Monday served as half day for grades K-6, new students; Tuesday was full day for all grades

By Holly Dillemuth, Ashland.news

As a school bus pulled around the backside of Ashland Middle School Monday morning, sixth-graders and new incoming students stepped off to start their first day of middle school and to be greeted by new Ashland School District Superintendent Joseph Hattrick, who wished them a cheerful “good morning” one-by-one.

While it wasn’t Hattrick’s first day on the job – he started with the district on July 1 – the first day with students holds a special excitement of its own. Fresh off a morning spent chatting with elementary and middle school students as well as staff, a personable Hattrick exuded excitement and optimism about the coming school year for an estimated 2,559 students (enrollment will be more finalized in mid-September) and 165 teachers, including 15 new teachers this fall.

Peering into the bus near the door, Hatrick asked the bus driver by name, 

“Tom, How are ya?” before greeting each of the students, too.

Hattrick said that during his first week with school in session, he’s trying to be as many places as he can, and essentially put the steps of his entry plan into action.

“I do try to be at parent drop-off and pick-up to observe operations, meet with teachers, as well as talk to parents and students,” Hattrick said in an email Tuesday. “Additionally, I do walk-throughs of the schools throughout the day and during lunchtime where I have more opportunities to interact. I also observe and talk to classes and attend assemblies, in addition to regular duties. I also stay in regular communication with the school principals, transportation, operations, technology, and nutrition directors to ensure smooth operations.” 

Hattrick also shared plans to help give students and parents an added voice at the district level this school year.

“It is my hope that in the coming weeks we can assemble a student advisory (group) for the superintendent as a means to learn from/with our students and a district Parent Advisory (group) as a way to unify the district so we have designated PTA/PTO groups at each school while ensuring unity and collaboration district-wide,” Hattrick said.

Relational, responsive, visible, reflective and results-oriented are some of the attributes he wants as part of his philosophy toward his new role. Hattrick comes to Ashland from Rainier, Oregon, where he served as superintendent.

“At the heart of what we do at the Ashland School District is forge relationships through which we inspire learning that leads to equipping our young adults with the tools necessary to thrive and be successful adults,” Hattrick said. “Therefore, my goals for the year are to ensure a positive climate through providing exceptional service to our staff, students, families, and community.”

Hattrick said he wants to ensure academic excellence as well as engagement with all constituent groups, with a focus on families and students. He also said he wants to support the holistic educational student experience, which includes social-emotional, educational and extracurricular. 

The first week of school provides a great opportunity to build relationships and meet with students and parents, providing them an opportunity to get to know him, he said.

“Last week was our ‘welcome back’ for staff and there was so much energy in the room,” Hattrick told Ashland.news after students had gone to class on Monday. “Our staff are ready for the school year, they’re ready for … a renewed hope and energy, and fresh starts, and so this just feels like the culmination of a lot of exciting things.”

Hattrick attended his first retreat with Ashland School Board members in mid-August, where he said board members shared great conversations about the direction for schools. Hattrick said he led an activity called collective commitments to gauge everyone’s priorities and values.

“It was exciting to see the overlap of the things our teams our committed to, things around hope, excellence, love, joy … we’re really just about kids and doing some great work,” Hattrick said.

“With new leadership — and we have three new cabinet members (high-level administrators), two new site-based leaders and, so — with that comes a lot of anxiety and potentially fear with staff members, but also I’m sure with parents and students, and so I do want to honor that and give a chance for hope and fresh starts,” he added.

One of the things Hattrick said he shared with staff during the school district’s ‘welcome back’ last week is efforts to maximize opportunities to build relationships with students.

“We have a limited amount of time with students so we need to maximize that because the heart of our work is relationships,” Hattrick said. “Just remembering the impact that every teacher has.

“Last week, I tried very hard to make it to every school, every staff meeting,” he said.

“It’s really important,” he added. “And that was at the heart of my entry plan, which is to spend time with every single person, staff, parent(s), and community, and now that students are back, I’ll also have the chance to spend time with students.”

Hattrick already met with leadership students at Ashland High School, and plans to make more visits to the schools. 

Classes were delayed at the high school by one day for freshmen, who normally would have had a half day on Monday.

“The delay was a result of logistical challenges associated with moving between temporary and permanent spaces,” Hattrick told Ashland.news in an email on Tuesday. “There were simply many moving pieces during the week that required an additional day to be fully prepared to welcome our students back to school.  We were delighted to see all students back Tuesday and staff made arrangements to welcome (ninth) grade students and students new to the district. 

Staff and student leaders gathered in the courtyard with student schedules and tour guides to help students find their classes, according to Hattrick.

“Additionally the high school has a tradition which is called the “Freshman Tunnel” where staff form two lines facing each other and as students walk between, staff cheer for them as a welcome to high school,” Hattrick said. “The same thing happens at the end of their senior year as a symbolic farewell from high school. The staff were able to continue this tradition today at the end of an impromptu student assembly and as the assembly ended, staff lined up outside the gym and welcomed freshman (out) through the Freshman Tunnel.” 

Hattrick welled with appreciation for the chance to serve Ashland students and families.

“I have said it before, but will say it again, having been selected to be Ashland School District’s superintendent is such an honor,” Hattrick told Ashland.news. “This community has been incredibly welcoming.” 

Email Ashland.news reporter Holly Dillemuth at hollyd@ashland.news.

Related stories:

New superintendent starts with Ashland School District on Monday (July 1, 2024)

Ashland School Board taps current Rainier superintendent for top district job (Feb. 20, 2024)