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August 20, 2007
Greetings to the Faculty & Staff of the Avon Public Schools:
Welcome to school year 2007-2008. Educating young people is a very
complex task and requires the cooperation and support of an entire
team and an entire community. Our children are now part of a global
network that demands a solid grounding in the traditional three R’s
as well as a new set of right brain skills. These competencies will
insure their success in a conceptual world that is characterized by
fast-paced change.
In preparation for this work, the Leadership Team which is made up
of administration and teachers, crafted a draft District Strategic
Plan (DIP) during the school year 2006-2007. This five year plan
has been on the website awaiting your input, your suggestions, and
your comments. This summer the work continued and action steps were
added to the DIP. We reviewed the recommendations of the
Educational Management Audit Council (EQA), our MCAS scores, your
input, the status of the action steps of our current District
Improvement Plan and have drafted a plan that sets out our work for
the next five years.
As a member of
the Avon Public School Team, I acknowledge your commitment to work
side by side with me to make this school district the best in
Massachusetts. The concept of TEAM represents a culture in which
Together Everyone Achieves More. If you are truly committed to
being a student centered, action oriented, data driven member of
this team that strives for excellence then our Mission Statement
which is To Educate All students to be Life Long Learners in A
Global Society can be realized. Our students deserve nothing less
than this level of commitment.
I have attached a copy of the agenda for next week at which time the
staff of the Avon Public Schools comes together to begin this work.
On Thursday, August 30th, professional development has
been planned. The focus of that day will be a facilitated
conversation that will frame our work using the Six Facets of
Understanding. That framework weaves all of the trainings and
activities in which we have been engaged and the professional
development that is planned for this year into one statement of
intent which is to achieve rigor, excellence, and high standards in
everything we do for all students.
The Avon Public Schools has made impressive progress in moving
toward excellence because of your work but the job is not done. Our
challenge is to move from “Good to Great”. I look forward to our
work together in school year 2007-2008. I want to welcome you back
and wish you a very rewarding, exciting, and satisfying school year.
Sincerely yours,
Margaret Frieswyk, Ed. D.
Superintendent of Schools
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