Volume 1, Issue 2
Category Archives: Superintendent Messages
Introducing Insider Express!
Dear Colleagues,
The feedback you have shared through the Gallup Employee Engagement Survey and the Bellwether Instructional Audit process tells me that you want to know more about and be more involved in the decisions that the Albemarle County School Board and I make. My thinking is that if we can expand access to information about upcoming changes, including when and why we are considering them, you will be better able to engage with the process and offer informed input.
With that in mind, we’ve created a weekly newsletter within the Compass: Please allow me to introduce Insider Express! You’ll find the first issue below! Continue reading
Join Us on Aug. 15 for Our Division-Wide Convocation
Dear Albemarle County Public Schools Employees,
We are excited to welcome you to the 2023-24 school year! On Tuesday, August 15, we will host a division-wide convocation in which all division employees will meet at Ting Pavilion on Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall. Continue reading
Please Join Me in Honoring Our Principals on National School Principals’ Day!
Dear Colleagues,
Happy National School Principals’ Day!
I want to take a moment to appreciate the incredible work that you do. As school leaders, you set a tone for the culture that you want to see in your buildings. You bring passion for education to your community and, in doing so, you give your passion to your students and colleagues. Principals shape a school’s vision for success and set a commitment to high standards. You create a culture in which both employees and students make learning central to anything they do. You manage people, data and processes. The best principals cultivate leadership in others and know that relationships are at the heart of a school community. Continue reading
Message from the Superintendent to Office Staff on Administrative Professionals Day
Dear Colleagues,
It is with a great deal of personal and professional gratitude that I wish you a happy Administrative Professionals Day! In Albemarle County Public Schools, it would be impossible to overstate the significance of our office staff and the work that you do. Your service to this community is truly essential to our school division’s ability to achieve our mission: Continue reading
A Look Back at Some of Our Highlights
As we head into Winter Break and close out the 2022 calendar year, we wanted to share a video that highlights some of the amazing work our employees do to support students and families. Here’s to you… many thanks for a fantastic 2022 and best wishes for a wonderful 2023. You make a difference every day!
Please note that Compass articles will pause over the winter break. Posts will return in the new year on Wednesday, January 4!
2023-24 Budget Survey: Please Participate by Nov. 22
Dear Colleagues:
Albemarle County Public Schools staff are working diligently to develop a draft budget for next school year that will enable high-quality teaching and learning while meeting student, employee and family needs. Your views are an important part of that work! This fall, we hosted several community conversations in which we invited students, employees, and advisory groups to share ideas for improving teaching and learning in our schools. Our goal is to build a budget for the 2023-24 school year that reflects those ideas. Continue reading
Solidarity Week: Nov. 7-11
Dear Colleagues,
Next week, Monday, November 7 – Friday, November 11, is Solidarity Week. This is a national student-led program hosted by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), an organization started by teachers in 1990. Among the organization’s priorities is generating support for the Safe Schools Improvement Act, which requires any school division that receives Elementary and Secondary Act federal funding to prohibit bullying and harassment on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), disability, and religion. Continue reading
ACPS Task Force Seeking Teacher Representatives: Respond by Oct. 14
Dear ACPS Teachers, Specialists & Interventionists:
If you had the chance to read our recent news release and latest report to the school board on our division’s Standards of Learning (SOL) pass rates, you know that these rates, for a significant number of our students, did not meet the state standard. Math and reading scores for our Black and Hispanic students, those from economically disadvantaged homes, English Learners, and students with disabilities were significantly below passing. Continue reading
Message from the Superintendent: Accreditation of Our Schools
Dear Colleagues,
Later this afternoon, the division will be notifying families and the media of the state’s report today on the accreditation of our schools. While all schools are accredited, the report documents several student demographic groups in which our students did not meet state standards. Continue reading