South Putnam ready for positive school year

With a busy summer in the rearview mirror, South Putnam Superintendent Dr. Corey Smith is ready for the 2025-26 school year and all that comes with it. 

After four seasons at the helm and seeing his ideas and projects come to fruition, Smith is ready to see what his fifth year as superintendent holds. 

"Everything is coming together and it is neat to see a lot of the initiatives that we did come together. There have been a lot of infrastructure changes and a lot of things you can see, but also a lot behind the ground and those educational moments are great," Smith told The Putnam County Post. 

Smith said the plan he came to South Putnam with had to be adjusted immediately, and that was a result of a district achieving greatness. 

"The district is in great shape. We did come in with a plan and three years in, we had to restructure it because we met all the goals a couple years early. We said we are hitting a lot of the goals in stride and knocked it down to a three year plan. One year into that, we have already knocked off quite a few of those initiatives. I work closely with our school board and we work to set up our goals. Obviously, I have a background in business, but I am very pleased with where we are going. The staff has been amazing as they are seeing the vision. We took 14 teachers and administrators to St. Louis to a professional development conference this summer and they gelled extremely well and can see the vision. It is satisfying that they see the vision," Smith said.

The vision has included upgrades to the district's football and track facilities, the construction of a new fieldhouse, an upgrade to the high school pool, as well as paving and a few other items. 

"It is still very much a construction zone, but it has been a positive disruption. We are seeing positives and we are going to be right up to the line on a couple things to get them going. The fieldhouse is moving along and remains an active construction zone. We also have the pool rehab going on. It has been a process over the last two years of being in an active construction zone while trying to run school, but everything is on target," Smith said. 

According to Smith, the district's construction project has been "huge."

"When you are making major investments for the kids and education, it has been great and we have gotten great, positive feedback. Our STEM initiatives continue to come to fruition and we will have two brand new STEM labs for our elementary students. STEM will be part of the weekly rotation for those students. We have a great culture at South Putnam and a great retention of our staff. We haven't had much turnover this year and that is a sentiment to the family atmosphere we have," Smith said. 

When students arrive back on Wednesday, they will find a district "ready to go," Smith said. 

"Our staff is intact and they are ready to go. I am really excited for this school year and to make sure we are meeting students' needs for learning. The fall at South Putnam is a special place. My message to students is get your rest because we are going to challenge you this year. If we are not challenging you, you are not learning and growing and our job is to prepare you for a world that doesn't exist yet," Smith said.