I am pleased to report that last week we opened our academic year welcoming back all of our students and parents.

 

I want to express my gratitude to our elected officials who prioritized time in their schedules to join us on opening day, specifically, Kent County Commissioners John Price and Albert Nicholson as well as state Dels. Jeff Ghrist and Jay Jacobs, along with many Board of Education members. We look forward to future opportunities for our elected officials to visit our classrooms, athletic fields, and student performances throughout the year. 

 

Our faculty and staff are excited and prepared to both support and challenge our students through the teaching and learning process.

 

Our performance on last spring’s state test will be shared this evening. It is important to understand that data is a flashlight to find our way forward. Specifically, our data has shed light on our need to focus on math and writing skills throughout the year with special attention for our African-American students and all students receiving special services for unique learning and language needs.

 

I have absolute confidence that we can, must and will drive academic improvement. To do this we have redesigned how we are working with and supporting our principals as the first line of instructional leadership. As we move more deeply into the school year, I will be assessing how we support our classroom teachers as we know teachers are the foremost factor in elevating student achievement.

 

Furthermore, as an agricultural community, we understand that growth requires the right conditions, which brings me to school safety and climate.

 

As we celebrated the return of our students last week, it is with a heavy heart that I acknowledge the tragedy experienced by the school communities of Apalachee High School in Georgia and Joppatowne High School in Harford County, Maryland. Our hearts and prayers go out to everyone touched by these events. May these tragedies strengthen our collective commitment to provide safe and nurturing classroom, school and community conditions for our students.

 

Our faculty and staff including our school counselors and social workers have been and will continue to be available to talk to students in need of support.

 

Maintaining safe schools is a community-wide effort. If you see something, say something. Tips can be reported anonymously through Kent County Public Schools’ mobile app. The app also sends out push notifications to provide information and instructions should there be an incident. Our app is available for free on the Apple App Store and Google Play; search “Kent County Public Schools.”

 

Thank you for being part of our safety network.

 

In speaking of our community network, I continue to engage with community leaders through meetings with focus groups such as Minary’s Dream Alliance and our local NAACP leader, Mr. Cotton as well as attending local county commissioners’ meetings and local town council meetings. I was at the Galena town council meeting last week and I intend on going to the Millington town council meeting tomorrow evening.

 

Each and every one of these opportunities helps me to learn about who we are as a community and who we strive to become as a community.

 

We will publish community engagement opportunities as part of our strategic planning process. I ask you to attend and I ask that you bring another person with you so that every voice may influence our planning process. 

 

In closing, I want you to know that our Kent County Teacher of the Year Ms. Kaitlyn Wright is now one of the seven finalists for the Maryland Teacher of the Year. We are so proud of her and excited to cheer her on in this final phase of the process.