In the Spotlight

About once a month, Superintendent Marcus J. Newsome writes about education or school system topics.

Keeping schools safe

Oct. 21-27 is America’s Safe Schools Week. No place in this world carries a guarantee of safety, but Chesterfield County Public Schools is taking appropriate steps to maintain the safety of students and staff members. This is vital because if students and teachers do not feel safe, they cannot focus on education. School safety supports all instructional efforts.

Chesterfield County Public Schools believes so strongly in school safety that we have made it one of the top goals of our Design for Excellence strategic plan:
Goal 1 — academic excellence for all students
Goal 2 — safe, supportive and nurturing learning environments
Goal 3 — competent and knowledgeable workforce
Goal 4 — community investment

Included in the Design for Excellence strategies are actions suggested by an innovation team of school and community representatives, such as making sure every school has ways for students to anonymously suggest ways to improve school safety.
We take school safety seriously because our school system cannot continue to move forward if people don’t feel safe in our schools. Recent security initiatives include hiring the school system’s first security coordinator. A task force, which included school, police, fire and security personnel, has developed an extensive checklist that exceeds state requirements for school safety audits, and schools are conducting those audits. Among the items to be checked are whether the security systems we have in place, such as visitors checking in at the office and wearing name badges, are followed consistently. Installing cameras in every Chesterfield County school is another safety initiative, as is a device that students and teachers based in classroom trailers can use to easily unlock doors to the main school building.

Every high school and middle school has a school resource officer who is a member of the Chesterfield County Police Department and trained to work in a school environment. We also have school security officers, and they have been trained and are now wearing shirts with “SECURITY” written across the back so they are easily identifiable.

Those are a few of the ways that Chesterfield County Public Schools is working to keep students, staff members and schools safe.

Parents want to keep provide their children with a secure childhood, and parents are true partners with the school system when it comes to safety.

Chesterfield County Public Schools uses the ParentLink system to communicate with parents whenever students are absent or when schools close early or when events occur that parents need to know about. For ParentLink to work best, schools need to have up-to-date phone numbers and e-mail addresses for parents. We can store up to six phone numbers — parent cell phones, work numbers, home numbers — for every student and two e-mail addresses. When this contact information changes, it’s important that parents let the schools know because ParentLink is a vital part of our safety plans.

Bus safety is another area where parents partner with schools to keep children safe. In addition to being America’s Safe Schools Week, Oct. 21-27 is National School Bus Safety Week. We encourage parents to walk with their children to the bus stop and wait with them until the bus comes. Children should never run toward a bus or cut in front of a bus.

Personal safety has its roots in the core values of Chesterfield County Public Schools: respect, responsibility, honesty and accountability. If we all embrace these core values and conduct ourselves accordingly, then safety would never be an issue. The anti-bullying programs and kindness programs in our schools are based on these core values, and parents can reinforce those messages at home.

Experts say that setting clear, consistent limits for our children is important for their development and safety. That’s true for children of all ages. For example, our school system and the Chesterfield Police Department work together each year to sponsor safe driving programs designed for parents and teens together. One message from these programs is that parents don’t lose all control when a child receives his or her driver’s license. Parents can restrict their teens’ driving to daylight hours or within a certain geographic area or take other steps that are appropriate for their family as their child grows into an experienced driver.

The Internet is another place parents play a vital role in keeping children safe. Our schools often offer free workshops for parents on how to keep kids safe on the Internet. Experts agree that computers with Internet connections should be in a central part of the home, rather than behind a closed bedroom door, so that parents can be aware of the sites their children are visiting and anyone they might be chatting with. Parents need to let their children know what their limits are regarding the Internet. Families need to talk about Internet safety.

Finally, television is a place parents can make a difference. There are violent images that are not suitable for children. Parents need to decide which shows and news programs are suitable for their family to see and take steps to make sure children view age-appropriate images.

We are fortunate in Chesterfield County. Although problems can occur, our students learn every day in excellent academic environments. Parents, students, school employees or other community members who have security questions or concerns are encouraged to contact me.

Ordinary people doing extraordinary things
It sometimes slips our minds that the people we admire, those whose existence has changed the world, did not start off as heroes. They were once ordinary children sitting in classrooms on the first day of school.

Bill Gates, Martin Luther King Jr., Maya Angelou and Margaret Mead - giants of technology, civil rights, literature and science - once looked a lot like the children who return to school this week. To grow into the successful individuals they became, each of our role models had to work hard, overcome difficulties, discover their talent and benefit from education and mentoring.

