Dear STEM School Highlands Ranch Families, Students and Staff,
For those who may not know, yesterday evening I was voted in as Chair/President of the STEM School Highlands Ranch/KOSON Network of Schools Board of Directors. I am excited to take on this opportunity and to pick up the reigns that so many esteemed previous Board Members have held.
For those who I have not met, I am a parent of two students at STEM, one in Elementary and one in Secondary. I have been an active member of the School Accountability Committee and also volunteer regularly in the school and on our Elementary School Driveline.
I want to take a moment to say thank you to Roy Martinez who has been a faithful member of our Board for so many years. His dedication to serving our community is commendable and something that I truly admire.
I want to also thank the entire community for their support. It has not been an easy road for many of us, but I can see our community coming together for our common mission. Recovery and rebuilding have no set timeline or straight path. It is full of ups and downs along the way that challenge us and help us grow. We are a powerful community with so much to celebrate.
What I love about STEM School Highlands Ranch is that it truly is an amazing school where my children thrive and push themselves to unleash their potential to the fullest. STEM is the highest-ranked school in DCSD and continues to build a national presence for excellence. We should all be proud of our collective achievements.
The Board of Directors still has a lot of work to do, and I am excited about the group of dedicated volunteers serving on our Board. Carla Gustafson will start her new three-year Class B term as the Vice President. Nicole Smith will continue as the Treasurer finishing out a one-year vacancy. Michelle Horne will serve as Secretary, and Jim Hardy is our newly elected Class A Director. Rudy Lukez and Ishmeet Kalra will continue as Class B Directors, and we have welcomed Linda Davison to serve a two-year vacancy as a Class B Director. A big thank you to Ramesh Thatavarthi for his time on the board these past few years. This great team of parents and community members is giving countless hours of their free time to review and reflect on very important decisions to ensure the success of our school.
This week our Board will meet for their annual Board Training and will begin working with the company Board on Track. This platform will help us to remain organized, have access to resources that Boards need throughout the year, and also provide the evaluation tools necessary to make sure we accelerate our goals and support our CEO, Dr. Penny Eucker, in achieving her goals.
The Board will develop its goals and objectives this summer for the upcoming school year and will plan to share those with the community in August. Our priority is to take advantage of our high-powered and highly-motivated Board Members to ensure that we are starting off the new school year focused and aligned around our mission.
Thank you for your commitment to STEM School Highlands Ranch and the KOSON Network of Schools.
Kelly Reyna, Board Chair/President