From the Superintendent's Desk - January 27, 2012
Today started off with a jam-packed Senior Leadership Team meeting. One of the positive outcomes from this meeting was a decision to extend rural travel stipends to eligible classified staff. We already have a program in place that helps support travel costs for teachers in our rural schools, and—recognizing the value and impact of every employee—we will now offer this assistance to classified staff beginning this year. You'll hear more details about this as we move forward.
This week we also made major progress toward setting and achieving Vision 2016 goals. On Monday, we held Vision 2016 public engagement meetings at James Island Charter, Baptist Hill, and St. Johns high schools. We asked people for feedback on the Board’s proposed achievement goals and what it would take to achieve them. If you haven’t had a chance to weigh in on these questions, please vision our Vision 2016 page and let your thoughts be heard!
In another big step, we held trainings with The Studer Group to look at the results of twosurveys on employee satisfaction and parent engagement. These “baseline” surveys are not for evaluation, but for showing us where we are and where we need to go. In the coming days, principals and department heads will be leading conversations about how we can make improvements and better support each other.
These efforts, combined with our intense focus on what works—literacy, educator effectiveness—will help us ensure that every student in our system is prepared to succeed in college and 21st Century careers.
Speaking of educator effectiveness, we recently announced the district’s five Teacher of the Year finalists (about whom you can read on our Teacher of the Year page). Congratulations to these individuals as well as each of our school winners. Teachers, thank you for your continued commitment and leadership in our classrooms!
We also know that if we’re going to realize our vision for every child, it’s also going to take partnerships and collaboration with our families. I was pleased to hear parent leaders propose a “Family Partnership Agreement” to our Board this Wednesday. The idea is simple—when schools and families work together on behalf of students, great things can happen. The parent leaders are stressing “one day makes a difference,” and are offering multiple ways in which parents can be involved for a total of eight hours throughout the year. What do you think about this idea? Let me know at superintendent@charleston.k12.sc.us.
On a final note, this is School Board Recognition month, and I want to personally thank our Board members for their hard work and commitment to our district and community.
Have a great weekend and until next week!
