From the Superintendent's Desk

The Week of July 30, 2009

This week, we held our annual Summer Leadership Institute. Each year, these collaborative meetings give us the rare chance to convene school and district leaders for three full days of professional development, strategic planning, and training before the school year is in full swing. Nationally-recognized speakers and state leaders—like South Carolina’s own Dr. Jim Rex—are brought in to share best practices and inspire our school leaders with innovative ideas.

Most importantly, we use this time to focus on results, improve our work and establish our priorities for the upcoming year. This year, literacy acceleration is our top priority. This means ensuring that students are reading at or above grade level throughout the K-12 continuum, with benchmarks in the 3rd, 6th, and 9th grade “gateways.” I have always prioritized literacy, but as my opening presentation made clear, we have a renewed sense of urgency this year.

Our approach is to focus on two strategic drivers—teacher quality and extended time—through a collective accountability up and down our system. We know that regardless their background, if students receive effective teaching, and have extra time—early childhood, longer days and years—with quality teachers, their literacy rates will soar.

I look forward to seeing these strategies in action on August 18th, when our doors will open to enthusiastic students and parents. In the meantime, if you are interested in reading more about some of the ideas discussed this week, you can view the presentation entitled "Educating African American Males" by Dr. Olatokunbo Fashola.

In other news, last week the Board agreed to promote and give extra responsibilities to two of our staff—Elliot Smalley and Audrey Lane. For those who are interested, please read more about these two employees, their backgrounds and the rationale behind this decision.

I’ve saved the best news for last. This week, we found out that Lucy Beckham, principal of Wando High School, is one of three secondary school finalists for national Principal of the Year. In two weeks, Ms. Beckham will be traveling to Washington, D.C. as a finalist. We could not be prouder of this outstanding principal and individual. Congratulations, Principal Beckham, and best of luck as you represent Wando and all of Charleston County!