The promotional poster for Dr. Oestreich’s podcast “In the Know with Dr. O!”

With the first semester of the 2025-2026 school year underway, Superintendent Tom Oestreich said his goals for this year revolve around being more accessible to students and parents.

“I’m a people person. Schools and school districts (are) a people business. So, I want to be very visible in our schools and community. Recently, I was just with the City of Carmel at their pop-up and I was engaging with the community. It was fun to meet parents and meet parents who have 1-2 year olds and are getting ready to send their kids to Carmel Clay Schools in the next three years. I loved being able to answer their questions, be available and address any myths out there,” Oestreich said. “I really want student engagement to be very high, not just in the classroom, but also in extracurricular activities—in athletics, in the HiLite and in our polytechnic areas. I just started a new radio show here at Carmel called “In the Know with Dr. O!” and we’re going to have guests on it every week. The thing I love most about it is that our students are running the board and producing the show. Giving opportunities to kids to do these things is something I’m excited about,”

Senior Nina Godbole said she’s been a frequent listener of Oestreich’s podcast and said she appreciates how she can get updates about local issues directly from the superintendent.

“I’ve watched the past episodes of the podcast and I’ve really enjoyed it. I like hearing the different perspectives different school officials have regarding what our school is doing,” Godbole said. “I also like that I can be informed straight from Dr. Oestreich and know I’m getting credible information about our school.”

Oestreich said he hopes to continue improving his visibility at school by attending events and gathering feedback from students to improve the school district.

“You’re going to see me at a lot of events. You’ll see me with Dr. Phares, cheering on the sidelines, going to many plays, musicals, and marching band performances. I just want to be engaged with the community. Dr. Beresford certainly did that but I also see (connection) as something very important,” Oestreich said. “As I’m at all of these events, I hear feedback on how we can get better. When I look at my future tenure with the district, I want to see us on a plane of continuous improvement. I always want to see us getting better, working hard, being innovative, finding different solutions and opportunities to enhance the experience for kids.” By Mahitha Konjeti