Superintendent Dr. Patrick Sweeney said Fountain Hills Unified School District has kept pretty busy behind the scenes this summer.

Along with a successful summer school partnership with the Boys & Girls Club, the hiring of new staff and the usual summer upkeep around the district’s various campuses, Sweeney said he’s excited for some additional advancements that were made during the off season.

Staffing

“I’ve got to tell you, as we sit here today, I’m thrilled to say we are 100 percent hired up for our teachers,” Sweeney said in a July interview. “I think, because of Prop 123 passing and the impact that had on our budget and our ability to do that salary reset and change the salary schedule, we’ve been able to hire 18 teachers.”

In previous years, FHUSD has struggled to fill out all positions through the summer, often falling back on long-term subs to make ends meet.

“We’ve been able to hire the people we wanted to hire where, in the past, we thought we were ready to hire someone and they got over here and saw that the salary maybe wasn’t what they expected,” Sweeney said. “To be mid-July and completely hired up for every teaching position, to me, is a good sign of a lot of things.”

For starters, Sweeney said it shows that FHUSD can be competitive, salary-wise, in order to secure even more quality teachers. Secondly, he said it proves that those quality teachers want to teach in Fountain Hills schools. From brand new teachers to veterans who have been teaching for more than a decade, FHUSD brought in a wide array this summer and, according to Sweeney, they were the kinds of hires the local district has had trouble securing in the past.

“We’re being successful in attracting people into the vacancies we have and keeping the people already on staff,” Sweeney continued. “It’s a good sign for the district and getting good people into the classrooms.”

Principal

Concerning new high school principal Cain Jagodzinski, Dr. Sweeney said he’s extremely happy with the enthusiasm and dedication he’s already seen from the high school campus’ new head.

While Jagodzinski’s job didn’t officially kick off until July 25, Sweeney said he was already moving full steam ahead a month in advance.

“He’s been hosting effective tours of the campus through the summer,” Sweeney continued. “Several students who initially planned on leaving the district are staying and we’ve had several new students register because of this. He’s showing families what we offer here and helping reverse that idea that you need to go somewhere else.”

Marketing

Finally, in keeping in line with Vision Fountain Hills’ efforts and both administrative and Governing Board goals, Sweeney said that steps have been taken to start branding FHUSD in a fresh light.

“Steve Coover, who is an MCO realtor and is involved with our Key Club, approached me a couple months ago to discuss what can be done to help improve the marketing in the district,” Sweeney said. “The fact is, we have zero dollars for marketing, so those efforts have to be done for nothing internally.”

Coover decided to set up a meeting between the District and local Broker’s Alliance, who have offered resources to assist FHUSD with a professional marketing campaign. Sweeney said Coover has also begun efforts to make sure the project is funded through the contribution of other community entities and individuals.

“We—well, they with some input from me—are producing about six short videos focusing on Fountain Hills schools,” Sweeney said. “The first one focuses on ‘I choose Fountain Hills because…’ They’ve been working with our students on these, storyboarding and everything, and it’s great.”

It’s this kind of collaboration, according to Sweeney, that could make a big difference for the local district.

“The assistance and expertise they’ve brought to the table is amazing,” he added. “There’s a level of professionalism that’s come into this whole mix because of community support and a local business that’s willing to help and that sees the importance of it. It’s been exciting. We intend to take these videos and do some very specific target marketing in the surrounding areas in an effort to attract even more kids to our schools.”