Category Archives: Superintendent Messages

Please Join Me in Honoring Our Principals on National School Principals’ Day!

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National School Principals Day banner with colored pencil design on black background

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

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Happy Administrative Professionals Day banner

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

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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

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Budget Feedback Requested

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

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GLSEN Solidarity Week 2022 Logo

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

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Superintendent Matthew Haas

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 →

ACPS Convocation Invitation & Details: Please Complete the Transportation Form by Noon on Aug. 15

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Welcome Banner


Dear Albemarle County Public Schools Employees,

We are excited to welcome you to the 2022-23 school year! On Tuesday, August 16, we will be hosting a division-wide convocation in which all division employees will be meeting at Ting Pavilion on the Downtown Mall.

We will be gathering together as one team to celebrate the hard work each of you engage in every day to ensure that students are provided the best we have to offer. Each one of you impacts the work we do with our students, families, and members of the community. Our convocation is an opportunity to recognize all of the professionals who create an environment in which our students are seen, heard and known by those who support them!

We look forward to seeing you on August 16! Below are some helpful details: Continue reading →

Reaffirming Our Values & Commitments to Our Students & to One Another

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Superintendent Matthew Haas

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for all you are doing to support our students, families, and each other! I appreciate you taking a few minutes to read this important message.

The recent racially-motivated violence in Buffalo and the discovery of the shooter’s “hit list” that contained an elementary school is another painful reminder of the importance of both our nation’s commitment to anti-racism and the difficulty of its implementation. Across our nation, more and more communities are scarred by violence against our national cultures and values, most especially, but not exclusively, violence that targets our Black communities. Continue reading →