Community Update
The 2008-2009 Academic Year
- The Week of May 29, 2009
- The Week of May 22, 2009
- The Week of May 15, 2009
- The Week of May 8, 2009
- The Week of May 1, 2009
- The Week of April 24, 2009
- The Week of March 27, 2009
- The Week of March 20, 2009
- The Week of March 13, 2009
The Week of February 27, 2009
This week we got started with a County Board meeting. In my report, I talked about our state report card and pledged that when we come back together in two weeks, we will give a full presentation on exactly what we are doing to improve persistently struggling schools. This is our highest priority. I think it is important that we recognize the accomplishments of our students—and the hard work of educators and partners— in earning our first-ever “Excellent” improvement rating, but at the same time, we must also talk about the hard work that remains. Read more...
The Week of February 20, 2009
Today is about celebrating the good, hard work that everyone invested in public education in Charleston County has done over the past year, because it’s now official: for the first time ever, CCSD has an “Excellent” growth (formerly called improvement) rating on the state report card. The district’s absolute rating, which had been “Below Average” for two straight years, increased a full level to “Average.” And nearly 75% of report cards in the district— 58 in total— showed significant growth, versus barely half of schools making similar progress last year. Read more...
The Week of February 13, 2009
We started the week off with a countywide Board of Trustees meeting. At the meeting, we provided updates on our current budget crisis and the School Redesign transition process. We know this budget favors nothing—when you pull one option off the table, it must be replaced with another. At the meeting, CFO Mike Bobby made an important distinction between the general operating fund (GOF)—which the budget crisis is affecting—and the capital fund, an entirely different pot of money in which the funds must be spent on items such as buildings, infrastructure costs, classroom modernization, etc. Read more...
The Week of February 6, 2009
This is an incredibly difficult budget season; there is no question about it. Public education funding in our state needs fixing, and we are feeling the brunt of this year’s cuts. With no easy choices to make—for example, we have talked about changing the way we use substitutes, a topic that will be resolved at this Monday’s Board meeting— I’ve asked staff and the public to send any ideas they have to budget@charleston.k12.sc.us, and we will consider every single email that comes in. Read more...
The Week of January 30, 2009
This week, the County Board reviewed the district's final School Redesign recommendations one-by-one, passing each of them individually. After six months of debate, community engagement, discussion and analysis, we now turn all of our resources and energy into working with parents, community members and constituent boards to ensure a smooth transition for every student involved. The recommendations--all designed to improve educational outcomes for students—don't take effect until next year, but we must plan and prepare now for our students' brighter future. Read more...
The Week of January 23, 2009
This week, as many of you have heard, we released our final recommendations for School Redesign. We plan to present these recommendations to the Board on Monday, bringing full circle the Board's June 2008 request for a school restructuring plan. Much has been said about our new proposal, which is the culmination of six months' worth of public meetings and forums; intensive research and analysis; countless phone calls, e-mails, and discussions; and a lot of sincere, hard work. Read more...
The Week of Janaury 16, 2009
I hope that everyone has had a great week. We spent a lot of time going over our School Redesign recommendations, talking with Board members and other groups about the kinds of options that will make the best sense for students, parents, and communities. Much has been said and written about School Redesign, and we have taken all of it in, every word a testament to the importance of public education in our county. We have had two full rounds of community engagement– one to define the criteria or "factors" for redesign, the other to discuss proposed options–along with smaller meetings, phone calls and e-mails, together generating thousands of comments. Read more...
The Week of December 12, 2008
As many of you know, we are in the middle of a public engagement process around the School Redesign Initiative. The plan, currently in the “options” phase—a set of constituent district-level ideas for school restructuring based on the twelve criteria we developed with community input in phase one—represents our response to the County Board’s request in June to bring them back a plan for consolidation. We had just wrapped up a difficult budget cycle, and the picture has worsened significantly since then, with projected additional 3-4% cuts in January, and 15% cuts to next year’s budget. Read more...
The Week of December 5, 2008
There were three major themes to our work this week, all of them related. One, with the Drayton Hall charter school application up for Board vote on Wednesday, was charter schools. As I said that night, I’m not against charter schools—for example, I’ve talked a great deal about the good work of the East Cooper Montessori Charter, which was profiled in our “Exemplary Schools” series. I see charters as a meaningful part of our district’s expanding portfolio of school options for parents. Read more...
Thanksgiving Message from the Superintendent
It is Thanksgiving week, a time to pause and reflect on all that we are thankful for. For me, the list is long, and the highlights are many.
I’m thankful to be part of this world-class, generous and vibrant community. Our district is blessed to have multiple partners and volunteers who give of their time, energy, expertise and finances—even in a down economy—to support public education from Edisto to McClellanville. Read more...
