Red Hook's 2024-25 mission: Prepare students for 'plausible future'

One day before Red Hook students return to classrooms for the 2024-25 school year, Red Hook educators returned to school buildings to discuss initiatives that will shape their educational experience.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Janet Warden formally welcomed staff back for the new year with a presentation at the high school’s Performing Arts Center that focused on how the district would transform to meet the evolving needs of students. That includes not only addressing the elements that increasingly result in anxiety, but also how curriculum will be altered to better prepare students to thrive post-graduation.

Warden repeatedly encouraged the educators to think about how to be ahead of the curve and anticipate the “plausible future” still to arrive.

“What do our classrooms need to look like to provide a space for our students,” the superintendent asked, “to start thinking really critically about the world that we live in?”

High school senior Ellie Marlborough and Board of Education President Russ Crafton provided opening remarks. Each, from their different perspectives, drew attention to the care with which district staff approaches their roles.

“You know us students are human. Because of that, there is a mutual respect you may not always see at a school,” Marlborough said. “On behalf of the Class of 2025, thank you for an amazing experience.”

Crafton reminded the staff of the importance of caring about each student individually.

“If they seem to have some issues, acting out, maybe they don’t show interest in your class, you still have to care about them,” he said. “In fact, it’s that caring is where you find the passion and energy to do the things that make a difference.”

Caring for students likewise includes being “future focused” – understanding how their educational needs have changed with the world, and that the approach to preparing them must change. Warden discussed with the staff the need to provide students with the skills to interact with the changing world, and meet their desire to create and impact the world around them.

“They need to engage in local and global civics,” Warden said. “Right in front of us, we have the most caring community that I’ve ever been in.”

She also stressed students must learn communication skills, including when dealing with people with differing perspectives. Many of those empathetic values, she reminded them, are part of the Raider Profile.

“We have to have classrooms where students are collaborating and constantly communicating with each other,” Warden said. “This country is more diverse than it’s ever been before.”

The approach, she said, is a “transformation,” not a “change,” and ties in with the district’s 2024-27 goals, which include creating a “student-centered curriculum.”

“This is our purpose,” she said. “Tomorrow, when you welcome your students, show them this. This is our mission. This is what we’re doing as a school district.

“Show them what we’re working toward,” she said. “They’re thinking about the future constantly, so this is what we’re thinking about. We want to empower you in this classroom to embrace today – that  pull of the present – but navigate the possibilities of tomorrow – that plausible future that’s going to happen. We’re ready for that. We’re going to help you through that.”