CMS Superintendent, Ann Clark
As we settle into the second
semester of the 2014-2015 school
year, we are renewing our focus on
ensuring that every child in CharlotteMecklenburg Schools reaches full
potential. Central to that goal is our
emphasis on having students reading
on grade level by the beginning of
fourth grade.
Here’s why literacy is so critical to
every student’s success: Educating a
child is a process that begins at home
and continues all the way through
school and into the workplace and
the wider world. A comprehensive
education – one that prepares
students to succeed in life -- cannot be
accomplished or measured in a single day, a single test or a single year.
A comprehensive education is a lifelong journey that builds on success in
the early grades to create a foundation for later learning. That foundation is
literacy – the ability to read, write, speak and listen.
At CMS, we have made literacy our North Star – our constant in an everchanging landscape of state and federal standards – because we know that
it is the path that will increase academic achievement and allow all of our
students in all of our schools to succeed. We are excited about the recent
launch of READ Charlotte with its focus on our North Star of literacy from
birth to third grade.
One facet of our district-wide commitment to literacy is digital learning.
We have equipped our teachers with laptops to enable online learning
anytime, anywhere, and have provided intensive training on laptop use. We
have put mobile learning labs in all middle schools.
We are acquiring digital content to extend learning beyond the classroom.
Our media centers have Chromebooks to support digital literacy, research
and project-based learning. We have begun a program for one-to-one tablet
learning devices at 33 middle schools and expanded the Bring Your Own
Technology initiative in our high schools.
Our students will live in a digital world and compete in a digital workplace
– and we are working to get them ready to be competitive, prepared digital
citizens!
Another great collaborative effort is helping us nurture and encourage
young readers. Working with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, we have
encouraged our students in pre-kindergarten through third grade to get a
library card of their own. The Library Card Signup Campaign is complete, and
about 17,500 new cards were processed. That’s a lot of new library members
and it’s great news for literacy. The library system also works with us on
summer reading programs.
2 • March/April 2015 • Parent Teacher Magazine
We have put particular focus on having every student reading on grade
level by the beginning of fourth grade. This focus will direct us in every
aspect of our work because it’s our best and most effective way to close
achievement gaps. Reading is the key to everything else in school – and we
will dedicate our eff