It’s been a great year for the Oxford Schools, according to Superintendent Tim Throne.

Throughout his first year as superintendent, Throne said there have been significant advancements all around the district.

Throne feels the district has made great strides in creating a sense of community.

“I think probably our greatest accomplishment this year, as a district, has been the improvement in our culture and climate,” Throne said. “We started out the year with the slogan of ‘Team O’ and wanted to get everyone on the team. I believe our employees understand that we are all in this together, and we will rise or fall as an entire district.”

The district has seen positive changes in its financial-standing over 2015-16 school year, according to Throne.

“Financially, we continue to keep hitting our targets. We refinanced some prior bonds and are in the process of refinancing some additional bonds,” he said.

The overall loan refinances will result in a huge savings for the district, according to Throne, upwards of $12 million over the life of the loans. “That is great news for taxpayers,” he said.

But the superintendent humbly did not accept all of the glory when it came to the improvements. He attributed many of them to the hard work of staff members.

“Educationally, Ken (Weaver) has done a great job at helping us focus our efforts, raise test scores and better define where we want to go,” Throne said. “Drew (Hulbert) and his team continue to set the mark with the virtual academy. We have had a better year in transportation. I can’t say enough about Ann (Weeden) and our bus drivers, really the whole transportation department. Tony (Sarkins) has also done a lot of work with our buildings and facilities. I could keep going on and on as I don’t want to leave anyone out, but I think you get the idea. We have had a really good year.”

But he’s not done yet.

Setting his sights on the coming year, Throne said his plan for the district in 2016-17 will involve putting the final touches on the strategic process, a plan that determines an organization’s overall goals and how it will meet those goals, in order to keep the district’s forward-momentum going.

“Our strategic process will help us define the specific metrics we will use to measure our achievements going forward. In general though, we need to continue to bring our best, become our best, be kind to one another and have a ball doing it,” Throne said.