This is the “back to school” time of year. We often reflect on when the first day of school happens, what school supplies do we buy, what new clothes may be needed, and all the logistics of sending our kids off to school. There is a level of anticipation, some anxiety and many new school adventures before us.
For the schools and programs of Lakeside this is also a time of returning from summer vacation, new staff training, setting up our schools and programs for the upcoming school year, and many logistics as we prepare for another year of serving students with significant needs while finding ways to navigate their challenges and new opportunities for change and growth.
I find this time of year to be exciting! Not only do we see our staff returning but I look at each staff member as someone who is full of potential to help our students find both hope and healing. I think of all the relationships they will form with our students that have deeper meaning than just school. We will be navigating their challenges, providing them with new emotional and relational tools, guiding them through academic growth and development, and helping them find new opportunities for success that they may not have ever experienced outside of Lakeside. The echoes of last year’s graduates continue to ring in our ears as we hear those positive and encouraging outcomes in the lives of our graduating seniors of 2026.
As we experience so many difficulties with non-profit funding, educational cuts and an on-going mental health crisis among our kids, it is significantly important that we continue our mission at Lakeside to help thousands of students and become a resource to their families, their schools and their communities. Lakeside is truly a beacon of hope to our region, and we are taking on a new byline of Building Bridges for a Brighter Future as we refresh our branding and continue our own emergence as an impactful non-profit leader.
As we bring our 2026-27 school year staff together, we will celebrate our impact in the past, update our current organizational status, introduce new stabilizing changes, and announce some new ideas for our upcoming year. There will be new images, programmatic growth, new training and new collaborative relationships. It will be a year of continuing our mission and building on it for the future.
We are so blessed to have the professional staff that we do that is committed to our mission of hope and healing for those in our care. As we anticipate this new year, Lakeside will continue to be a mission-driven, professional, compassionate and dedicated organization that will provide quality services to those that we are privileged to serve.
Gerry Vassar
President/CEO
