Superintendent's Message

Dear Patrons, 

Welcome back Columbia School District patrons to the 2019-2020 school year! Many months of planning have gone into the start of the school year and I know parents and many of our students across the district are as excited as I am to get this year underway. This past week, Columbia Elementary and Middle School held their annual Open House nights. It was a great night as parents and students alike packed the hallways. Thank you to those who attended and participated. We are excited to finally have students in the hallways again across our district and know this year will prove to be an amazing year for our community. I look forward to
seeing you at school or one of our upcoming events this year!

Before we get too far into the new school year, I want to step back and celebrate many of our accomplishments over the past year. Over the past year, Columbia School District completed the new elementary school activities wing, remodeled the high school track and roof. One-to One Chromebook access was provided for students at CMS and plans were made and developed to begin the One-to-One Chromebook take home for students at CHS beginning this week. The district calendar was redesigned to provide additional professional development and staff attended several trainings in areas such as language acquisition/oracy as well as school safety training. The District completed five state and federal audits, created a new bond/facilities plan, finalized a district Science adoption for new materials in grades 6-12 and created a new partnership with Walla Walla Community College to offer courses in the evening for interested students and parents.

As we transition and move into a new year, we are already knee deep into so many plans for the year. Monday, September 16th will be a no school day as John Norlin from Character Strong will be on site working with our entire staff on social/emotional learning and character development. We are also putting the finishing touches on irrigation upgrades around the new HS track so please be patient with us as we finish this work. When completed, the track area will be open again to the public.

We have so many amazing things occurring on a daily basis within the walls of our schools and have so many things to be proud of here in Burbank. Thank you for entrusting our district with your most valuable possessions, your children. We value your commitment and support of our district. It’s a great day to be a Coyote!

Sincerely,

Todd Hilberg, Superintendent