“What we call the beginning is often the end …

and to make an end is to make a beginning.” T.S. Eliot

A few weeks ago, I wrote to you about measurement, about what a number can tell us and what it can never reach. By now, the reports are in, the recognitions are done, and the year has been accounted for. What remains is the better question. Not how we did, but what we should become.

The State of Our Schools report shared on May 29th highlights where we stand across the three goals that organize everything we do: Empowering Pathways to Excellence, Cultivating Belonging and Community, and Building Sustainable Foundations. If you have not yet had a chance to read it, the full presentation is available to read and download here: [State of Our Schools Presentation] or watch on YouTube here: [State of Our Schools Video]. We also encourage you to review the Superintendent’s Annual Assessment Performance Report, published in November 2025 [Leading the Way – Access, Achievement & Advantage]. These documents remain the clearest account we publish of the academic growth, the climate work, and the long-range planning behind your children’s days.

A report is a description of where we are. Goals are a decision about where we go. That decision should not be made in a closed room and handed down to you. It should be shaped with your feedback.

So this is the invitation. Before we finalize our district goals and objectives for the 2026-2027 school year, we want to hear from the people those goals are meant to serve. The three goal areas above will carry forward. What I am asking you to help us decide is what lives inside them. Which priorities matter most to your family and our staff? What may we have missed? What would you want a Fair Lawn education to mean for our schools a year from now?

There are three ways to share your feedback. The survey makes each of them simple. You can revisit the State of Our Schools materials and Annual Assessment Performance Report so your thinking rests on the same evidence ours does. You can rank the priorities within each of the three goals in the order that matters to you. And you can tell us, in your own words, what we have not yet thought to ask.

Please share your input here, or scan the QR code: [Survey Link]

The strongest plans are the ones a community can see itself in. Your voice is part of how the process works. Thank you, as always, for your trust in us and for taking the time to help us shape the year ahead.

Last but not least, wishing all the proud dads, granddads, uncles, and more a very Happy Father’s Day this weekend. We hope it’s a fun and relaxing one as you celebrate alongside your family & friends.

Read the entire Corner Column here.