It is once again my pleasure to welcome everyone back to school for the 2011-2012 school year.  The Raton Public Schools offer a comprehensive education for approximately 1300 students. RPS provides a variety of education programs addressing the needs of a community that is multi-ethnic and varied in its socioeconomic structure.

We have a very good staff ready to begin and continue the process of educating our young people.  Our certified staff has a combined total of over 1500 years in education.  We are excited to kick off the new school year and look forward to making this school year the best ever.

I am constantly amazed at the incredible things that our young people accomplish each and every day of the school year.  We have great students that learn from great teachers.

We are pleased to announce a new partnership with Summit Food Service for the management of our food service programs.  We are looking forward to some new and exciting things in the cafeterias district wide. 

We are working to improve our parent involvement and customer service and would welcome input from parents and community members alike.  Please feel free to contact us with any concerns or ideas.

It is important to note that as a school district we have many challenges and we need all of the help we can get.  School attendance is vital to each individual student’s success.  We need the help of the entire community to make sure students are in school.  We face a huge drop out problem and we once again need the help of the community.  If you know or are aware of a student who has dropped out or is contemplating dropping out of school please call me personally at 445-9111 so that I can work with the student on a plan to keep them in school or return them to school.  With the help and support of the community we can increase the graduation rate and prepare our young people for a brighter future. 

Thank you for the support of our most precious resources.  It is true that our young people are the leaders of tomorrow and I think we are in good hands.

Sincerely,

 David Willden, Superintendent