Back to school!

A Thought for Next Week

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” - Nelson Mandela 

 

Good morning, everyone; I hope you are all doing well on this first Friday of August! As we officially lean into the 2022-23 school year, I want to thank all of you for the exceptional summer programming you provided for students who needed extra time and support this summer: summer teachers and assistants, school support staff, nurses, and bus drivers. You really came through after wrapping up a long school year from 21-22. Thank you!

Let’s all send our support, best wishes, and cooperation to our building services staff! Our construction, maintenance, and custodial crews work year-round to keep our learning and work spaces safe, clean, contemporary, and healthy; and the months of July and August are times of accelerated work to bring all jobs, big and small, to completion. Thank you to all of our building services staff. Your work is outstanding and makes a big difference for our students, employees, and families!

I am grateful for all the efforts of all of our 12-month employees for your efforts to close out last year and get us ready for August 24th! This time of year, people ask me pretty much daily if we are ready for the school year to start. I know this happens to all of you as well. I always say, “We are ready to be ready on August 24th (or whichever is the date of the first day), and we are! To all of our 12-month employees who newly joined us this summer, welcome to the ACPS team!

Next to August 24th, my favorite day of the summer is the first day our new teachers join us, August 9th! So far, we are looking forward to approximately 165 new teachers joining us this fall. I say approximately because the number changes daily as principals continue to hire. 

 

Yesterday and Wednesday, all building- and district-level administrators met at Monticello High School for our annual back-to-school retreat. This is when school and central teams get together and lay the groundwork for a successful school year for students through strategic planning focused on high quality teaching and learning and supporting students to thrive academically, physically, and emotionally in our schools. 

 

Dr. Haas headshot

We still have lots of news happening in the ACPS community even when students aren’t in the classroom. Here’s a little of what’s been going on this summer.

 

ACPS is looking for substitute teachers:

CBS 19 ACPS Looking for Substitute Teachers

NBC 29 ACPS Fall Teachers

Positive art becomes t-shirts at Henley: 

NBC 29 Positive Art T-shirts are Setting the Tone at Henley Middle School

And check out your colleagues on our weekly ACPS Community Conversations spot at NBC29!

Here's LaRuth Ensley, Our New Principal at HMS

And Lisa Molinaro, Who Took a Minute to Talk about Our Pre-K Programming

Daphne Keiser Sat Down to Talk about Her New Role as ACPS's Assistant Superintendent for Community Engagement

CoderDojo was a Big Success, and here's Jessa Campbell to Explain

The Back to School Bash Committee is still taking backpack donations!

Back to School Bash: Backpack Drive is Underway

Finally, here’s a wonderful story on the retirement of the former Assistant Superintendent for Community Engagement, Bernard Hairston. What a celebration! 

NBC 29 ACPS Assistant Superintendent Retires after 47 Years as an Educator

 

In case you missed it, here is the August edition of our community newsletter: ACPS Connections

 

Upcoming Events and Observances:

August 9th: First day for Teachers New to ACPS

August 15th: All Teachers Return

August 16th: Convocation

August 20th: Back to School Bash

August 24th: First Day of School

September 5th: Labor Day

September 11 - 17th: National Arts in Education Week

 

Books to Consider: 

Harlem Shuffle (2021) Colson Whitehead

Remembering a Blue Ridge Mountain Father (2018) Sherman T. Shifflett 

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood (2019) Trevor Noah

A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age (2014) Matt Richtel

Trauma-Sensitive Classroom: Building Resilience with Compassionate Teaching (2019) Patricia A. Jennings