August 25, 2010

Well, the 2010-2011 school year is officially underway.  I was fortunate enough to be able to make it to each school in the county for the opening day and came away very impressed with what I saw.  Most students seemed excited to be back in school.  Teachers were well prepared and many got the ball rolling with instruction the second their students walked through the door.  Bus drivers were able to successfully complete their routes, cafeteria workers provided excellent meals, and the custodians and maintenance workers had every building in good shape for the return of our students.  Chaos and confusion were at a minimum which is highly unusual for the first day of school.

Earlier this month, we were excited to learn that every school in Monroe County made annual yearly progress (AYP) for the 2009-2010 school year.  This is a terrific milestone for achievement but we still have much work to do in the current school year to ensure our continued success.  Although every school made AYP, our test scores were still low in some areas and several grade levels performed below the state averages on the majority of their tests.  Teachers and administrators are aware of the areas of deficiencies and will undoubtedly work diligently to show a marked improvement in 2010-2011.

On a different note, I am as excited as many of you are to see our fall sports season get underway.  Nothing solidifies the beginning of a school year quite like the opening game of high school football.  We are expecting great things this year from the cheerleading squads, volleyball, soccer, golf, and football teams in Monroe County.  I have been working with the administrators from Mountain View, Peterstown Middle, and James Monroe along with Coach Jackson in an effort to change the venue for the game between our county middle school football programs.  It is our hope that Mountain View and Peterstown Middle School will play their yearly game on the field at James Monroe High School.  This is done in many school systems where two middle schools feed into one high school and it is a great opportunity for middle school players to get some exposure and experience on the field where they will hopefully excel as high school athletes.   We hope to make the change for this year’s game and should have things finalized within the next week or so.

In closing, I would like to reiterate the message that I gave to all of the students at James Monroe on opening day- In order to succeed in school you have only have to follow three basic principles:  1.  Show up.  2.  Follow the rules.  3.  Do your work.  If students are doing these things, there is absolutely no reason they will not successfully progress through this and every other school year.  Good luck to all of our students, parents, faculty, and staff in the 2010-2011 school year.

-Dr. Kevin W. Siers