Superintendent’s “Summer Update” Blog – 6/25/2015
Summer Update – 6/28/2015
I hope everyone is enjoying their summer and making the most of Summer break. This is the time of year when we take a deep breath in the Administrative offices, reflect on the past year and get ready for school to start back in August. I believe our 14-15 school year was very successful on many fronts. Each year that passes gives me a better understanding of our community, our students, and our parents. I feel more and more confident each day concerning Parkview’s future and the health of our school. As you look back over the past two years, it may be surprising how far we have come.
Financially, Parkview meets the gold standard from Independent School Management (ISM) which states that tuition should cover at least 95% of the cost of a school. Between tuition and some income we get from grants and other non-tuition areas, Parkview covers 100% of our operating costs through our budget. This means we can put the maximum amount of money we raise (fundraising) toward school projects that directly improve the experience of our students. I want to take some time to share some of the things that we have recently accomplished because of our dedicated parents.
This Winter, Softball parents donated a turf softball field. This is a huge improvement to our athletic complex and has provided a clean and dry area for many other student activities.
We also had a hugely successful “84 for a Floor” campaign to install a new floor in the Middle School gym. This is a direct result of our PTF working hard to organize efforts to accomplish this needed improvement. Your parent contributions, a generous logo donor, some help from Parkview Baptist Church, and some additional funds the PTF had raised, was just enough to cover the Middle School gym floor plus some additional work the PTF wanted to do.
The Middle School Gym floor just has a little while left to ‘cure;’ then it will be open for business!
When combined with some maintenance money from the school, we were able to clean and paint the air conditioning vents in the ceiling of the High School gym and repaint the entire lobby and concession area. PTF just recently purchased some great sturdy wooden furniture for the lobby that turns it into an inviting area for students to gather and congregate, and greatly enhances its functionality and appearance. PTF funds and Eagle Annual Funds were used to purchase new, larger benches located outside the high school gym for students to ‘hang out.’
We have also done much needed maintenance on our bleachers in both gyms which will protect our floors and allow our bleachers to last much longer.
I am excited about these improvements as they not only enhance the safety aspect of our students experience, but they improve the overall look of our campus both for our current families and our guests. I believe a quality education should also be reflected in a quality physical environment. It is amazing how these cosmetic improvements improve a guests ‘first impression’ of our school, as well as brightening up our current students and parents.
I appreciate every parent who gave toward these projects and I hope you are as proud as I am of our campus. We have many more things we want to do and it is a huge encouragement to me to know that we have families that feel the same way I do about having a quality school system and environment. Together we can achieve great things as we invest in future generations.
Only six weeks to go until school begins! Mark your calendars for Wednesday, August 5th at 6pm for our Schoolwide Worship and Prayer Walk to kick off the year. Keep Parkview Baptist Church and School in your prayers and we will see you in a few weeks!
#parkviewstrong,
Dr. Don R. Mayes
Superintendent