Stanton CSD Update 9-4-26: New Principal Tabor Strong on Growth, Community, and a Year That Matters

Stanton CSD Update 9-4-26: New Principal Tabor Strong on Growth, Community, and a Year That Matters

 

Stanton Community School District’s new K-12 principal, Tabor Strong, is two weeks into the job and already talking about what she wants families to feel: that their kids matter, that growth counts, and that Stanton is a good place to be. Strong visited KCSI Friday to introduce herself and share how the year is taking shape.

 

 

 

The district theme this year is You Matter. The new chant is just as short. Someone calls “We are.” The school answers “Stanton Strong.” Strong said students do not wear a sign asking why they count, so adults have to say it — at events, in classrooms, and in the ordinary moments of a school day.

She also wants the community to see how students are growing, not only who sits at the top of a list. Elementary growth data will be posted from fall to winter to spring. Incentives include Tattoo the Principal. High school staff have talked about friendly comparisons with other schools and about passes that reward effort. “I’m not looking for you to be the top of the class,” she said. “I’m looking to see that you’re trying very hard to grow.”

FAST testing for the district starts Sept. 21. Stanton waited past the late-August window so summer slide could ease, and the district offered August summer school for students who needed a boost. Enrollment is about even with last year. Kindergarten sits near 20 students. Official count day is coming, and Strong said Stanton will always welcome more families. Green Hills AEA is helping the district put more of those good stories on social media and the website. Phones stay locked in homeroom until the end of the day — a change she first wondered about and now calls normal. Focus is better. FFA is using TikTok. Football and volleyball highlights are going out the same way.

• Yearbooks are $55, the lowest price of the year. Theme: Glow Up, plus Yearbook Plus extra photos by QR. Order through Charm Carpenter, the school office, or the QR code on the yard sign at the entrance.

• Poetry Tea Time is new. Tuesday, Sept. 8, 3:45 p.m. in Carpenter’s new room. Students, staff, and community are invited. First original poem named on air: “Ode to Aaron Donald.”

• Under the four-day week, staff professional development falls on one Monday a month. The first session Strong is planning is in October