Superintendent's Message for January 2023

Happy Holidays Charger Nation!

Well, December ended with a bang!  Thanks for everyone’s flexibility with the schedule changes that occurred during our last week of school in 2022.  I am excited about the new year and I hope you and your family had a nice relaxing break from school life and the hustle and bustle of the holiday season.

The Charger Drill Team did well at the State Dance Championships in Des Moines this past month.  Coach Wickett and the team got a division one rating in Jazz and Hip Hop.  Solo performances by Delaney Caudill and Macy Farrell also received division one ratings.  Congratulations to Coach Wickett and the Charger Drill Team.  

Congratulations go out to our athletic department's leadership of Tim Milledge and Sherri Chandler.  Both have received local and state recognition for their work and years of dedication to their respective positions.  Tim was selected as the 2023 SE District HS Athletic Director of the year, and Sherri the 2023 Administrative Assistant of the Year. We are very lucky to have both of them leading our activities department and working for our school district.

Our school district has been very busy planning for upgrades and improvements to our facilities.  We have been working with the architectural firm 10 Fold.  They are working with us to develop a comprehensive facility plan for the next 10 -15 years.  Like most of our homes, school buildings and facilities are in need of constant maintenance.  With COVID we have fallen a little behind but we are working hard to make plans to catch up and formulate a master plan that will serve us well.  A couple of projects that will be started this summer and hopefully completed by fall are new HVAC systems for the gyms and lunchrooms at Columbus and Van Allen Elementary.  We are also in the planning phase to replace the Van Allen playground.  The students have had input on the types of structures we plan to install.  That was a great process to sit back and watch them work together to recommend to the facility committee their choices.  That project should also be completed by the fall of 2023.  Finally, we are moving forward with installing a synthetic turf field on Reynolds Field.  This project will improve the utilization of this facility for all sports and organizations throughout the year.  Wet field conditions will no longer force us to cancel events and lower-level contests to preserve the field’s surface as a grass field does. If everything goes according to plan, this project will also be completed by the fall of 2023.

Happy New Year and thanks for all your support.  Our school, staff, and students appreciate it greatly.  

GO CHARGERS!!!   

Mr. Baker

Phone - 641-774-5967

Email- brad.baker@chariton.k12.ia.us

Twitter -  @Super_Charger

#LBE   Think Big!!!!!