DOWAGIAC — The future is looking bright for Dowagiac students, according to district officials.

At Monday’s Board of Education metting, Deputy Superintendent of Dowagiac Union Schools Dawn Conner presented an update to the board about progress the schools have made with curriculum changes this past school and where the district is planning to go in the future.

Conner said the changes implemented last year were a success. Those changes included purchasing a new science curriculum, which focused on inquiry based learning, adding more electives and focusing on career readiness.

“We have done a lot,” Conner said. “We have opened up industrial art. … We have opened up ways for our kids to get involved with the workforce. … I think this has been really, really good for our kids.”

Conner added that Dowagiac Union Schools will continue to develop those changes in the coming school year.

“This year, we are going to continue on with the sciences. We are also going to do a gap analysis with the technology to ensure we have the technology we can get,” she said. “We are going to do training with the technology.”

Technology will be a big push in the 2018-2019 school year, according to Conner. Having already begun using Chromebooks for the older students, the district is looking into iPads for kindergarten through second grade students, she said. The district is also working to update its smartboards.

“There are some apps on iPads that work really well for K-2 students,” she said. “We want to use technology to bring our kids to another level. We want to use technology in the right ways. We really want to spend time next year on a gap analysis to find out what we have and how we can use it.”

In addition to technology, the district will focus on reading recovery and literacy, having hired literacy and planning to focus on “literacy blocks” and reading recovery. The district will also be implementing classroom libraries.

Conner said she is optimistic for the 2018-2019 school year and is excited to continue with the curriculum changes which began last year.

“It’s always said, ‘we are not at success, but if we keep working together, we can get closer,’” she said. “We want our kids to be successful in life.”

Also Monday:

The Board of Education approved recommendations of hire for the following staff:

Tony Hooley as the new volleyball coach. Hooley has been a volleyball coach for 17 years. He has a record of 552 wins and 341 losses.

“We are very pleased he applied for the position,” said Superintendent Paul Hartsig.

• Cheryl Graham as a special education/early literacy instructor for the elementary level. She is currently a first grade teacher at Sam Adams Elementary School in Cassopolis. She is trained in reading recovery and is special education certified.

• Caroline O’Toole as a special education instructor at Dowagiac Middle School. She has a masters of science from Indiana University South Bend and is currently a special education teacher in the area.

• Kaley Flynn as a special education instructor at Dowagiac Middle School. She is a graduate of St. Mary’s College. She currently teaches at Sam Adams Elementary School.

• John Laraway as a third grade teacher at Kincheloe Elementary. He is a graduate of Spring Arbor University, with a masters from Western Michigan University.

• Samantha Haner as a fifth grade teacher at Patrick Hamilton Elementary. She is a graduate of Western Michigan University.