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Welcome to the 2026–2027 school year!

There is something special about the beginning of a new school year. Our classrooms come back to life, students reconnect with friends and teachers, families settle into new routines, and our entire community begins another year of learning, growth, and opportunity.

As we welcome everyone back, I am incredibly excited about where Coos Bay Public Schools is headed.

We enter this year with momentum.

Last year, our students made significant progress across the district. Reading proficiency increased by 6%, mathematics proficiency increased by 21%, and our youngest learners demonstrated tremendous growth. We saw individual schools make remarkable gains in reading, mathematics, and attendance. Marshfield Junior High increased mathematics proficiency by 24%, Marshfield High School students earned more than 2,400 college credits, and Milner Crest Education Center celebrated an estimated graduation rate of 95%. These accomplishments are reflected throughout our schools and give us a strong foundation for the year ahead.

These numbers are worth celebrating, but what matters most are the students behind them.

Every success represents a young person learning something new, overcoming a challenge, discovering a talent, building confidence, or taking another step toward graduation and their future.

And none of it happens alone.

It happens because of talented and caring teachers and staff. It happens because families support their children and partner with our schools. It happens because local businesses, organizations, agencies, volunteers, and community members continue to invest in the young people of Coos Bay.

That partnership is at the heart of who we want to be.

One Compass – One Crew – One Mission

Our direction continues to be guided by a simple idea:

One Compass – One Crew – One Mission.

One Compass means we have a clear direction. We are focused on providing excellent instruction, positive and engaging learning environments, and strong systems that help us understand what students need and respond when they need additional support.

One Crew means we do this together. Our students are most successful when schools, families, staff, and our community work together toward a common purpose.

And One Mission keeps us focused on what matters most: our students.

Our mission is that each student is known by name, strength, and need, and ALL students graduate with a plan: Enrolled, Employed, or Enlisted.

That is the promise we are working to fulfill for every student who walks through our doors.

Building on Our Progress

While we have much to celebrate, we also know there is more work ahead.

This year, we will continue strengthening academic achievement, attendance, positive student behavior, classroom environments, and opportunities for students. We have established clear growth targets in areas including third-grade reading, eighth-grade mathematics, ninth-grade on-track, graduation, attendance, and postsecondary readiness.

Our goal isn't simply to improve numbers on a report.

It is to make sure more children are reading confidently. More students are succeeding in mathematics. More students are attending school regularly and feel that they belong when they are here. More ninth graders are on track for graduation. More seniors cross the graduation stage. And more graduates leave Coos Bay with a meaningful plan for what comes next.

That is what improvement looks like.

Looking Toward Our Future

We are also thinking beyond this school year.

During 2026–2027, we will begin developing a five-year strategic plan for Coos Bay Public Schools. We will continue strengthening and expanding programs that create opportunities for students, including early learning, Career and Technical Education, AP and dual credit, alternative education, after-school programming, and other pathways that help students discover their strengths and prepare for their futures.

Our long-term vision is ambitious. We want to eliminate barriers to opportunity, expand early learning opportunities, provide more after-school STEM, literacy, mathematics, and CTE experiences, strengthen alternative education, and continue raising expectations for what our students can accomplish.

We should dream big for the children of Coos Bay.

Our students deserve nothing less.

Every Student. Every Day.

One of the themes you will hear throughout our district this year is leading and teaching with urgency.

Urgency doesn't mean rushing or expecting everything to change overnight. It means recognizing that every school day matters.

For a K-2 student learning to read, today matters.

For a 3-6 student preparing for state testing, today matters.

For a middle school student struggling to find where they belong, today matters.

For a freshman working to stay on track for graduation, today matters.

For a senior deciding what comes after high school, today matters.

Our responsibility is to make those days count.

As superintendent, I am proud of the direction of Coos Bay Public Schools, but I am even more excited about what is possible.

We have great students.

We have talented and committed employees.

We have families who care deeply about their children.

And we live in a community that continues to show how much it values its schools and young people.

As we begin the 2026–2027 school year, I hope we celebrate how far we have come while continuing to dream about where we can go next.

Together, we can create schools where students are challenged, supported, known, and inspired—and where every student leaves us prepared for the future.

One Compass. One Crew. One Mission.

Welcome back, Coos Bay. Here's to a great 2026–2027 school year!

 

Gary Roberts
Superintendent
Coos Bay Public Schools