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.