Good Morning!  Thank you for your hard work for students and families. I hope you all are doing well and were able to get outside for a bit on Wednesday to enjoy the spring-like weather!

I had the opportunity to be outside for about a half-an-hour Wednesday to celebrate Crozet Elementary School’s Topping Out Ceremony. This was a first for me! The structural frame at the new Crozet Elementary School addition has reached its highest point, so construction workers, contractors, architects, school and county project managers, administrators, and School Board members gathered to celebrate the completion of the building’s exterior structure. Accordingly, an American flag has been proudly displayed to commemorate the occasion. 

 

The addition and renovation of Crozet Elementary School is the largest construction project for ACPS since Baker-Butler opened in 2003. The school will also boast the County’s first school with a geothermal HVAC system. The addition will create a new capacity at Crozet for 350 students, and the school will receive 219 students from Brownsville Elementary School next year. 

We truly have an outstanding Building Services Department!

 

Thank you all for your work to make professional learning communities (PLC) happen both at the school system level and in each of your schools. Over the past few days, central office staff and principals have been meeting at Center 1 for midyear data reviews based on equity audits conducted by PLC’s all over the school system. I have heard over and over again from principals about the collaborative work that our educators are doing to plan, develop and conduct common formative assessments, use system-wide mid-year assessments to see how students are learning right now, and discuss how to move forward to support student growth. When educators work together, students benefit from their collaboration. When educators - all of us - can look at common evidence of student learning and can say to each other, “Your students performed better than mine did; how did you do it?” students benefit.

For what it is worth, one my professional goals this year is to use the Education Advisory Board, our research consortium, to identify four peer school systems for ACPS so that I can invite the superintendents of these systems to establish a quarterly meeting with the goal of talking about our work with instruction. This afternoon, I will be meeting with superintendents from Augusta, Rockingham, Frederick, and Hanover to begin our PLC + journey, inspired by all of you! Thank you! 

 

Here are five recent media links for consideration. The first is an excellent interview by Craig Jennings about WinterSongs, which is this Saturday (tomorrow).  

Wintersongs

The next two links are related to the Albemarle County Public School Board’s draft budget for 2022-23. 

Albemarle schools’ $242 million funding request focuses on employee pay

ACPS Superintendent proposes budget increase

 

And here are two from the Crozet topping out ceremony:

Crozet Elementary School Holds Topping Off Ceremony for New Addition

Crozet Elementary Celebrates Workers for Completing a Project Stepping Stone

 

Check out our latest podcast!

https://www.k12albemarle.org/our-division/superintendents-office/superintendents-podcast 

Superintendent Dr. Matthew Haas talks with Lucille Smith, a local author, about her most recent book: Unforgettable Jackson P. Burley High School.  Ms. Smith spoke to former students and staff of Burley High School to compile a comprehensive history of the school before it was converted to one of Albemarle County Public Schools' middle schools.

 

Upcoming Observances

• March is Virginia School Boards Association (VSBA) Equity in Education Month.
• March is Music in Our Schools Month.
• March is Youth Art Month. 
• March is Women’s History Month. 
• March 2nd is NEA’s Read Across America Day.
• March 7 - 12  is National School Breakfast Week.
• March 7-25 is the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank School Food Drive.
• March 20th is the first day of spring! 

 

Two Books for Consideration

Unforgettable Jackson P. Burley High School (2021) by Lucille Smith

The Advisory Book: Building a Community of Learners Grades 5-9 (2008) by Linda Crawford