As you begin to hear the whistles from nearby high school coaches, that can only mean one thing: Yes, it’s football season again, but more importantly, it is time to go back to school.

In St. John the Baptist Parish we welcome this time of year because we have prepared all summer long to provide the best education possible for the residents of St. John the Baptist Parish!

Our goal is simple, which is to provide every child a better future.

We will accomplish our goal by having five areas of priority this school year.

They are as follows: Implement Tier-I Curricula in all major content areas, set goals to improve student outcomes, use standards-based assessments to monitor student progress towards goals, provide content driven professional development for administrators and teachers and connect observation and feedback to curricula resources.

By having a pinpoint focus on these areas we are ready to make St. John a top ten district.

A recent article stated that St. John was a bottom 10 school system less than a decade ago and our mission is to become a top 10 school system.

Some look at that goal as impossible but I do not believe it is. We have the ingredients and the recipe right here in our Parish! Everyone must have high expectations of themselves and of others.

Our motto this year is the “power of you.”

We are asking all 942 of our employees to self-reflect and ensure that they are doing their job to the best of their ability.

If we all do our jobs well, we change the trajectory of thousands of lives. We do not take that responsibility lightly.

I know that all of our stakeholders are working with us to improve each and every day. Schools cannot do this work alone, and we need everyone to do their part to ensure that a quality education is attained by every student that walks through our doors.

If you have not done so by now, follow what’s happening inside of our schools by going to our website at stjohn.k12.la.us or by following us on Twitter at @stjohnsupe or Facebook at St. John the Baptist Parish Public Schools.

Or, you can just stop by your neighborhood school to drop in for a visit. We welcome the community into our school system, because it is your school system.

As Open House Dates approach, please make every effort to attend. With new resources and curriculum, our schools will provide helpful information on how you can help your children at home by utilizing easily available resources.

Lastly, you may have noticed that we are beginning to move to more communication by text messages rather than phone calls or letters.

While we realize that many still want that hard copy paper in hand, we find it more efficient to text message parents with links to school newsletters, announcements, etc.

While we have not eliminated paper, we are asking schools to do more digitally.

Let’s have a wonderful school year. The best is yet to come and we are on the cusp of greatness.

Let’s walk hand in hand and do this together!

Kevin George is superintendent for St. John the Baptist Parish Public Schools. He can be reached at 985-536-1106 or kgeorge@stjohn.k.12.la.us.