Message from Superintendent Dr. Lynn Moody
Welcome back Rowan-Salisbury
teachers, students, staff, parents
and our community as we begin
our 2018-2019 school year.
Typically, I am always amazed
at how fast the summers fly by
and often wonder where the
time goes. But this year is an
exception. While the summer did
indeed fly by, it was filled with
extra excitement, anticipation,
hard work and planning from
administrators over the course
of the summer, as we moved towards being named the first and only district
in North Carolina to be designated as a Renewal School System. This gives
us the freedom to make changes in how our funds are used, how we hire
teachers, how we test our children, and how we create a school calendar that
compliments our community schools. We are honored to have the opportunity
to lead this initiative for our state and hope that other
districts will soon follow and become Renewal School
Systems too.
Over the last couple of years, Rowan-Salisbury has
become nationally recognized for our innovation and digital
transformation. We have captured the attention from many
leaders across the state and country, which is one reason
I believe we are the best choice to lead this work in North
Carolina.
I realize that there are many questions about what being
named a Renewal School System means and when we
will see results. Renewal is a process. You may not see
anything different when this school year begins. This is
because we are building the foundation. Please stay in
touch with your child’s school so you can join in being a
part of this exciting adventure.
Teacher Leadership
The key to our plan for implementing renewal in our
schools is our teachers, the experts. Over the summer,
principals learned how to guide this process and how
to work with the teacher-led design teams at their
schools. Each school has a team. This week, our teachers
participated in a training to learn the renewal framework
that they will follow in designing and creating how
instruction is offered to their students. Our teachers are
excited to think and dream differently in making their
schools more innovative, engaging and inspiring for their
students.
It is natural for us to be both excited and scared at the
same time. We will make mistakes and enjoy exciting
breakthroughs because this is what innovation is all
about. It is challenging work that will bring us to a whole
new level of transforming education to better serve our
children.
Summer Enrichment for Students
In addition to the excitement that renewal brings, our
students participated in a variety of enrichment camps
over the summer that engaged them in areas of reading,
STEM, inventions, robotics, coding, health science,
culinary, and the arts – to name a few.
There are not enough words to express the heartfelt
2 • Sept/Oct 2018• Parent Teacher Magazine
desire of our school nutrition staff to be sure that our children receive meals
over the summer. For the past couple years, we added distributing books to
children along with nutritious meals. I am so proud of our staff for caring
deeply about our children and meeting their needs through a charitable
heart.
New West Rowan Elementary School
The construction of our new West Rowan Elementary School is on schedule
to be completed in December of this year. Kris Wolfe has worked as principal
for both Cleveland and Woodleaf elementary schools since the previous year
in preparation of opening the new consolidated school in just a few months
down the road. The excitement is escalating for the 2018-2019 school year.
Our schools belong to all of us, and I look forward to joining with all of you as
we make this the best school year ever!
Dr. Lynn Moody
Superintendent, Rowan-Salisbury School