From the District Administrator's Desk

By David A. Novy

Welcome Back for the 2024-25 School Year

Dear Families, Teachers, and Staff,

It is my pleasure to welcome families, staff, and students back for the 2024-2025 school year! I hope all of you had an enjoyable and relaxing summer break spent with family and friends.

If you have not visited our schools lately, you will see that our parking lots at both the High School and Middle School have been replaced this summer. With both lots being over 25 years old, they were in significant need of replacement. We were able to replace these lots with end-of-year funds that have been budgeted specifically for some of our bigger maintenance projects. Over the last five years, we have replaced all lighting fixtures in each building with energy efficient lighting, replaced many of our roofs, fixed most of our parking lots, and have upgraded all HVAC systems. Our Board has done a great job of being fiscally responsible by using allocated budget money and specifically planning for these types of projects rather than through borrowing.

We have already begun the process of planning for the projects within the $17.45 million dollar Bond Referendum passed in April. Some of the larger parts of this Referendum include:

• constructing safe and secure entries in all District buildings.

• adding 4K classrooms as we plan to offer all-day 4K starting in 2026.

• remodeling 5K classrooms to increase room size and offering more bathroom space.

• updating and renovation of District bathrooms to meet ADA compliance.

• moving 5^th grade to the Middle School to help with overcrowding at Albrecht.

As projects continue to progress, we will communicate with the community as construction begins and things start to take shape. As of now, project construction will start at the Middle School and High School in March of 2025 and at Albrecht Elementary in June of 2025. Our goal is to complete the Middle School and High School projects by August of 2025 and Albrecht projects by the start of the 2026-27 school year.

I would like to extend a big thank you to all parents who completed the survey we sent out in the spring. We welcome and appreciate parent input as a valuable part of our goal-setting process. We have four “Priority Areas” as part of our short- and long-term planning process:

• Teaching, Instruction and Student Learning

• Family and Community Engagement

• Staff Culture, Wellness, and Engagement

• Finance and Facilities

We will use the information from these surveys when setting our goals and finding ways to constantly improve our school system.

I want to give a reminder to parents regarding the first day of school, which is coming up fast. Just like last year, our first day of school will be on Friday, August 30. The August 30 day in Brodhead is not considered part of the school year calendar, but rather an extension of summer school.

This scheduled day cannot be a mandatory school year attendance day and will not be counted as such. Buses will be picking students up, we will be serving lunch, and will have all staff in attendance on this day. Starting last year, we have used this day as an “orientation day” for our students who are new to their specific buildings and have found this additional day to be a very welcome change. Each of our individual schools will be utilizing this day in different ways and will be communicated out by each school. The goal of this orientation day is to help and support our newest students in their respective buildings. Switching to a new school can be really challenging for students. We want to help and support our students by having this orientation day and provide them with a day to meet their teacher, learn their routines, and build relationships with teachers.

On behalf of the Brodhead School District, I want to thank you in advance for all that you do to help make our District successful. We look forward to working with you throughout the 2024-25 academic year to ensure the success of all of our students. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me with any questions, comments, or concerns you may have throughout the year. My email is dnovy@brodhead.k12.wi.us and my office phone number is (608) 897-2141. Best wishes for an outstanding school year! GO CARDS!

Sincerely,