August 1, 2019 - A Back to School Message from Mr. Dan Wessel, Interim Superintendent
Welcome back to all the families of Lansing USD 469! We have been working hard to prepare for the 2019-2020 school year at Lansing Schools. We would like to take the opportunity to thank our former Superintendent, Dr. Darrel Stufflebeam, for his service to USD469. He will be staying in the community and continuing his work in education at the University of Saint Mary. It is with much excitement that I announce that I will be serving as the Interim Superintendent of Schools this coming year. This is my 24th year working in the Lansing School District, and it has been a great place to serve as a teacher, building administrator, and district administrator. My mission this year is to continue helping USD469 move forward with the initiatives that have been started over the last three years and help with the transition to new leadership for the 2020-2021 school year. We will continue building community / school relationships, as well as focusing on student growth and well-being.
Lansing School District will continue to build relationships between our community members and the schools that serve them. Family engagement in student learning is imperative to student success. As a district, we will move forward with creating a welcoming environment for learning and communicating more effectively about student progress and supporting families with helping their children to learn. The focus on family engagement will assist with making the partnership between parents and schools a continuous process leading to student success.
Student success will continue to be at the forefront of everything we do in Lansing schools. We will carry on with implementing the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) district wide for students who are struggling academically. Beginning the first weeks of school, we will be screening all students in reading and math using FASTBRIDGE. Scores will be used to identify students who are predicted to struggle academically, and it is the goal of MTSS to rapidly provide assistance to students predicted to be off grade level benchmark. The schools have time to aid students who are struggling while providing additional enrichment and practice for students who are on or ahead of their benchmark.
Changes this year in the Lansing School District include new positions in the district for counseling, social work, math intervention, and instructional coaching. These positions will help us better serve our students academically and socially, as well as supporting our teachers’ growth as educators in an ever-changing profession. Math resources will be in the second year of implementation across the district and English Language Arts (ELA) resources will be adopted and implemented this year in grades 6-12. ELA resources will also be piloted this year in grades K-5. In addition to ELA resources, science resources will also be piloted again this year. Another change will be to the playground at Lansing Intermediate School, with an addition of blacktop and an increased fenced in space to accommodate a larger area for students to play.
On a personal note, it is an exciting time to serve the members of the community and schools in this new capacity as interim superintendent. This community has been very good to my family and me over the last 24 years, and the opportunity to give back at this level is a gift. Working closely with members of our community to build a great place to raise children and provide for their future is a great responsibility and challenge that I look forward to embracing.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me at dan.wessel@usd469.net or 913-727-1100 if I can be of any service. As always, “Every Day is a Great Day to be a Lion”. Thank you for supporting Lansing USD 469 and Kansas public education.
Respectfully,
Mr. Dan Wessel, Interim Superintendent of Schools