Superintendent's News
Superintendent's News
August 26, 2026
School Matters
by: Wayne LePard, Superintendent
The School Year is Starting
The teachers and staff of the Royalton School District welcome you to a new school year. We are excited to see our first glimpse of the class of 2039 in our kindergarten classrooms and welcome back students from last year including the senior class of 2027. There may be start-of-school jitters on the part of students and parents, however, not so much with the experienced and energized teachers and staff of the School District.
This past week, teachers and district staff were busy with but not limited to:
- getting classrooms ready
- preparing for lesson planning and curriculum
- preparing for monthly food service menus
- polishing up gym floors and hallways
- football field bleacher upgrades
- Technology handout of student 1:1 devices
- preparing for a roofing project
- fields and grounds work
- finalizing bus and transportation routes
- building schedules
- class lists
- listened to a presentation by Dr. Cindra Kamphoff
The administration's book study this year will be Beyond Grit, by Dr. Cindra Kamphoff. It emphasizes the ten powerful practices with strategies that the world’s best use to gain the high-performance edge. All district staff received a copy of Cindra’s newest book called The Confidence Edge. It is based upon current research that shares 7 core practices to transform self-doubt to self-belief. We are excited to see the impact these book studies will have on our leaders, our staff and our students.
The Royalton School District launched its new website last spring. Accessing the Royalton Public Schools website, , does not change. The new website is in tune with the variety of devices used by people to access the internet, for example, the website will adjust to whatever device is being used such as a smartphone, iPad, Tablet, laptop or desktop computer.
Our new communication platform, ParentSquare:
From now on, you’ll receive district, school, and classroom updates here—right where you can easily access everything from your phone or computer. Whether it’s event reminders, forms, schedule changes, or classroom news, ParentSquare keeps all your school communication in one place.
You can also:
- Choose how and when you receive messages
- Reply to messages from staff
- View calendars and sign-ups
If you haven’t already, download the free ParentSquare app for iOS or Android, or log in at the Parent Square Website.
Royalton adopted AI guidelines, developed by a committee of teachers and administrators this summer. The focus from the committee was on three themes: safety, student academics, and staff instruction. Teachers will post the guidelines in middle and high school classrooms. Notably, the AI guidelines include a four-level continuum. The continuum runs from AI-free work, where students are responsible for doing their own thinking, through AI-assisted brainstorming that must be disclosed, to AI-enhanced and AI-empowered work where students still have to check accuracy, fairness, and originality.
There will be a change in the before and after school daily routine for families with the start of school. The morning hectic rush to get to school and work on time is inevitable. Please recognize there will be heavier traffic around the school so it is important motorists drive safely and watch for walkers and bicycles around the school sites. In addition, each day many Royalton buses are traveling throughout the district transporting kids to and from school. Drive with caution especially when kids are standing and waiting for the bus or when buses are flashing their warning lights or have their STOP arm extended.
The highly trained teachers and school staff provide a caring environment for children in the School District, we are very proud of our Schools and we invite you to stop in and enjoy the activities held in the Royalton Schools. We look forward to the 2026-2027 school year. School is open – Drive Carefully. Go Royals!
Sincerely,
Wayne LePard, Superintendent