There’s a quote I’ve always loved:
“I will be better today than I was yesterday, but not as good as I will be tomorrow.”

That sentence has guided me as a leader, but more importantly, it has guided me as a person. And nowhere has that growth been more real, more visible, or more meaningful than here at Mt. Vernon Junior High.

Serving as your principal has been one of the greatest honors of my career. Not because of a title—but because of the people. The students who showed up every day, ready to grow. The teachers who gave everything they had and then gave some more. The staff who kept this place running when no one was watching. The families who trusted us with what mattered most.

Together, we built more than schedules and systems—we built a culture.

A culture where students are known before they are tested.
A culture where effort matters as much as outcomes.
A culture where mistakes are not something to fear, but something to learn from.

We chose growth over comfort.
We chose people over programs.
We chose purpose over convenience.

And because of that, Mt. Vernon Junior High became something special.

I’ve written often about mastery—not the kind that comes from being perfect, but the kind that comes from showing up every day willing to get a little better. That’s exactly what I saw in our students. From the sixth grader nervously walking through these doors for the first time, to the eighth grader leaving with confidence, courage, and dreams bigger than they were three years ago.

You didn’t just grow academically.
You grew as teammates.
As leaders.
As humans.

To our staff: thank you for believing in kids even when they didn’t believe in themselves. Thank you for staying late, for caring deeply, for pushing forward when it would have been easier to settle. You made this building feel like home.

To our families: thank you for partnering with us. Education only works when schools and families move together—and you did that with grace and trust.

As I step into a district-level role, please know this: I am not leaving Mt. Vernon. I am simply serving it in a new way. My heart, my pride, and my belief in this community will always live here. I am taking everything this school has taught me—about leadership, about resilience, about people—and using it to support even more students across our district.

Mt. Vernon Junior High will continue to grow, to lead, and to shine. That is not because of one person. It is because of all of you.

Finally, I could not be more proud, more excited, or more at ease with the appointment of Ms. Reese to lead Mt. Vernon Junior High. She brings the passion, the skill, and the drive to take this school to even greater heights. I have full confidence in her leadership and in the continued growth of this building under her guidance.

So this is not a goodbye.
It is a thank you.
And it is a promise that the best is still ahead.

Because just like that quote says…

We will be better tomorrow than we are today.

Marc Hostetter

MVJHS Principal