TORRINGTON – Goshen County School District No. 1 Superintendent Ryan Kramer signed on for another two years as the leader of the district during the Goshen County Schools Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday night at the GCSD Central Office building.
The board voted unanimously to offer Kramer a two-year contract for the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school years. Chairwoman Katherine Patrick called Kramer’s performance in his first year at the helm “exemplary.”
“I think that we all agree that we are highly satisfied with the exemplary performance from Mr. Kramer, and we’re hoping to see quite a bit more from him for the next two years,” Patrick said.
Kramer said he has enjoyed his transition into both the position and into the community.
“It’s been a nice transition into the position,” he said. “I really enjoy the community and the opportunity that we have for a lot of growth. It has been a great experience, and my family has loved it. We’re really excited about the opportunity to start forward.”
The district has a lot of new opportunities in the upcoming years, Kramer said, and he’s happy to take on those challenges. He said the possibility of adding a transitional kindergarten program, which the board discussed briefly on Tuesday, is particularly exciting.
The transitional kindergarten program would serve as an additional step for students who are of age to attend kindergarten, but do not have the maturity or academic capability.
“I think we have a lot of big items on the horizon that I’m really excited to tackle, from our grading policy, to our strategic plan, to our possible transitional kindergarten program. All of those things are so exciting,” he said.
But, he said, the best thing about being the head of the district is being able to spend time getting to know Goshen County’s students.
“My greatest experience has been getting to know the kids in the different buildings,” Kramer said. “I’ve been in education for 20 years now and kids are kids no matter where you go, but that reinforcement of being able to meet the kids here in the community and on an individual basis, and getting to talk with them and getting to know them has been really exciting.”
The board also approved a one-year contract for Donna Field to continue her service as the Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Data Management for the 2020-2021 school year.
“We’ll look forward to working with you for another year,” Patrick said.
