News from the Superintendent: September 28, 2009

September 27, 2009

Good morning.

You may have heard late last week that APS is expected to receive a big boost in our graduation figures. In a re-calculation, it looks like our graduation rate may actually be as high as 63 percent! The numbers are still being checked by the state and we don’t expect the Secretary of Education to certify them until later this week, but the news is good today.

Where does this leave us in terms of the three-year targets we announced last week? The short answer is I’m not sure; we have to make sure there’s a baseline in place to work with first. Besides, as I’ve said before, I’m more concerned with growth and the direction we’re headed.

I’ve been telling audiences at recent school opening celebrations that we don’t have “failing” schools. The response has been positive and I think parents believe this of their own local schools. I think we do our students and teachers a disservice by telling them they’re failing. They’re working too hard to be kicked around like that. The new numbers are encouraging and our new programs like AVID and the extended day at high schools will take us in the right direction.

It’s not over by a longshot; we still have a ways to go. But we do have a few things to brag about in APS.

This news on graduation rates is timely for our opening celebrations of new schools and spaces. Last week, we celebrated Helen Cordero Primary School, the first APS school to focus on the lower elementary grades and have its own pre-kindergarten program. On Thursday we’ll celebrate the opening of the Freshman Academy wing at West Mesa High School, a new space where ninth-graders will take that first big step that we expect will lead them to graduation.

We were saddened to learn that Chelwood Elementary teacher Ellen Roth was not found safe, as we had hoped and prayed she would be. Please join me in offering our sympathies and support to Ms. Roth’s colleagues and students at Chelwood.

Finally, I would like to congratulate the 14 science teachers who took the thrill ride of a lifetime last week. They were selected by the Northrop Grumman Foundation to take part in the Weightless Flights of Discovery program. They went up in a 727 and experienced weightlessness like astronauts and performed experiments. What a story to bring back to their students, and an amazing educational opportunity for some deserving teachers.

Have a great week.

Winston Brooks
Superintendent