The Week of November 21, 2008
This week, as the air got a little cooler and we moved closer to Thanksgiving, I was particularly reminded of our core values— results, access, and partnerships. Our partners were engaged at every turn. We had Board members at the new Board orientation talking about how we’ll work together to shape policies and practices to improve our schools; Mayor Riley, students and faculty artfully—as only they can—celebrating the new Ashley River Groundbreaking with song and dance; Inez Tenenbaum, former State Superintendent of Education applauding CCSD parents at yesterday’s “Salute to Parents: Partners in Excellence” event; and principals sharing their thoughts on everything from media relations to the School Redesign initiative. Read more...
The Week of November 14, 2008
This week, we saw new Board members Elizabeth Kandrac, Chris Collins, Ann Oplinger, and Chris Fraser, along with returning member Toya Green, being sworn in at the Monday Board meeting; we surprised an excellent, innovative teacher— Junius Wright from Academic Magnet High School—with our Teacher of the Month award; and we hosted ten exemplary employees at a breakfast in their honor. Read more...
The Week of November 7, 2008
This week, I want to welcome four new Board members to our district, although none are strangers to public education in Charleston County: Elizabeth Kandrac and Chris Collins, representing North Charleston, and Chris Fraser and Ann Oplinger from West Ashley. This Monday, they will be sworn in, and will join standing Board Members Arthur Ravenel, Jr., Gregg Meyers, Toya Green (returning), Ray Toler, and Ruth Jordan in leading our district—in partnership with me and all CCSD employees—to success. Read more...
T
he week of October 31, 2008
On Monday, we honored the proud legacies of Nancy Cook, Brian Moody, and Hillery Douglas—all three of whom, after longstanding tenures on the School Board of Trustees, stepped down. We will miss them, but as I said on Monday, we know that the enduring impact of their work will be felt for a long, long time. Not only is our recent academic success a tribute to their leadership, but new buildings— such as Sanders-Clyde and Haut Gap, two schools we ceremoniously broke ground on this week—would not have come online if these Board Members had not championed the need for them. Read more...
The Week of October 24, 2008
This week, I had the pleasure of spending time with the Mt. Pleasant Rotary, CCSD middle school counselors, and
the Teacher Roundtable, updating all of them on Charleston Achieving Excellence priorities, the budget, and School Redesign. The highlight
of my week, however, was Thursday, when I spoke at the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Stall High School. I
was honored to spend a beautiful afternoon with Mayor Summey, former CCSD Associate Superintendent Dr. Lynda Davis,
outgoing School Board Chair Hillery Douglas, and Stall faculty and alumni. Read more...
The Week of October 17, 2008
This week, we did more than just celebrate the spring-like weather here in Charleston. Wednesday, the state released data containing last year’s graduation rate information, confirming that ours is now 73%--an 11 point increase from last year, and the highest rate we’ve had in four years. This is a testament to the hard work of our students, teachers, principals, counselors, and data clerks who helped document this terrific success. I especially want to recognize Burke, West Ashley, Military Magnet, and St. Johns for boosting their graduation rates by over 15 points, and I also want to applaud schools like Wando, School of the Arts, Academic Magnet (100%!), Baptist Hill and Garrett for maintaining or increasing their already-stellar graduation rates. Read more...
The Week of October 10, 2008
This week, I was honored to spend time with a handful of award-winning CCSD employees who are truly achieving excellence, driving district goals, and putting children first in everything that they do. Thursday morning, I held this month’s Superintendent’s Breakfast with a group of these amazing, talented individuals who are going “above and beyond” in their commitment to students. Their stories are inspiring and we are lucky to have them. Read more...
The Week of October 3, 2008
Good Friday to everyone. I hope this finds all of you well and appreciating the refreshing turn in temperature and season as much as I am. Change is certainly in the air. We have a new plan that is based on the most straightforward, results-driven, and student-focused vision this district has ever seen. Our students are reaching new heights—with PACT proficiency and scores on the AP exam and ACT higher than they have ever been. Parents, community members and business leaders are engaged around new arts, music, literacy, and health partnerships, and families in Charleston have more choices—magnet, charter, single-gender, Montessori, and neighborhood schools—than ever before. Read more...
The Week of September 26, 2008
This week started with a county School Board meeting, where we celebrated the accomplishments of staff, students and partners; reported on the district’s recent progress in raising proficient and advanced performance levels on the PACT; and enjoyed a presentation on the impact of volunteers from the United Way’s Day of Caring at Murray-LaSaine Elementary. We officially welcomed aboard a new full-time principal at Memminger Elementary, Anthony Dixon (congratulations, Mr. Dixon!). Read more...
