Message From the Superintendent
Hello Everyone!
My name is Jim Hattabaugh, I am the 7th child of 9 of Omie and Albert Hattabaugh. My mother came from a family of eleven! My wife and I have four children, two girls and 2 boys. The youngest will graduate from college this spring. His brother will graduate from law school in the spring. Our youngest daughter started her residency as an M.D. of OBGYN and our oldest daughter has a master’s degree in crop and soil sciences and lives in Tennessee. My wife teaches special needs children here in Fort Smith, AR.
I have a doctorate in Educational Leadership and have held just about every position in schools, from superintendent to bus driver! I have higher education experience as a professor at three different universities but my passion lies in public education and I thank the Board for this opportunity in Dulce!
One of the things that attracted me to this position and community is the strong belief and practice of family within your culture. Being from a large and extended family, I appreciate how important families are to the development of our young ones.
As you have experienced since March, our world has turned upside down in many ways. We are constantly bombarded with contradicting information from many sources so it becomes a challenge to know whom to believe.
Schools have a long history of providing safe places for our families and structure for our society. What we have been asked to do over the past few months is to change how we have done things for centuries, not an easy task!
As I have asked my colleagues at Dulce School District to practice being positive, proactive, and patient as we learn new things and respond to all of the directives coming from the Nation, state and federal levels.
Please reach out to one of us if you have needs that are not being met by our schools, have ideas that will make us better or thoughts on how we can better meet the needs of our students.
As we enter this new school year, we don’t know what to expect in many areas. However, our first concern is for the safety and well-being of all of our students, staff and community. We will continue to follow the state guidelines in all areas regarding safe schools.
Our second concern is for the education of your kids. It is going to take all of us to get through this together and to make sure we are educating our students to the best of our ability.
Parents, we need your help in making sure your student(s) log into school every day. Each day they are absent, makes it difficult for them to catch up and will limit the opportunities they have in the future. I know you want the very best for your kids and I am asking for your help!
I really appreciate the opportunity to work with your students and I am looking forward to meeting all of you!
Until then, be safe,
Dr. Jim Hattabaugh
Superintendent
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Our district will educate, nurture and strengthen all our children to be productive, contributing members of society.
Dulce Graduates will be self-directed, capable, responsible, life-long learners, who maintain their cultural identities and creative individualism.
GO HAWKS!!! GO WARRIORS!!!
Welcome to Dulce Independent Schools, Heart of the Jicarilla Apache Nation! Dulce Independent School District No. 21 is a New Mexico Public School District that is located in Dulce, New Mexico on the Jicarilla Apache Reservation. It serves students Pre-K through 12th Grade students. It is Home to the Dulce Elementary Warriors and the Dulce Middle and High School Hawks. If you have any questions, please visit our department tabs for further information. Thank you.
