COBRA COMMUNICATIONS – Craig Schlichting – Superintendent
Triton Public Schools, like most schools, has a Strategic Plan. It begins with our school district vision statement – “Developing Lifelong Learners” and then our mission statement, “Inspiring and preparing learners for life by providing educational opportunities in a safe, caring and respectful environment.” These are guiding statements for me as a leader of our school district. My job is to ensure that we are doing everything we can to fulfill those statements and make sure that they are more than just words on a piece of paper. The next piece of our plan describes our core values. This is a short paragraph that states:
“Building relationships where everyone is welcomed, has a sense of belonging, and is valued. Committed to student achievement by honoring interests, individuality, and high-quality education. Encourage and celebrate innovation and creativity. Committed to high standards, expectations and accountability.”
An effective strategic plan guides the work we do as a school district. It is a document that the district uses as a roadmap for success. This document also has our aims and goals for our district. It has also been recently updated with the “Profile of a Graduate.” This was developed by our school community to be like a reflection of the things we need to emphasize, and ultimately the qualities our graduates will have from Triton Public Schools. This graphic (posted on with this article) emphasizes the qualities that a group of stakeholders identified as a priority for our students.
When I began as a superintendent in 2019, I felt that many positive things were happening in our district, but we were not doing a very good job of promoting those things to our community. When I was able to get out and about in the community to talk about our operational levy, I realized many people were unaware of some of the positive things that were happening in our district. In order to build pride in our district, I needed to do a better job of communicating the positive things that are happening. I feel that we got a little sidetracked doing that with the onset of COVID that took place halfway into my first year as a superintendent. As I begin my third year, I hope to reestablish the goal of promoting the good things that are happening in our district. I am very excited to announce that Triton Public Schools has an app that you can download to keep up with what is happening in our district. I hope you find it easy to use, and informative. One could say that I picked the worst time to become the next superintendent, but I am often reminded that times of adversity really provide the best time to have an impact as a leader. I hope that my leadership can really help to emphasize the great things our staff and students are doing here at Triton Public Schools!
Please reach out to me with any questions that you may have regarding our school district. You can email me at schlich@triton.k12.mn.us or you can call me at 507-418-7530 to reach me at the district office. I would be happy to set up a time to meet with you or your organization. I believe that communication is an important aspect of my job responsibility, and I welcome the opportunity to learn from your perspective. GO COBRAS!
#WeAreTriton