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:

Working together as a team, we will end the predictive value of race, class, gender, and special capacities for our children’s success through high-quality teaching and learning for all. We seek to build relationships with families and communities to ensure that every student succeeds. We will know every student.

Our office staff are the backbone of our team. You are among the most important relationship builders with our students, staff and families. You are often the first people our students see every day when they arrive at school. You are trusted adults that students can come to when they need help, and that’s why families depend on you. Your hard work supports our teachers and administrators when the demands upon their time and attention reach historic levels. You embody the sense of relationships and community that connect our school communities, creating the safe, caring, supporting environment that easily dissolves the crisis of the moment.

I hope you will take time today to consider the many ways that you matter to all in your school and in our division. Any organization can list values. Few, however, are privileged to celebrate such extraordinary professionals as each of you, who bring to life equity, excellence, family and community, and wellness, values that truly produce learning for all. I am proud to call you my colleague.

With thanks and hopes for a wonderful day,

Dr. Matthew S. Haas
Superintendent