I am excited to get to communicate with The Mountain-Ear readers this year. I am Gavan Goodrich, the principal of Nederland Middle Senior High School. This is my second year in Nederland and I am looking forward to many more. As background, this is my 30th year in education and my 21st year as a principal in both middle schools and high schools.

The beginning of the year is one of the most challenging and exciting times of the year. We are setting the stage for teachers and welcoming new and returning students back to school. Our goal is to provide the best possible educational experience for our students each year. I love the new school year, because it gives us a chance to clean up and correct the things we fell short on the previous year and to address the initiatives we started the past year.

This school year we will be starting to push in the direction of finding ways for us to build toward continuous improvement at the middle and high school. While we are very stable and strong in many areas, we also have plenty of opportunities and challenges to address. Throughout the year I would like you to know what is happening at the school and inform you about the thinking and action plans we have to help make this the best school it can be.

Our overall vision for the school is to provide exceptional student experiences and outcomes. We will work hard to ensure that all students are learning, belonging and involved. I look forward to keeping you informed and up to date on our progress throughout the year. Go Panthers!

For more information about Nederland Middle Senior High School go to their website at https://neh.bvsd.org/.