Dear CVSD Community,

As August rolls in, since I was young enough to remember school, I’ve felt both nervousness for the transitions ahead and the sense of potential inherent in a fresh start—a deeply underrated phrase (As one team at WCS says, Every day is a fresh start for every kid. I love that!).

Each August I set a short mantra (I know, I know, try not to roll your eyes too hard)—a few words to guide me through the year ahead in response to these questions: How do I want to show up this year so I’m proud of who I am in June 2026? What opportunities am I open to? What challenges might I face? Who will walk alongside me? Try it! And, if you’re inclined, I’d love to hear your words for the year. 

After 25 years at the high school level, my mantra for 2025–26 grew from an observation that’s been rattling around in my mind since last year, as I moved between our preK–8 schools and CVU: Look closely enough, and you’ll see the kindergartner in every graduate. That phrase made me think of this short story by Sandra Cisneros—which then led me to this mantra: There’s a kindergartner in all of us.

Why that phrase?

Because when you spend time with a group of kindergartners, our shared humanity—one we may hide but never really lose—is fully on display. Kindergartners are driven by curiosity, honesty, vulnerability, and innate compassion. They laugh and cry in the same breath, and they ask questions openly, seeking to understand and learn. 

And we rise to meet them as we should meet one another and the challenges before us—not with judgement, but with care. 

Kindergartners also remind us of what powerful learning looks like. In kindergarten, we build relationships first. We make learning relevant. We innovate and bend to meet the student, not because we think we should, but because every kindergartner is different—and we celebrate that. And also, in my observation, they won’t let us forget it (which makes me think of this poem).

Each kindergarten class arrives with a unique challenge—and a gift. Their graduation year feels distant enough to offer, like August itself, an invitation to imagine a fresh start. This year’s kindergartners—children born during the pandemic—will graduate from CVU in 2038! What can we—as educators and as a community—design for them to meet the world they will find? How can we magnify the joy they bring while helping them grow the skills they’ll need? 

So whether you're setting up your classroom and lessons, sending a child off to the bus for the first time, watching your senior prepare for their final first day, or wondering what classes and teachers await you this fall, I invite you to hold this mantra with me: There’s a kindergartner in all of us. 

Welcome back. I can’t wait to grow and learn with you this year.

Warmly,
Adam Bunting
CVSD Superintendent