Sussex Central Middle School Family,

As we approach the 2022-23 academic school year, we want to extend our everlasting gratitude to you, parents, and students of Sussex County, for your continued and unwavering support. Our mission is to encourage and ensure each student we serve maximizes their academic potential, and we could not accomplish that goal without your support. I assure you that the 2022-2023 academic school year will present several challenges and changes that we will have to collectively overcome to ensure the academic success of our students. Our commitment to your children at Sussex Central Middle School will be to continue to provide a productive, exciting, rigorous, and challenging learning environment that demands the academic and overall success of our students.

During the 2021-2022 academic school year, it is well documented about the bus transportation issues that the school division experienced. Our inability to find bus drivers led to doubling up student bus routes, students reporting late to school, cancelation of extracurricular activities, and after-school remediation programs. We pride ourselves on being solution-based practitioners, so we worked diligently this summer to find a remedy to our transportation woes. Therefore, with input from all stakeholders, we are changing the school start and dismissal times for the 2022-2023 academic school year. Students that are car riders, and are dropped off by parents/guardians will be allowed to enter the school as early as 7:05 am. Our students that ride the bus are anticipated to enter the school by 7:15 am and the instructional day will begin at 7:30 am. Due to the earlier start times, school dismissal will begin promptly at 2:30 pm for all students. To clarify, our instructional day will begin at 7:30 am and end at 2:30 pm. We thank you for your patience and understanding as we navigate this adjustment and protect the instructional integrity of our schools.

One of the challenges that we face in education is replacing highly qualified teachers when they leave our schools. We want to assure you that we have and continue to work diligently to provide the most highly qualified teachers to educate your children. We look forward to seeing you and continuing to build positive relationships with parents, students, and the community.

In closing, we thank you for entrusting us with the responsibility of educating and developing your children. We view our opportunity to educate students as an honor and privilege and we are committed to being a beacon of light for all of our students. We proclaim that the 2022-23 school year will be our most productive and successful year as we push our students’ limits and climb to new heights. Go Tigers!

Sincerely,

James A. Holemon Jr.

Principal

Sussex Central Middle School