Farewell letter from School Superintendent

It’s a little heavy ending not only another school year, but also a 34-year career in education. Both will slip into the past filled with rememberable moments. Mostly though, what will remain with me are the personal relationships filled with love and deep respect.
I have such a feeling of gratitude. It starts with the amazing opportunity of getting to work with youth every day. How do you put a price on that?
I have tucked away in my mind so many special and precious memories I will cherish for a lifetime. And if that is not enough, our schools are filled with staff members of the highest character and integrity.
I’ve come to fully believe that being employed in education puts you in an arena with the greatest group of stakeholders one could ever spend career with. Getting to work side by side them and be inspired by them on a daily basis has been beyond amazing. Team San Juan is made up of the finest people one could find anywhere.
But there’s more. I will leave both this year and my career fully convinced that parents and community are what really makes schools exceptional. When parents and community are strongly involved and empowered, good schools become great schools. We are so fortunate to have parents and stakeholders who are willing to invest time and resources into their community schools.
It’s been another successful and awesome school year. Each one is different in many ways and yet much like the last one. Still, each one is filled with cherished moments that will last a lifetime in someone’s mind.
Most of those moments will be relationship connected. A moment a teacher took some extra time to help a student. A moment a student felt that powerful feeling of accomplishment.
Maybe just a moment a student had a staff member remember his name and greet him with a smile. We all know how powerful these moments can be because we’ve all benefited from them.
To all stakeholders, thank you again for investing in our schools and empowering our students to succeed at such high levels.
Our youth is our greatest asset, and we are truly blessed to have all 2,895 of them. Thank you for making our 2022-23 school year a huge success!
And to all the students and individuals I had the privilege to get to know and work with within the last 34 years, please know it was my great honor and privilege.
Sincerely,
Ron Nielson