SchoolMatters Blog

Long range planning committee on future of small schools

The Daily Progress has a story today about the recommendation made by the School Board's Long Range Planning Committee to Superintendent Pam Moran regarding the future of Yancey, Scottsville, and Red Hill Elementary Schools.  I have uploaded a copy of their letter to Dr. Moran here.

Brian Wheeler

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Combine 3 small schools, panel says

8/30/09 * Daily Progress [full story]

A committee is calling for three elementary schools in southern Albemarle County to be shut down and replaced with one big school.

Though officials have not decided whether to close the schools, the recommendation is a blow to parents who are fighting to keep the three schools open and believe their children do better in small, community schools.

A copy of the committee’s letter to Superintendent Pamela Moran was obtained by The Daily Progress late last week.

The Long Range Planning Advisory Committee had been charged with making a recommendation to Moran about whether to renovate or consolidate Red Hill, Yancey and Scottsville elementary schools. Moran has asked for additional information and plans to make a recommendation to the School Board on Sept. 24 about what to do with the three schools.

Next steps for decision on three small elementary schools in Albemarle's Southern Feeder Pattern

The media release came out this afternoon regarding the next steps for consideration of the master planning recommendations related to the Southern Feeder Pattern schools.

Brian Wheeler

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(ALBEMARLE COUNTY, Virginia) – At its meeting Thursday, August 27, 2009, the Albemarle County School Board approved a timeline that defines the process that will be used to reach a decision about the three small elementary schools in the Southern Feeder Pattern of Albemarle County.

The Board will ultimately decide whether to renovate Benjamin F. Yancey Elementary, Scottsville Elementary and Red Hill Elementary schools, consolidate all three schools into a new elementary school on county-owned land near Walton Middle School, or another recommendation brought forward by Superintendent Pam Moran.

The three schools are due for extensive maintenance and renovation as part of the Capital Improvements Program (CIP), with funds scheduled for the work to be allocated this fall. The School Board must make its decision regarding the three schools prior to the CIP process so that the correct information and total project costs are considered by the CIP.  Accordingly, the following Decision-Making Timeline for the Southern Feeder Pattern was agreed upon by the School Board:

• Week of 8/31 – Superintendent Pamela Moran makes on-site visits to Yancey, Scottsville and Red Hill elementary schools. Dr. Moran continues to receive and review data on student achievement, discipline, instructional programs, site studies, transportation, state and national benchmarking as she requested of various departments and agencies. A updated web site for this decision will be established.
• Week of 9/7 – Members of the Albemarle County School Board make on-site visits to Yancey, Scottsville, Red Hill, Baker-Butler, and Brownsville elementary schools.
• 9/18 – Data and studies used by Dr. Moran to make her recommendation regarding the Southern Feeder Pattern schools posted to the Electronic School Board system online at http://esb.k12albemarle.org.
• 9/24 – Dr. Moran makes her recommendation regarding the Southern Feeder Pattern schools to the Albemarle County School Board.
• 9/29 – Public Hearing on the Small Schools held at 7 p.m. in Monticello High School auditorium.
• 10/22 – School Board makes decision regarding Yancey, Red Hill and Scottsville elementary schools.

Welcome to Albemarle County's new teachers

I am heading off to Monticello High School to help welcome all the new teachers joining Albemarle County Public Schools for the 2009-2010 school year.  Here are the remarks I have prepared for them.

Brian Wheeler

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On behalf of the Albemarle County School Board, I am very pleased to be here today and to welcome you to our schools, and to those of you new to the Charlottesville area, to our community.

As school board members, it is an honor for us to work in public education in the community. 

Our job?  The School Board focuses on budget, policy and the hiring and supervision of our Superintendent.  I am in my sixth year on the board and I can honestly say that this has been the most challenging and satisfying work I have done in the community.  We have a great team. We have a very strong and collaborative working relationship with our Superintendent.

Now had I been out recruiting you, I would have told each of you, “If you are really good, you may be able to join our cause.”  That’s what the head of Teach for America tells their recruits.

We are on a mission here in Albemarle County to build a great company, a world class school division, that delivers an educational product that prepares ALL our students for the world of work, or the world of college, and challenges beyond.

Where are the Kindergarten teachers in the room?  Who can tell me what happens in the year 2022 related to your new job?  That’s when your students will graduate from high school.  Whether you are getting these special children in their first year, or their thirteenth year, you are going to be expected to build relationships.  If you are also going to be a coach or supervise another extracurricular activity, then your relationships are going to be even more significant and powerful for the future of these students.

We had a national education conference here earlier this year, Edustat.  We had a panel of our students talking about what they wanted to see in a 21st century learning environment.  You know what they all said?  RELATIONSHIPS.  No pressure, but they said they knew on the first day whether their teacher was somebody they thought they were going to be able to connect to.

You each have a unique story about what has brought you here today.  What made you want to be a teacher.  As you reflect on the relationships that brought you to this day, I urge you to build similar relationships with the young people in our schools. 

Advocate for children who may be challenged in our schools. 

Advocate for the children that might not always fit in.  Be color aware, not color blind in matters of race. 

Advocate for children that might have a different background from you, or from their peers.  Get to know THEIR journey.  Try and see the world through THEIR eyes.

This community expects every single one of them to graduate and be ready for life.

So, YOU are here today, and you have already joined our cause.  I can’t wait to see how good you are in our classrooms.  Your job is an awesome responsibility and I admire each of you for choosing this profession, and for joining our cause here in Albemarle County.  Thank You.