Welcome to the 2025-2026 school year. I hope all of you had a summer full of time
spent with family and friends. For you in our community that do not have children in
school, I hope your summer was one of rest, relaxation, and a fulfillment of vacations,
projects, and peacefulness.

As we begin another school year, we want to welcome our new staff to our district.
We have some new teachers at the elementary school and para educators in both
buildings. I believe our building administrators have hired the best and brightest to work
with our children this year. I, for one, am excited to see our new staff blend in with our
current veteran staff. As always, we will provide them with support to ensure they are
successful in helping our students grow and achieve. Parents and guardians will have
the opportunity to meet our new staff at our Open House. The community can meet our
new staff at the September School Board Meeting.

This year, we will face many challenges. The state of our economy, both at the state
and federal level, has caused a reduction in school financial support. We made the
necessary adjustments in our budget to ensure we have a balanced budget, but still
provide the funding to our schools and programs that will focus on student academic
achievement. Our staff is committed to using the resources we have to further the
education of all of our students. It will be challenging, but I have faith that our staff will
continue to do their very best each and every day when working with the students of
Pioneer.

Last year, we did refinance our bond obligations, lowering the per thousand rate on
the existing middle school construction bond. In February of 2027, our district will go out
to voters to approve our Educational Programs and Operations levy. More information
will be forthcoming as we get prepared for this all important levy.

We have strong programs in each of our buildings that continue to grow and thrive.
Our music and STEM programs provide outstanding opportunities for all students to
experience enrichment activities that compliment our academic programs. Students in
middle school have the opportunity to participate in our athletic programs that teach not
only the skills and fundamentals of the sports, but an opportunity to compete against
area schools to demonstrate healthy competition, teamwork, and motivation to be their
very best in the athletic arena. Our intervention programs help those students who are
not yet at grade-level proficiency. The staff in each building will continue to monitor
academic growth in math, reading, and science, as well as our other academic subjects.
Finally, we have a strong social emotion program that helps students become
responsible, respectful, and safe when in and out of school. We want our students to
have self-respect, self-reliance, and self-responsibility, as well as learn how to problem-
solve issues that may arise with their peers.

I hope you will have the opportunity to visit our schools, see the work our staff is
doing with the students of Pioneer, and get involved in the myriad of volunteer
opportunities in our school district. As always, my door is open and I encourage you to
stop by the district office to visit.