Success is the goal that Chesterfield County Public Schools has for each of the 59,004 students sitting in our classrooms today. It is, in fact, the top goal of the
Design for Excellence,our dynamic six-year strategic plan:
Goal 1 - academic excellence for all students
Goal 2 - safe, supportive learning environment
Goal 3 - knowledgeable, competent workforce
Goal 4 - community investment in public education

It goes without saying that parents also seek success for their children. I remember anticipating the first day of school for my three children and planning ways to help them achieve. Reading was always a priority in our home, and I hope it is in yours as well. Also, the national PTA offers a terrific list of 100 ways to help your child and school succeed.
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For the 6.5 hours of each day that students are in school, Chesterfield County teachers and staff members concentrate on helping each student find his or her path to success. Our award-winning school system is continually recognized for excellence, but we know we must continue to improve. To do so, we have several initiatives beginning this year:
· Targeted staffing additions will put 60 new reading teachers and eight new mathematics coaches into schools throughout the county.
· Three high schools are changing the way they use time in order to make each school day more effective.
· We are piloting a targeted school readiness initiative to help about a hundred 4-year-olds at seven elementary schools acquire skills that will enable them to begin kindergarten ready to learn.
· An independent curriculum management audit by Phi Delta Kappa International is under way.

As we work tirelessly to help our children achieve, we need to keep in mind that success does not always arrive in the form we expect. Henry Ford, for example, wanted to go into the watch-making business but wound up revolutionizing the way cars are designed and built. Ray Kroc began as a salesman for milkshake machines before transforming the American landscape with McDonald's.

Another thought to keep in mind is that success does not always arrive quickly. Michael Jordan, for example, did not make the cut for his high school basketball team. Instead of giving up, he worked even harder, using his disappointment as a motivator. Michael Jordan's commitment led to great success on the basketball court: six NBA championships.

Stories like that inspire us and can also inspire our children. This brief video by Farmers Insurance Group offers encouragement for all of us.

So as a new school year begins, let us remember that excellence is not genetic - excellence is achieved through hard work and the support of those around us. Let us commit ourselves to excellence, keeping in mind that "Excellence can be attained if you care more than others think is wise, risk more than others think is safe, dream more than others think is practical, and expect more than others think is possible."

My first 100 days

Moving Chesterfield County Public Schools from competence to excellence and toward world-class prominence begins with a solid foundation. I recently completed my first 100 school days as superintendent of Chesterfield County Public Schools (CCPS), establishing a foundation for the next several years. Those days seemed to race by faster than a fifth-grader on a skateboard. But no matter how quickly the world is moving, I am filled with overwhelming hope and optimism that our greatest days are ahead.

Many of my mornings were spent visiting each of our 60 schools and getting to know students, teachers, administrators and staff members. Their friendly welcomes, honest questions, notes, letters and handcrafted gifts make me proud to call Chesterfield County my new home. I have seen firsthand why this school district has earned the distinguished reputation of an award-winning division and why Chesterfield has been recognized by America's Promise as one of the Best 100 Communities in America for children.

At each school, I met terrific kids and dedicated staff members and also observed on-task behavior by students and faculty. I've also been humbled by the level of esteem afforded to the position of superintendent. I particularly remember a visit to an art class at Cosby High because a student spontaneously began to show me around the room, pointing out the work of her classmates who were working on murals, papier-mâché constructions and other projects. As a former art teacher, I really enjoyed this student's enthusiasm.

In addition to getting to know Chesterfield schools, I've been getting acquainted with our community partners and have been impressed by the goodwill that CCPS enjoys in the community. Among the school partners I have met with include the County Council of PTAs-PTSAs, Chesterfield Public Education Foundation, Communities In Schools, Chamber of Commerce, representatives from electronic and print news media, a host of advisory groups and faith-based community leaders. Every group has been kind, supportive and eager to work with the school system. People from all areas - parents, business leaders, elected officials, the faith community and civic groups - really have gone out of their way to make me feel welcome.

Another way I have gotten to know Chesterfield County is by facilitating five community forums, one in each magisterial district. The forums were organized to discuss our new Design for Excellence, a dynamic strategic plan that will move Chesterfield schools forward, ensuring that our students are prepared for the 21st century. Our strategic plan contains four goals that shaped my first 100 days and that will shape every aspect of Chesterfield County Public Schools for the next six years:
· academic excellence for all students
· safe and supportive learning environments
· knowledgeable and competent workforce
· community investment in public schools

School employees and community members have begun working in innovation teams (think tanks) to create strategies that will help us achieve these four goals. Each innovation team has a specific area of focus-looking through new eyes at Chesterfield County Public Schools in an effort to offer fresh approaches to the complex problems and challenges before us.

Other activities during my first 100 days included crafting the school system's $572 million operating budget for 2007-08, securing funding to enhance school security measures, restructuring central office leadership to improve support for schools, overseeing the implementation of ParentLink (a new parent communication system), updating the school system's web site and ensuring efficient and effective alignment by commissioning an independent curriculum management audit.

While there is much to be done, much has been accomplished during my first 100 days as superintendent of Chesterfield County Public Schools. I expect our next 100 days together - and every 100 days after that - to continue to move our schools toward excellence.

Reading is the foundation of all academic success