I hope you all are having a restful winter break and are feeling refreshed and ready for the new year.
The new year marks 65 years since Brown v. Board of Education, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that prohibited segregation in public schools. This milestone will certainly be acknowledged in public education throughout the country, alongside the progress we have made as a nation.
We have come a long way since May 17, 1954, when the court stripped away the legitimacy of laws that segregated people by race, and instead made equal opportunity in education the law of the land. Since that date, Alexandria has had an African-American School Board Chair, an African-American Mayor and an African-American superintendent who are all products of this great school division – and most significantly are all Alexandrians. Our community of staff, students and their families is more diverse than it has ever been. There is not a day that goes by that I do not celebrate the fact that I am a product of this great school division that I now have the privilege to serve as the superintendent.
None of these things could have happened in 1954.
There is also no doubt in my mind that we still have a long way to go to ensure equity in our public schools. This is one of the areas we need to focus on as a school division as we mark the 65th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education. We have already been engaged in courageous conversations that are needed to ensure every student in our school division succeeds, and we know it will take great effort to see that come to fruition in our daily work and in everything we do. We know that this can be an uncomfortable conversation, but we also know that if we push through the discomfort, there is a better future beyond it for every one of our students. It is not our right to be comfortable — discomfort affords us the opportunity to grow as individuals and pushes our thinking. I encourage all of you to continue to be a part of this courageous conversation of equity in ACPS as we introduce this concept to the wider community.
The year ahead will be an exciting one for ACPS. We will be opening our third new school building this school year, planning for the future high school alongside Virginia Tech and an early college program with Northern Virginia Community College, and welcoming a new School Board – and that is just in January. This spring, we will embark on our next school division strategic plan to guide our work through 2025 with an equity focus.
On January 30 at 6 p.m. in T.C. Williams High School cafeteria, please join me at an interactive State of Schools session as I celebrate the end of my first 100 days as your superintendent of schools. I will be sharing what I have learned through my Listening and Learning sessions across the City and starting a conversation about the future work required for ACPS to become the best it has ever been.
I invite you to join me as a champion for each and every one of our students in this important Brown v. Board of Education anniversary year. No matter what school or facility you work at, we are all working toward the same goal. Just as it took a unified voice to overcome segregation in 1954, it will take a unified voice emboldened with Titan pride to take us to the next level in 2019 and beyond.
And so, from my Titan family to yours, happy New Year!