Congratulations on Completing the 2025-2026 School Year!

Students, families, and staff of Orange County Schools: 

Congratulations on a successful end to our 2025-2026 school year! Students, you — and our schools — have accomplished so much, and this has made me both very proud and deeply thankful for many reasons.

see students and staff in our year-end video

To Our Students

For one, I have been incredibly fortunate to spend time again this year just listening to our students in every school. 

Students, you shared your goals, you reflected on your progress, and you let me — and all of us — know how we can make your success possible. 

Your feedback on what makes our schools safe, welcoming, and effective places for you to learn, has been instrumental in the creation of our new strategic plan. 
This plan is our roadmap for how we will work together to continuously improve in every area.

When we all work together, great things happen for students, each and every day.

To the Class of 2026

Seniors: We are all especially thankful for you! As you prepare to walk across the stage and into the next phase of your life, I hope that you will cherish all the moments that have helped you reach your maximum potential here in Orange County Schools. 

Your families, your teachers, and our whole community, are all cheering you on.

We are confident that as you graduate with options available to you, you will enjoy the success you deserve in the world before you.

To Our Educators

To all our educators: This has been a challenging year. Each of you give your very best for our children. I am truly thankful for you, because even when the recognition doesn’t always match the reality of your work, you continue to show up. 

We know that your work has the power to change lives—often in ways that will never fully be measured or captured.

If this is what our schools look like in one of the most challenging moments—imagine all that we can accomplish together going forward.

To Our Community

Thanks to input from our whole community, we are walking boldly into this new year — and the next five years — with a new strategic plan, a new roadmap to align all our work. 

I am excited to see our schools guided by our collective sense of purpose, filled with possibility, and making progress toward goals that will set our children and our community up for success.

As we take this moment to reflect and to look ahead, I want to wish you and your family the very best.

Enjoy the reward of taking some time to rest and recharge for the coming year, and thank you for your continued support of Orange County Schools!