The decision to close schools or have a delayed opening is complicated by the fact that it must be made in the pre-dawn hours, well before buses will actually be on the road. After consulting with our deputy superintendent for planning and operations, our director of transportation (who drives the roads in the middle of the night), our director of facilities (who monitors our school parking lots and walkways), several City officials and people from surrounding jurisdictions, I make the best decision I can with the information available at the time. Student safety, of course, is the number one priority. Read the rest of this entry »
Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow
February 8th, 2010Backward Planning for Curriculum (and Last on MOE)
February 1st, 2010First, thank you to all who submitted comments over the past two weeks on Modified Open Enrollment. The input from Charles Barrett parents is especially valuable as we fine tune a proposed policy. On Jan. 27, I was invited to discuss MOE at the Barrett PTA meeting and I appreciate the thoughtful questions and discussion that arose. We have created an MOE Web page with links to all of the information that is currently scattered throughout our Web site so it will be easy to find and interpret, including the detailed Q&A from the PTA meeting. Read the rest of this entry »
More on Modified Open Enrollment
January 25th, 2010We began a good discussion last week on Modified Open Enrollment so I’ll keep it going this week and address some of your comments. Most of them fall into one of two categories: alternatives and overflow schools. Read the rest of this entry »
Modified Open Enrollment
January 18th, 2010School divisions throughout Northern Virginia have seen dramatic increases in enrollments in the past couple of years. In fact, ACPS had the largest percentage increase in VA last year, the fifth largest increase in actual numbers. Most demographers predict that these trends will continue throughout the region as our local economies are stronger than the rest of the country and as DC continues to be one of the most desirable metropolitan areas in the country. ACPS is at its highest enrollment since 1978 and we are currently predicting the increase to continue. Read the rest of this entry »
Schools of the Future Involve Partnerships
January 11th, 2010There is a buzz throughout the country about the benefits of community schools. As defined by the Coalition for Community Schools, a community school is both a place and a set of partnerships between the school and other community resources. The connected and integrated focus on academics, health and social services, youth and community development and community engagement leads to improved student learning, stronger families and healthier communities. Schools become centers of the community and are open to everyone – all day, every day, evenings and weekends. Read the rest of this entry »
