Dear Friends of Greene County Public Schools:

The silence of summer in our county's schools is rushing to an end. Teachers have returned refreshed and ready to greet a new group of students. There has been significant and meaningful change within our division over the past year, and the theme of change will continue this year as Greene County Public Schools continue to strive toward greatness.

We constantly struggle with the fact that we see some students perform extremely well while others still lag behind. This is not acceptable. We expect to see accelerated achievement for ALL students. If this is to become reality, we must change the way we approach educating our students. One way we intend to change is to better engage our students in their learning. Our children are not going to be passive receivers of information. They all learn differently, and they all can benefit from the use of engaging instructional activities by their teachers.

Engagement will be our top instructional priority this year. Our focus will shift from teacher activity during instruction to student activity during learning. What are the students doing? Are they actively engaged, or are they compliant and passive receptors? Beginning with their return next week, teachers will be learning more about engagement, and building administrators will be closely monitoring levels of engagement in our classrooms.

We believe in order for every child to succeed, all members of the school community must work as partners in their education. Administrators, teachers, parents, and most importantly students must collaborate and communicate to ensure that each student's needs are being met. To this end, we will be better attuned to our students through a student advisory committee and student surveys. We need to know their perceptions, anxieties, and celebrations to enhance their academic experience. Our students are the most important piece of the learning puzzle, and their feedback is essential.

We are excited about this renewed focus as student learning is at the heart of schooling. Our number one instructional goal is to accelerate achievement for ALL students - create an exceptional learning environment that engages, challenges, and supports ALL students. We will achieve success for every student by focusing on individual students and their needs. Every child, every chance, every day truly means EVERY CHILD, EVERY CHANCE, EVERY DAY.

David Jeck

Superintendent