About Us

As the Assistant Superintendent for School Community Engagement, it is an honor and privilege to welcome you to the Albemarle County Public Schools (ACPS) Office for Community Engagement! 

The Office for Community Engagement (OCE) consists of the following departments: Communications, Community Education, Extended Day Enrichment Programs (EDEP), and Community Partnerships/Volunteerism.

The mission of the Office for Community Engagement is to inform, inspire, and involve our broad spectrum of stakeholders in collaborative partnerships that empower students and encourage lifelong learning. We strive to become anti-racist, rejecting all forms of racism as destructive to our mission, vision, and goals. Our office works to create an inclusive environment that recognizes the power of diversity in driving positive student outcomes. Diversity makes us stronger through a variety of perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences that improves our educational environment, and gives rise to new ways of thinking and innovation to better serve all school communities.  

Albemarle County Public School (ACPS) believes strongly that equity and accessibility to Division programs, services, and resources are critical to the achievement of all students. We value the diversity in our schools, departments, and broader community, seek to support all community members in their quest for cultural competence, and remain committed to equity and inclusion to enable the fulfillment of our mission and the goals of our strategic plan, Learning for All and the Portrait of a Learner life-long competencies.

Consistent with the policies and practices of the ACPS School Board (SB Policy-IGAK),

ACPS works to:

• Create systems and equitable school communities that are inclusive of diversity in race, ethnicity, language, gender, cultural values, and family belief systems;
• Ensure that staff are demonstrating ethical behaviors and respect for diversity through daily actions and decision-making;
• Provide equity of opportunity and equity of access to programs, services and resources; 

ACPS students learn to respect and value diversity, including diversity of thought, values and perspectives, when they experience adults who reflect the varied cultures and backgrounds that make up our community and nation. We all come from different places with unique paths to ACPS. In many instances, these differences have contributed to shaping our views and informing our perspectives regarding today’s educational issues. The more we appreciate and understand our individual perspectives, the more cohesive and engaged our community will be, which will result in enriched and increased opportunities for our students, ultimately resulting in a cohesive, collective vision, improved stakeholder satisfaction, shared decision-making, and academic and personal success for all students. 

The work of the Office for Community Engagement is primarily focused on Goal #2:  Affirming and Empowering Communities in the strategic plan Learning for All.

ACPS commits to developing a culturally-responsive environment that will respect and champion the diversity of life experiences of all stakeholders and supports the physical and mental health of our students, staff, and families so they are actively empowered to engage in our school community.