Acceleration School Blog #wewillexcel
Welcome to the blog for Acceleration Schools! Thank you for visiting our page. We are a team dedicated to supporting our highest-needs students and schools. The Acceleration Schools Blog is a space where we will share updates, stories, and experiences across our community. We want to take this first entry opportunity to introduce ourselves and what this work means to us. We will excel!
Our mission
The Acceleration Schools initiative will focus on serving the academic, social, and cultural needs of our students and work alongside staff, families, and our community to develop and support the whole child. We will equip students with the skills needed to thrive and impact the world while prioritizing equity and building systems that will sustain success and ensure endless possibilities for all scholars. We will empower teachers and school leaders to close the opportunity gap among' our' communities most vulnerable and chronically under-performing schools and ensure all students have access to a world-class educational experience.
Our Team - Our Blog - Jacqueline K. Haynes, Associate Superintendent, Acceleration Schools.
As the Associate Superintendent for Acceleration Schools, I'm excited to work with a highly dedicated team committed to ensuring that our students in high-needed schools receive the best possible education. We aim to disrupt existing practices in high-needed schools to ensure sustainable success. Our team has adopted a turnabout model that has proven to be successful. School turnaround is hard work; it is not a linear process with defined steps that guarantee positive results. Nor are there any magic bullets or a step-by-step process that ensures success. However, we focus on leadership, talent development, instructional transformation, and culture. My team is constantly supporting these levers and has proof points of school success. I would love for you to meet our team!
Colleen Carr is the Director of Acceleration Schools for Charleston County School District and supports all Acceleration Schools through coaching, professional development, social media, and community engagement. She has always believed that the role of an educator is that of a public servant. Therefore, she is passionate about ensuring that all students have opportunities and experiences that enable them to be globally productive citizens. Ms. Carr states, "Acceleration Schools provide me with the perfect recipe for success where all students know that their past does not dictate their present or future."
Caley Jones is the District Instructional Specialist for Acceleration Schools and focuses on Literacy/Reading. She supports our schools with the implementation of EL and works closely with our school-based literacy coaches to help build their capacity to provide targeted support to their teachers. By being a part of the Acceleration Schools Team, she models the model of school transformation by encouraging, inspiring, and motivating schools to innovate and create change that will help grow and shape students' future success.
As a District Instructional Specialist for Acceleration Schools, Jayuntay Williams supports the content area of math for school-based Math Coaches and teachers. It is my role and greatest hope to build the capacity, through coaching, of the math coaches so that scholars are fully engaged with and experience success with grade-level content that addresses the rigor of our state standards. As our ultimate goal is to ensure scholars are learning and growing, I passionately support math coaches by introducing and engaging coaches in best practices through professional development. If our teachers are their best, our scholars can be their best. I support and coach through this lens, as I wholeheartedly believe that greatness is an obligation, not an option.
Exceptional Education students are a high priority in Acceleration schools; Stephanie Ganacoplos sees a team-based approach to improving student outcomes through collaboration, inclusive practices, and high expectations. She supports exceptional educators and school teams in increasing opportunities, understandings, and access for students with exceptional needs and implementing universal design for learning to benefit all students.
I invite you to get to know our team up close and personal. We love talking about our work and believe our students will EXCEL!