Welcome back to 2010!
8/10/2010
Superintendent Dr. Jim Scales sent a message to all Hamilton County students Tuesday, welcoming them back to the new school year.
Good afternoon parents of Hamilton Couty students, this is Superintendent Jim Scales welcoming you back to the 2010-2011 school year. School begins Wednesday, August 11 and we look forward to another great year in Hamilton County.
Our teachers, principals and staff have been hard at work this summer preparing to deliver a high quality education for every student.
This year we will be implementing programs through Race to the Top grant. These intitiatives are focused on four key areas:
- Professional development for our teachers
- Use of data to drive quality instruction
- Leadership development for our principals
- Turning around low-performing schools
We also continue to implement the more rigorous Tennessee State Academic Standards. Last year we began implementation and tested students on new tests based on the more challenging standards. We are expecting to receive those results in late September. The state has already announced that scores will be down and we expect Hamilton County's scores to drop as well. These lower scores, while hard to accept, do not mean that students are not learning. Rather, the bar has been raised and our students are rising to the challenge, learning more than ever before.
I want to take this opportunity to remind parents how important it is for students to be in school on the first day and maintain a positive attendance record throughout the year. We have 174 days of instruction and students cannot afford to miss school and expect to achieve. There is a positive correlation between attendance and achievement and we need everyone to work together to ensure that our students are in class everyday.
I am looking forward to another fabulous year in Hamilton County. Thank you for your continued support of Hamilton County Schools. Let's make this our best year ever!