1. Why am I here?
2. Who am I?
3. What are my top priorities?

WHY AM I HERE?
 
People often ask me why I decided to come to SRCS, and there are three main reasons:  

• the amazing people who are here; 
• the strong community and parent support; and 
• the close match between my skills and strengths and the District's needs.

One of the big reasons I am here in San Rafael is because of our Board of Education, and I believe it is essential that we have a strong governance team in place to address the many challenges we face. I have been very impressed with all five of our Board members, and I have really enjoyed getting to know them. I also want to thank the Board for their confidence in hiring me. This week, after many months of public discussion and input, our Board voted to adopt a new map of trustee-areas by district and approved a map that was drawn by one of our former Venetia Valley students. In 2020, SRCS will become the first school district in Marin to vote by the newly designed trustee areas instead of voting "at-large." I was very impressed with the way our Board listened closely to our public comments during our community meetings and Board meetings, and this input led to a smooth and unanimous decision that reflected strong community input. This is the kind of school board that I want to work with.

I also work closely with is our District staff, including administrators, classified staff, principals, and assistant principals. Over the past few months, I have been able to meet with administrators from across the District and have come away impressed with their professionalism and their commitment to our students and SRCS. I have also spent some time with our labor partners: SRFT, SRTA and CSEA. Last week, we were able to come to a tentative agreement with our high school teachers, and I looking forward to having the contract approved.

School districts are built on trust, collaboration and strong relationships, and I have seen great evidence of this in my short time here. My plan for these first months is to meet as many people as possible on a kind of "listening tour" to determine what is going well and what areas we need to work on for improvement. Now that I have met with most of our staff, my next step is to reach out to our community partners, parents and students to also hear their perspective on how things are going. I look forward to meeting you in the coming months.

WHO IS JIM HOGEBOOM?
 
Hogeboom means "Big Tree" in Dutch, and that kind of fits me! I grew up in the East Bay and went to San Ramon High School. From there I went to Cal Berkeley, following in the footsteps of my parents and my two older sisters. I had been a huge Cal fan since I was a little boy, going to all the football and basketball games every year. After college I didn't know what to do with my Political Science degree, so I interviewed with some firms on campus and was hired by Boise Cascade Office Products.

While I enjoyed the challenge of sales and management at Boise, I realized it wasn't really my passion - which led me to getting my teaching credential at San Francisco State and beginning my teaching career at Tamalpais High School. After that I went to Novato to be the Assistant Principal at Hill Middle School; had a brief stint at Davidson Middle School; opened Cooley Middle School in Roseville; and then went to work as the Assistant Superintendent in Corvallis, Oregon. I have been the superintendent in Lucia Mar Unified on the Central Coast and at Novato Unified, and love being a superintendent.

The two things that matter most to me are equity and personal growth, and these values are at the core of what I believe and what is important to me. I trust you will see evidence of this as we spend more time together here over the coming years.

WHAT ARE MY TOP PRIORITIES?
 
The first item on my agenda is to meet with as many people in San Rafael as I can to better understand what is going well and what can be improved. I will report out on the results of my "listening tour" in this fall. We have already set our top four goals for the year based on data we analyzed last year. There are specifics to the goals, but overall, they are to: 

1. Improve student achievement
   • Increase our graduation rates
   • Increase our math and English results
   • Decrease our suspension rates
   • Decrease our chronic absenteeism rates
2. Build a culture of excellence that is supportive and positive through trusting relationships 
3. Establish a common vision by partnering with the greater community to create a strong General Plan 2023
4. Balance the budgets 

Finally, we must focus on closing the opportunity gap and making sure all students are achieving their full potential. Equity is a top priority for SRCS, and we must meet the challenge. 

These are difficult times in America on a number of fronts. It is imperative that we all pull together to create a vision of excellence here in San Rafael, that we take care of our students in every way; that we provide for their physical and emotional safety; and that we work together to achieve our goals. I am thrilled to be in SRCS, and look forward to meeting you all in the coming year. 

Thanks in advance for your support and confidence, and I look forward to an amazing school year for our students.

Sincerely,