Two thumbs up!

Here’s the report I gave at Tuesday’s School Board meeting about the start of the 2011-12 school year.

Back to School Report (PDF)

Back-to-school whirlwind

Our first day of school was outstanding. Teachers, administrators and staff members went above and beyond to prepare schools and classrooms. Smiling faces and getting right to work were the order of the day. Not even a hurricane can dampen the spirits of our students!

Welcome to a new school year.

“The beginning is the most important part of the work.” — Plato

There is something special about new beginnings. From new beginnings spring hope, encouragement and optimism. After the past several days, we can all use a new beginning: Last week, we experienced a 5.8 magnitude earthquake, and this past weekend we endured the fury and destruction of Hurricane Irene.

As of today, we still have 12 schools without power. But our dedicated and hard-working employees are not letting that stand in the way of making sure schools and classrooms are prepared to accept more than 58,000 students on the first day of school on Sept. 6. Our employees are committed to making our students’ first day a very special new beginning.

For our employees, here are a few new school year resolutions from TeachHub.com: stay positive, get your work/life balance in order, set goals and avoid autopilot mode, and give individual time and attention to students.

Let’s keep working together to overcome barriers and challenges as we make this the best year ever for our students.

“Coming together is a beginning. Staying together is progress. Working together is success.” — Henry Ford

Our bus drivers are on a roll!

Chesterfield County Public Schools has outstanding school bus drivers who make a difference in the lives of students, and two of our drivers won statewide awards this week: For the second year in a row, Leslie Alderman is Virginia’s best school bus driver. She won the conventional school bus category in the statewide road-e-o and will represent Virginia and Chesterfield County Public Schools during national competition July 16-17 in Baltimore. A 20-year bus driver, Ms. Alderman helps train our new bus drivers in addition to transporting Elizabeth Davis Middle, Marguerite Christian Elementary and Chesterfield Technical Center students.

Bobby Shuart received the Above and Beyond Award at the Virginia Association for Pupil Transportation conference. Mr. Shuart, who joined Chesterfield County Public Schools in 2006, drives students with special needs to Woolridge Elementary and James River High. To make bus rides as pleasant as possible for students, Mr. Shuart gets to know students and their families before school starts, puts together a kit of personalized activities for each student to enjoy on the bus and celebrates special days throughout the year, which includes dressing as Santa in December

Class of 2011
A week ago, the class of 2011 graduated from Chesterfield County Public Schools. Each of our 4,300 graduates has a special story. Here are just a few:

• “From homelessness to high school graduation” was the headline about one of our students, whose determination to get an education is inspiring. Click here to get to know this Clover Hill graduate.
• A Manchester High grad is heading to Liberty University and planning a career in ministry. I have no doubt he will succeed because he is already using his gifts to help classmates and the community overcome challenges and commit to leading lives that matter.
• One of our Cosby High graduates was honored as a Gates Millenium Scholar, which will pay the entire cost of her undergraduate and graduate degrees. There are no limits to this young woman’s future.
• From Bird High, a graduate is going to the University of Virginia, where he will be an Echols Scholar. This is especially noteworthy because this young man is the first in his family to attend college.
• Losing his mother might have sidetracked a senior at Bird High, but he chose instead to honor her memory and achieve at high levels. To learn more about this determined valedictorian, click here.

These are just a few of our inspiring graduates. Others have equally moving stories of overcoming obstacles, achieving success, reaching out to help others and growing into adults who will lead our community, our state, our country and our world into the future. Supported by families, educators and the community, Chesterfield graduates are well prepared for their futures.

I feel privileged to have been part of their graduation ceremonies and I look forward to hearing more of their stories in the coming years. Congratulations to the class of 2011!

You say goodbye, and I say hello
In less than a month, 11 of our principals are retiring. That is a sizable percentage in a school system with 62 principals. And more than 11 of our schools will open in September with a new principal because another school’s principal may move into a retiring principal’s spot, creating a ripple effect of new principals.

Retiring principals are
• Robin Morgan, Bellwood Elementary
• JoAnn Crowell-Redd, Ecoff Elementary
• Joyce Lanier, Evergreen Elementary
• Donna Venable, Hopkins Elementary
• Anne O’Toole, Robious Elementary
• Lee Horgan, Alberta Smith Elementary
• Dr. Donald Bechtel, Swift Creek Elementary
• Dianne Smith, Winterpock Elementary
• Michael Rose, Chesterfield Technical Center
• Robert Stansberry, Thomas Dale High
• John Titus, James River High

Principals are among our hardest working and most important team members. They are catalysts in their school communities, bringing together students, teachers and staff members, parents, community partners and others. Principals mix together all those different groups and inspire them to rally around their school.

We thank our 11 retiring principals for all they have done for our schools and wish them well in their next endeavors. They will be missed. Simultaneously, we welcome our new principals, who are well-prepared to lead Chesterfield schools into their futures.

Appreciating teachers

Meeting with my Student Advisory Group on Education is always a bright spot on my calendar. Student leaders from every Chesterfield high school make up the group, and we get together monthly to discuss education and additional ways to engage students.

