Welcome to Bentley, home of the Bulldogs!
Like a bulldog, we are not the largest nor the smallest of schools, but we are tenacious! I am proud to be the superintendent of this district—a place whose students and staff strive to be better today than they were yesterday.
Although I spent 22 years in another district in educator and administrative roles, I have been in this district since 2018 and I can tell you unequivocally, the greatest asset in Bentley is the people. The staff are committed, the students are our future, and the community clearly cares about the education and well-being of our youth. We work collaboratively to provide the best learning opportunities for our youth even as we look toward and plan for the future.
As the lead learner in this district, I think about the ways in which we can harness technology to transform learning, for both students and staff. I think about what we should keep, what we should revise, and what we should let go. And it is with stakeholder input that we are co-constructing the future of a modern learning environment for our Bentley staff and students.
For example, we are thinking about instructional models. Moving from grade to grade by age is a model that came from Henry Ford’s assembly line. Sitting in rows facing a teacher had more relevance when the teacher was the source of knowledge. Times have changed tremendously. Ultimately, we no longer rely on memorization or a library to look up information because we can look it up on a phone or computer. Our students need to make sense of problems and persevere in solving them; they need to be collaborative and curious; they need to be able to construct viable arguments and critique the thinking of others; they need to be able to reason abstractly and quantitatively; and they need to be ethical.
Having an educated citizenry is clearly important. How can we best approach learning and school? We need the input from you, the parents, staff, and students of Bentley. Please know that you are always welcome to reach out to me . . . with a concern, a suggestion, or even a celebration
Warmly,
Dr. Kristy Spann, Superintendent