Can you believe that the new school year is starting in just a few short weeks! Summers fly by, and I hope that the time off has been restful for AISD students, families, and staff. We're working hard to get ready for the projected 86,200 kids who will come through our doors on Monday, August 23. It's going to be a great school year, and I'll be blogging regularly to tell you about the many exciting things happening on campuses across Austin.
I'm going to note The Power of Us when I see it working at both campus and District levels. What is that? It's the Austin community working together to create excellence in our schools. It's a commitment — with shared accountability for our challenges and strengths — from educators, parents, students, and the community at large to support teaching and learning at the highest levels and to achieve success for every student. The Power of Us can be a truly dynamic force for change in AISD, and I want to showcase it and help it grow!Are you part of The Power of Us? You can be, just by contacting a school and asking how you can help.
To close out last school year, the Texas Education Agency announced Accountability Ratings for 2010 on July 30. I'm proud to report that 109 Austin schools — 99 percent of all regular campuses — met or exceeded the challenges of the state's increasing accountability standards — and 68 AISD campuses were rated Exemplary or Recognized! That's 62 percent of all our schools. Woo hoo!
These results are evidence of the hard work of AISD students, families, and staff. Everyone should be proud of our students' success, but keep in mind that these assessments are only one piece of the achievement picture. We must continue to work hard to improve student attendance, close the achievement gap, enhance the effectiveness of instruction for English Language Learners, and increase our graduation rates. I have the utmost confidence that our schools can and will meet these challenges, ensuring that our students graduate on time and ready for college or career.
You can read all the details of our 2010 Accountability Ratings on the AISD website. Here's the link:
