September 9, 2022
Dear Binghamton Families,
Welcome back! I’m so glad to have our students back at school, after what I hope was a pleasant and memorable summer for you and your family. You can’t mistake the invigorating “new school year” energy that’s present across the district. Seeing the smiling faces of our students in person once again is truly priceless.
Our district recently completed the strategic planning process, which occurs every five years and defines our district’s mission, vision, values, and commitments. This plan creates a roadmap to accomplish our goals and achieve excellence. The Binghamton City School District’s new mission is built around three powerful words, all beginning with the letter B: believe, belong, and become. In full, our mission is providing a supportive, safe, and engaging school environment that embraces each and everyone to believe in themselves, to belong, and to become successful. Simply put: when a child has adults in their corner who believe in them, that’s when they begin to believe in themselves. Once they believe in themselves, and are part of a community where they feel they belong, they can become anything they wish to be.
Among the items outlined in our new district commitments is safety. School safety and security is a top priority for us in Binghamton, along with communities across the country. We are committed to creating an environment where students, staff, and families feel physically and emotionally safe. The safety procedures and protocols that were successful at Binghamton High School last school year will remain in place. Our district’s safety team will continually examine our protocols as the school year progresses, and make changes and improvements when and where necessary. Additionally, we have placed school safety officers as greeters for each of the elementary buildings, along with each middle school. These are school personnel, trained to maintain a safe environment inside and on school grounds. There are many resources pertaining to health, safety, and other important topics for the academic year available on the New York State Department of Education (NYSED) website and on our district website under For Parents.
There are lots of exciting things in store for our students and schools this year, and I look forward to the many achievements and celebrations to come! We will soon officially share with you information on our district’s new website, mobile app, and perhaps most exciting of all, our new athletic logo, inspired by student artwork.
As we start the new school year, it’s difficult to adequately express how fortunate I feel to lead such an incredible school district. Serving the amazing students, families, faculty and staff that make up the Binghamton City School District community is the greatest honor. Let’s make it our best year yet!
With Patriot Pride,
Dr. Tonia Thompson
Superintendent of Schools