Altoona Superintendent talks about strategic-plan for upcoming school year

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WEAU) - The Altoona school district will hold its “Welcome Back Day” Tuesday, August 30th as the Rails get ready to embark on the new school year. The district is entering the second year of a five-year strategic plan that was based on public feedback. Superintendent Heidi Eliopoulos says the focus this year is working on academic achievement and interpersonal skills for their students. The goal- to help them become tomorrow-ready citizens.

“We’re really focusing in on the research that we know about how to get students ready to be college and career ready. We no longer see high school graduation as the finish line but we are looking at it as the starting line and focusing on the important work that we do to prepare our students to get there, explains Eliopoulos.

For the first time in three years, elementary and intermediate students will be back in school full-time with no restrictions due to COVID. Great news for the younger students who need consistency in the classroom. Eliopoulos says that in-class instruction will help them grow, learn, and develop the needed social and academic skills.

“Especially for our little ones having them in person, in-school is so important to their development. It’s not only their academic development so they can be learning but also socialization,” says Eliopoulos. “So having them in school, with their peers, not only with them learning how to read, but also how to play together, how to cooperate together, how to be a team member, emotional regulations, all key aspects of their development.”

The first day of classes for the Altoona School District is Thursday, September 1st.

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