parade, enjoyed so many wonderful theater productions and concerts, enjoyed a freak snowstorm in the middle of the day, and having the opportunity to greet you on the first day of school.
Coming into our positions at Columbia, it was overwhelmingly expressed that everyone was looking for consistency, a path to move forward on, and to follow that up with action. 2023-24 was full of changes and considerable effort from your talented and dedicated staff to lay the foundation to begin building on a unique and meaningful learning experience for our students. In addition to the mundane (such as shoring up record keeping, being further transparent, creating handbooks, setting new policies and procedures, and so on), we have had more visible efforts happening or underway that reflect Columbia being the gem of Tuolumne County.
Our students and families can already expect to see or experience the following:
New curriculum programs to promote common high expectations for all students in all content areas.
Structured intervention time courtesy of our new Math and Literacy Interventionists that is accessible to all students.
More access to fine arts opportunities, new and structured middle school electives (ranging from band to STEM to mythology to game design to podcasting to theater to Spanish), and more after school activities.
New playgrounds with shade structures, renovating portables, and getting a new website (and we are currently planning some exciting possibilities with our green spaces and gardens).
And with all of this, the district has been able to see a balanced budget, increase enrollment and average daily attendance, and make inroads on how the state holds us accountable. While the list above is not exhaustive, we look forward to sharing more updates to all of you throughout the summer and at the beginning of the school year.
It goes without saying that this school year could not have been successful without the incredible support from all of our staff with what they have put into each school day (and night) every day (and night). We have a proud staff that enjoys the students and families they serve and we are always appreciative of the faith that you have in us to teach your children.
Thank you for a fantastic school year, please enjoy a fun and safe summer with family and friends, and we look forward to seeing all of you again in 2024-25.
Dr. Nicolas Wade, Superintendent and Ms. Rebekah Wood, Principal