The Liticker Letter

Why Are We Here?

In the simplest terms, we are here for our students! The purpose of every school is to serve students, prepare them for the future, and help them become productive, contributing members of our community and society.

Will some of our students leave Ada to pursue opportunities and build successful lives elsewhere? Absolutely. But our hope is that many will choose to remain here, invest in our community, and become the next generation of Ada citizens and leaders. Whether we are helping our youngest learners develop leadership skills through the Leader in Me philosophy or preparing our high school students for college, careers, and life beyond graduation, our goal remains the same: to develop capable, confident, and successful individuals who make a meaningful difference in the world around them.

That work requires us to be intentional. We focus on grade-level learning, essential academic skills, and the personal qualities students need to navigate relationships, work with others, and succeed in life. Serving nearly 2,700 students across six school sites presents challenges every day, but those challenges also create opportunities for us to learn, grow, and continually improve how we serve our students and community.

Our goal is simple: to be the best at what we do. There is tremendous pride in being an Ada Cougar, and we have a responsibility to ensure that our actions, decisions, and results reflect the expectations that come with that pride.
That is why our mission statement is so important:

“We are empowering every student to achieve high levels of academic achievement through rigorous, innovative learning, high expectations, and fostering a lifelong pursuit of excellence.”

That is an ambitious mission, and it should be. It challenges us to embrace high expectations, overcome obstacles, continually improve, and invest our time, energy, and resources in doing what is best for students. Fulfilling this mission requires commitment from all of us—our teachers, staff, students, families, and community.

We want the Ada Standard to be high! Reaching that standard will not always be easy, and there will be challenges along the way. But high expectations are not something to avoid; they are something to embrace. They push us to grow, challenge us to improve, and remind us that excellence is a commitment we must make every day.

That is what being an Ada Cougar is all about: rising to the occasion, meeting the challenge, and striving to be better today than we were yesterday.

The Ada Standard is worth pursuing, and our students deserve nothing less. Go Cougs!