Leadership Meeting

About 200 principals, assistant principals and central office administrators participated Monday in the first superintendent’s leadership meeting of the new school year. I would like to thank our Professional Development Department under the leadership of Donna Dalton and Harold Saunders for organizing an outstanding series of professional development sessions for our leaders.

Our keynote speakers were Kati Haycock and Brooke Haycock from the Education Trust. Kati Haycock is one of the nation’s leading child advocates in the field of education.

She currently serves as president of the Education Trust. Established in 1992, the trust speaks for what is right for young people, especially those who are poor or members of minority groups. The trust also provides hands-on assistance to educators who want to work together to improve student achievement, prekindergarten through college. Previously, Kati Haycock served as executive vice president of the Children’s Defense Fund, the nation’s largest child advocacy organization.

She shared a 162-slide PowerPoint presentation on national and international student achievement trends as well as specific student performance in Chesterfield County Public Schools. Overall, Virginia elementary students ranked seventh in reading among the 50 states. Chesterfield County elementary students ranked 10th in reading among Virginia’s 132 school districts. Like most high-performing school systems, we strive to be No. 1.

The training session began and ended with Brooke Haycock, who portrayed a troubled student, one of 16 characters in her one-woman show. She received a standing ovation for her powerful presentation of the challenges and hopes of our most challenged students and the power of caring educators to transform a life.