To Our Camden Parents and Community,
In my seven years here, I have greatly enjoyed the opportunity to serve as Superintendent of Schools here in the Camden Central School District. To be sure, this role has been one of the great honors of my career. However, I have some bittersweet news to share today: the time has come for me to retire, and my last day as Superintendent will be Thursday, July 31, 2025.
I am announcing this early in the school year to afford the Board of Education with the best possible opportunity to seek and appoint my successor, allowing for the smoothest transition possible so we can stay focused on our goal of bringing our best effort for every student, every day.
From the start, I’ve known that it is the people in the Camden School Community who make this place truly special. I joined a student-centered team where the support for our students is inspiring, and the enthusiasm of our entire school community is evident in the experiences we create for students and families each day. Our dedication to providing the best educational experiences for our students has always been our top priority.
Through the incredible efforts of our staff, families, and community, we have opened the door to some really exciting opportunities during my time here, including:
Reintroducing armed School Patrol Officers in each building.
Camden Middle School earned the prestigious National/New York State School to Watch distinction.
Implementing the Capturing Kids’ Hearts Character Education Curriculum, with McConnellsville Elementary recognized as one of this organization’s National Showcase Schools for modeling a positive culture and climate.
Providing mental health screening opportunities for students in grades K-12 using the BIMAS II Assessment Tool.
Partnering with Connected Community Schools to help meet the basic needs of students and families.
Resuming a team-teaching approach at Camden Middle School.
Expanding our communications efforts with a quarterly newsletter, a streamlined district website, a mobile app, and increased use of social media.
Establishing a common curriculum to teach literacy with evidence-based practices at the elementary level.
Launching a Before the Bell Program that allows working parents to have their students supervised at school prior to the start of the school day.
Increasing extracurricular opportunities for students, including Girls Wrestling, an ESports Team, Unified Bowling, Basketball, Fine Arts, and a Clay Target Team.
Creating the district’s first-ever Pre-K High Needs Classroom, bringing some of our neediest early learners into our school.
Forging a partnership with MVCC and International Wire, allowing students to earn high school and college credits simultaneously while participating in a manufacturing internship.
Implementing the Multi-Tier System of Supports (MTSS) framework for individualized student intervention plans for academic and behavioral challenges.
Utilizing iReady as a diagnostic benchmark tool to identify students' strengths and weaknesses and to target learning gaps for improvement opportunities.
Partnering with Mosaic Dental to provide free dental cleanings to any Camden Central School District student, along with referrals for low-cost dental care.
Expanding early childhood programming for two- and three-year-olds as a skill-development on-ramp into Pre-K, reintroducing the Dolly Parton Imagination Library program with support from the Genesis Group, and launching our first full-day Pre-K classroom this year.
Adopting the Play to Learn preschool curriculum this year.
Developing a District-Wide Strategic Plan to support continuous academic and behavioral improvements in Camden schools.
Successfully passing the school budget for six consecutive years.
Implementing a $35 million capital project, which is nearing completion. It includes major safety and security improvements across all buildings, a new gymnasium at McConnellsville Elementary, a turf baseball field behind Camden Middle School, a new multipurpose turf field at Camden High School, and much more.
These are just a few of the successes that the Camden CSD Board of Education, Administration, Faculty and Staff have achieved so far during the past seven school years, and none of this would have been possible without the support of this great community and its investment in our students. I couldn’t be prouder of our team’s effort across the board.
Our time together is not done yet, and I know we’ll finish this year out as strong as ever. I look forward to supporting our students through the end of my term and beyond, and I will always bleed Camden blue.
Once a Blue Devil, Always a Blue Devil!
Dr. Ravo Root
Superintendent of Schools