Superintendent's Message

Dear Patrons, 

The chill in the air tells us that it won’t be long before we move from fall to winter here in Burbank. If you are a believer in the Farmers’ Almanac, the 2019-2020 winter outlook calls for chilly yet normal precipitation for the Pacific Northwest. The almanac, in fact, is calling for a “Polar Coaster” with many ups and downs concerning temperatures across our nation this winter season. While I love snow and the beauty that each of our four seasons bring, I’m not sure I’m quite ready for the snow to fly this early! With last year's winter still fresh in our minds, here’s to hoping for a year with no school closures.

In other district news, I’m happy to announce the Columbia High School track is almost complete. Benyon Sports completed construction of the new track facilities in August. Since then, new infrastructure upgrades were made to the irrigation, fencing and surrounding grounds including sod and a new asphalt access via Humorist Rd. These upgrades will provide our students, athletes and community with a first class track facility.

Finally, did you know that Columbia School District has partnered with Walla Walla Community College to host evening college level courses on the CSD campus beginning this past September? As a support aimed at adding additional career and technical trade opportunities for our students, community and local businesses, CSD has begun a partnership with WWCC to offer classes put on by our local community college to aide and support additional advance workforce training. If you happen to be on campus in the evening for a sporting or community event this year, you may notice classes being held in the vocational building or district office shop area. With a full year of coursework planned for the upcoming school year, we will have many offerings through WWCC in
areas such as Industrial Safety, Welding, Industrial Mechanics, and various Electrical courses to name
just a few. With the new partnership with WWCC, CSD students will have additional opportunity to experience industrial equipment during the school day. While we are still just in the infancy stage of developing this partnership, we are excited for the opportunity this may bring our students, community and local business partners.

Until next time, enjoy this fall season and I hope to see you at one of our next school events!

Sincerely,

Todd Hilberg, Superintendent