An End-of-Year Message from Superintendent LaCroix

Dear HSSD Families and Staff,

As we conclude the final day of the 2021-22 school year, I am writing to thank you and to celebrate with you! 

Thank you for being partners in educating the youth of our community. This is a sacred privilege. Our mission speaks to the combined effort necessary to make this happen well: “We will work together with families and community to ensure our students have the knowledge and skills to succeed in a changing world.” 

Current events remind me that our world is changing. We are living in a dynamic age characterized by heartaches and joys, griefs and gratitudes, disappointments and breakthroughs. As a learning community, we experienced the highs and lows of all of these emotions, and more, during the past eleven months. Thank you for showing up. Thank you for being resilient. Thank you for any measure of kindness that supported our staff theme: “Let us bring humanity back.” We are better as a result of your contributions.  

As we look to June 12 and the Graduation of the Class of 2022, we have reason to celebrate! More than 450 seniors will walk across the commencement platform to accept their diploma, signifying both an end to a journey and the gateway to a new one. For some students, the simultaneous end and beginning is frightening. For others, it is exciting. Either way, we share the honor of recognizing a milestone achievement. Here is a sneak preview of what I intend to say to our graduates on Sunday:

Congratulations! I say this not so much for what you’ve accomplished - but for who you are becoming in the process of life.  

Picasso was right when he said, “The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.”

You’ve been given gifts which our world desperately needs - right here, right now!

An African proverb says, “It takes a village to raise a child.” As we saw in last week’s groundbreaking and wall breaking events at Forest Glen and Bay View, we benefit from the support of two villages! Please accept my personal best wishes on a summer with friends and family filled with rest, reflection, and rejuvenation. I look forward to seeing you again on September 1.

Together,

Damian LaCroix, Superintendent