The Week of September 19, 2008
Although I’m reminded of the importance and impact of public education every day of my life, some weeks really call attention to this theme. Last night, I spoke to the League of Women Voters about the key education priorities of 2008—issues like early childhood for all and funding reform—and as we near an election, I could feel the positive energy in the crowd and see the clear commitment from local voters to improve public education and reform what is broken, regardless political affiliation. Read more...
The Week of September 12, 2008
This week, our PACT scores were released, and we were thrilled to see that our students earned their highest Proficient and Advanced levels in the ten-year history of the test, outscoring the state in every subject and at every grade level. We also had the highest percent of “Basic and above” on record. I want to applaud every single student, teacher, principal, and support staff—everyone who contributes to the work of schools—who has helped us to achieve excellence in the classroom. It is amazing to see how far we’ve come as a district. Read more...
The Week of September 4, 2008
Dear staff, parents, and community members: Today, I am writing a slightly abbreviated “desk” letter in light of preparations that need to be made on the eve of Tropical Storm Hanna’s projected arrival in our area. I know that all of you are busy this afternoon and I do not want to take up much of your time, as you are surely and rightfully focused on other tasks at hand. Read more...
The Week of August 29, 2008
Greetings on the second week of school! We started the week off with a County Board meeting that was particularly memorable because we heard from our very own Mary Runyon (Principal, West Ashley High School), who spoke about her school’s successful credit recovery program that has equipped hundreds of students with the tools they need to achieve victory in the classroom. The other highlight from Monday was a presentation by Mr. Pete Kennedy, a Fulbright Scholar and longtime educator who outlined his vision for a new public-private partnership school—Carolina Preparatory Academy—that would enhance choice in our district through the creation of a new and exciting ecology-themed school for students in North Charleston. Read more...
The Week of August 22, 2008
In my last letter, I wrote that this week would be “a time for new beginnings,” and indeed it was, as teachers, principals and students— many returning and many brand-new to our system— kicked off the 2008-2009 school year in grand fashion. On Tuesday, we started school with 1,000 more students in our classrooms than last year, and we had the lowest number of absences— by nearly a third— than we’ve had in five years. Although I spent time this week speaking to the Rotary Club, hosting the Literacy Summit Roundtable, and meeting with business and community members, it was really all about the schools getting started! Read more...
The Week of August 15, 2008
Next week is “A time for new beginnings.” School starts on Tuesday, August 19, 2008. We have been firing on all cylinders in preparation for that day, and as I write this, our teachers and principals are in school and making last-minute preparations for the waves of eager children who will show up first thing Tuesday morning. Read more...
The Week of July 31, 2008
This week has been all about the Summer Leadership Institute (SLI), which brings together approximately 400 of the district’s school and central office leaders— principals and assistant principals, directors, and others— to share best practices, hone plans for the new school year, and learn from a wide range of inspiring guest speakers. Read more...
The Week of July 24, 2008
I hope your summer is going well and you are enjoying the kinds of fun activities associated with this time of year. If you are out in the sun, make sure to drink plenty of water! Yesterday, Charleston Mayor Joe Riley and I met on the roof of our building to tape a video segment promoting child health and nutrition (with the Charleston skyline in the background), and our message— about staying active and eating healthfully—seemed more appropriate than ever in the bright sunshine of the day. Read more...
The Week of July 3, 2008
Greetings! This week, my leadership team and I got together to discuss our district's core principles and the big ideas on which Charleston Achieving Excellence will concentrate. This is a discussion that we have had with community leaders for some time and in the interest of planning intelligently and quickly for a banner 2008-2009 school year— we are at the point where we are moving these concepts into action. Read more...
The Week of June 26, 2008
Greetings everyone. I hope you have all been having a great week and enjoying the summer. As we near the end of June, we are gearing up for an even busier month in July, when we will use every single day to lay the groundwork for a successful 2008-2009 school year. Already, we have begun to take steps in this direction. Read more...
The Week of June 19, 2008
It is the second week of our summer schedule, and already I miss my weekly routine of day-to-day visits with students and teachers. However, the good news is that the summer season affords us a little bit of time to reflect on what works and ensure that when we connect the biggest pieces of the excellence puzzle—the 2008-2009 budget chief among them—our approach is as sound and effective as possible. Read more...
The Week of June 12, 2008
Greetings! This week, I am writing and posting my “desk” letter on a Thursday, which I will do for the next two months as the district shifts to a 10.5 hour, four-day work week that saves us over $100,000 in operational costs over the summer. This new schedule is something that just makes good sense all-around, and it mirrors so many of our recent discussions about how we plan to work smarter and more effectively at less expense. Read more...