During yesterday’s meeting, during Teacher Appreciation Week, I asked these high school seniors to jot down how their favorite teachers make a difference:

• My favorite teacher encourages me to succeed. She is helpful, easy to talk to, very caring and thoughtful.
• My favorite teacher is hard to describe in one sentence, but he has inspired me to be a better person. He has been a friend for many students and is a great person.
• My favorite teacher has inspired me to pursue what I love to do and is always available to talk, regardless of the situation.
• My favorite teachers (I have two) are funny and only strict when necessary. I trust them enough to talk to them about anything. They offer great advice. They treat me like an adult.
• I like that I can come to my teacher anytime during the day, and I can talk about anything.
• My favorite teacher is not too strict or too easygoing, and she always finds a way to make the lesson interesting and fun.
• My favorite teacher isn’t afraid to laugh with us or have conversations with us — treat us like people, not just like students.
• My favorite teacher has supported me all through high school and has always been available for advice even though she hasn’t taught me since ninth grade.
• My teacher helps me with everything. My teacher is an all-around nice person with a good heart.
• My favorite teacher taught me the most important thing: to think and problem-solve for myself.
• My favorite teacher is very energetic and involved. She is motivating and encourages us to do well.
• My favorite teacher is important to me because of the help she gives me outside the classroom; she teaches the class and me great moral lessons and she is someone I can talk to about anything.
• My favorite teacher incorporates critical thinking in every class and relates every topic to real-world issues or pop culture.
• My favorite teacher is funny and connects well with students.

Celebrating Students of the Year

Celebrating Students of the Year

Few events are as uplifting as our annual Students of the Year celebration. Every school selects two Students of the Year, then the Midlothian Rotary Club sponsors a celebration for our 164 Students of the Year and their parents.

Some Students of the Year are honor roll students — and we applaud their academic success — but that is not why they are selected as Students of the Year. Some are terrific athletes, gifted musicians, passionate artists, technology wizards and brilliant writers — and we delight in their abilities — but that is not why they are honored as Students of the Year.

Students of the Year are chosen for the excellent choices they are making and for demonstrating good values.

Every year I am moved by the demonstration of our school division’s core values in addition to the strong work ethic, positive leadership, generosity, thoughtfulness, kindness and determination of the students and their parents. This year’s honorees are equally amazing. I met one student who is recovering from brain surgery and another who is fighting leukemia. I sat next to a parent of one of our Students of the Year who did not have any kidneys. Something they all have in common is a positive attitude and courage.

Congratulations to our Students of the Year. I am sure that each and every one will continue to lead lives of purpose and give us additional reasons to celebrate their achievements in the future.

Golden

Our PTAs and PTSAs are definitely worth their weight in gold, which is now selling for more than $1,400 an ounce. That’s how valuable PTAs are.

Earlier this week, the Chesterfield County Council of PTAs/PTSAs gathered to share ideas and celebrate this year’s successes. Monacan High was honored as this year’s most welcoming school. Mary Simpson of Cosby High, Beth Hanna of Robious Middle and Ann Ertzner of Wells Elementary were named volunteers of the year.

As I said at the gathering, we do not take our PTAs for granted. Their involvement and support and creativity are appreciated every day. In the lives of Chesterfield students, PTAs are golden.

*((left to right) Superintendent Marcus Newsome, Monacan High Principal Bill Broyles, County Council of PTAs/PTSAs President Stella Edwards and Monacan Assistant Principal Brian Russell)

We believe

Final Four fever is contagious, and there is an epidemic at Jacobs Road Elementary.

Jacobs Road feels a special connection to VCU’s Final Four-bound basketball team because VCU guard Bradford Burgess is Principal Myla Burgess’ son, and the team has spent time at Jacobs Road, encouraging students to achieve.

I was glad to be there yesterday when Jacobs Road surprised their principal with a high-energy pep rally. Students and staff members made clear that they believe VCU can win the national title.

Mrs. Burgess accepted their encouragement, then expressed to her students that they can achieve at high levels. That is an attitude that we can all rally around. Each and every one of us, whether we are students or adults, can work to achieve our goals and reach our own Final Four.

Go, Rams! Go, Jacobs Road!

Chesterfield’s got game

When Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Richmond play their Sweet 16 games tomorrow, Chesterfield County Public Schools will be well represented.
Three players have ties to our school system:

• UR’s Justin Harper graduated from Meadowbrook.
• UR’s Darien Brothers played for Monacan before switching to Benedictine.
• VCU’s Bradford Burgess played for Manchester before transferring to Benedictine.

It’s possible that Chesterfield has more Sweet 16 alumni than any other school system this year! Chesterfield County Public Schools has another connection with Bradford Burgess: His mom, Myla Burgess, is principal of Jacobs Road Elementary, and VCU basketball players and coaches have spent time there with students. The photo at the top of this blog shows Bradford Burgess during a reading celebration in October at Jacobs Road Elementary. Congratulations to our hard-working, talented alumni. Go, Rams! Go, Spiders!

Reading is Fundamental

I love reading, which is the foundation of all academic success. Yesterday, I read aloud to preschoolers at the Children’s Museum of Richmond as part of National Reading Month. On Dr. Seuss Day, “Green Eggs and Ham” was what I shared with students at Watkins Elementary.

I encourage students and families to spend time reading every day, because I truly believe what Dr. Seuss wrote in another book: “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”

2011 Holds New Optimism And Promise For Our School Division

2010 was another successful year for our school division. Our schools, staff and students continued to win national acclaim for their work. When our students return to class today, we trust that they will be well rested and prepared to give their best efforts in the new year.

2011 holds new optimism and promise for our school division. Personal visits to classrooms the past four months reaffirmed my faith in our teachers' and administrators' abilities to overcome challenges we face in preparing our students for success.

Thank you for your continued support of Chesterfield County Public Schools. Working together, we are creating better futures for our students and staff.