News from the Superintendent: May 11, 2009

May 10, 2009

Dear APS Community Member,

Here we are at the time of year we’ve all been waiting for. High school graduations began over the weekend and continue through Thursday. I can’t tell you how proud I am of our graduates, and I wish them all the best of success as they begin their adult lives.

The moment of graduation is why we do what we do. Every lesson we teach, every program we run, is geared toward putting students in position to graduate. The greatest satisfaction I’ve known as an educator, and probably yours too, has been watching students learn, graduate and achieve. It’s a hectic time of year, but always the best. I look forward to attending five graduations this week and sending students off personally.

Between budget and flu concerns last week, I was remiss in not mentioning that last week was Teacher Appreciation Week. The hard work teachers do every day deserves to be noticed, and the article in the Journal last Tuesday showed terrific examples of teachers making a positive impact on their students. Keep it up, teachers. You make us proud.

I would also like to point out that Tuesday is Nurses’ Day. The service provided by school nurses is critical to the well-being of students. While school nurses don’t get a lot of attention, three APS health care professionals recently received honors for their work. Congratulations to Nursing Services manager Cynthia Greenberg, wellness coordinator Jennie McCary and Eisenhower Middle School nurse Sally Hunter on the awards they received from their respective professional organizations.

Nurses certainly stayed on their toes the last two weeks as we dealt with H1N1 virus concerns. Thankfully, we had no confirmed cases in school-age children in Bernalillo County and fears have subsided for now. My thanks to APS Health and Wellness and the school nurses for their vigilance in working with students and parents and keeping current on the ever-changing information sent by the state and the Center for Disease Control.

We have two more community meetings scheduled for public input on the 2009-10 APS budget. They are at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Taylor Middle School and 5 p.m. Thursday at Van Buren Middle School. My thanks to the budget office for running these meetings and gathering public input. A draft of the budget will be presented to the Board of Education Finance Committee next Monday.

Have a great week.

Sincerely,

Winston Brooks, Superintendent
Albuquerque Public Schools