From the Superintendent's Desk - February 3, 2012
We had a county-wide administrators’ meeting this week—our first since the beginning of the year—and it was a great opportunity to catch up with district leaders, reflect on this year’s accomplishments, and look toward the future.
This is an exciting time of year. We have much to build on—an “Excellent” growth rating, a 5-point jump in graduation rate, 50% of our students attending “Excellent” rated schools—and we also have great opportunities for growth. Vision 2016, the new plan we’ll launch in May, will get us focused like never before on our Charleston Achieving Excellence goals: closing the achievement gap, raising the graduation rate, and elevating achievement overall. The plan will give us clear annual targets. And it will capitalize on 
everything that’s working, like our literacy academies.
Vision 2016 isn’t just about setting achievement targets. We’re also working with the Studer Group to set targets for improving parent engagement, staff satisfaction, and support. I want to thank our parents and staff for participating in the first round of the Studer surveys, and I encourage you to read this week’s news on our baseline surveys, if you haven't had a chance to do so yet.
One of the things we've heard suggested in recent meetings is the idea of adding “Diversity” to our current core values of Results, Access, and Partnerships. That is, if we believe that diversity is a strength and an asset, it should be clearly emphasized in our work and in our plan. What do you think—should Diversity be a CCSD value? Let us know at Vision2016@charleston.k12.sc.us. And stay tuned to the Vision 2016 page for the schedule of community meetings and other information.
Finally, I want to thank the faculties at Pinckney and St. James-Santee for hosting me. I had a great time visiting, and these visits were the highlight of my week!
Have a great weekend everyone, and I’ll see you in schools soon.
