USD 339 Jefferson County North

A Message from Dr. Tim Marshall, Superintendent

Welcome to the Superintendent’s Page! I joined the Jefferson County North Schools, USD 339 on July 1, 2005. This is the beginning of my 29th year of public education, having served both as a teacher and administrator. I feel fortunate to join such a progressive, high achieving district.

What is my vision for JCN? What do I think the future holds? What should the future hold? First, it is important for me to know what I’m talking about! The staff, administration, Board, parents, and yes, even students have a vision for where the district is going. I have only a snapshot after visiting with a few people. The first order of business is to listen, learn, and understand. It is very important to me that the good things that are going on are supported and allowed to continue.

Next, I want to support and implement current goals of the Board of Education. The Board has been involved with thorough planning and I want to continue that practice without a lapse in leadership.

Finally, I want to help our staff and administration move forward. Expectations for student performance are going through the roof. So far, JCN has risen to the challenge. Did you realize that No Child Left Behind means that every student will reach proficient or above on state testing by the year 2014? The task ahead of us is to see that students meet those expectations without letting test performance be our driving force. To do so, we must:

1) Build a strong administrative team. This becomes a support system for teachers who feel the stress of high expectations. The primary component of effective schools is strong individual classroom teachers. The second-most important component? Effective administrators.

2) Go high tech. Technology can be the great equalizer. Not only do students need technology skills to continue learning beyond high school, teachers need to utilize technology to teach effectively. Technology gives us our last chance of “breaking out” of an educational system that is being stretched beyond its limits.

3) Stay high touch. There is nothing that will ever take the place of caring personal relationships between students and teachers. We need to continue those strong bonds and improve them.

My family and I are thrilled to be here and we look forward to serving the USD 339 School District!