Superintendent's Weekly Message: November 6, 2020
JP Schools Family,
Thank you for your patience and support over the last two weeks as we prepared for and then recovered from the impacts of Hurricane Zeta. While this was a short week, it was nice to experience the bit of normalcy as we returned to teaching and learning. I am proud of the way our team continues to creatively problem-solve to ensure student learning continues, no matter the context.
We encourage you to be engaged in your student’s education, and at the same time we recognize the devices, software and apps we are using at school may be unfamiliar to you. As such, we are excited about providing resources to support our families with technology. We have partnered with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to offer free in-person computer literacy workshops for parents. This partnership allows us to reach more of our JP Schools community and offer workshops in both English and Spanish in a socially distant setting. The computer literacy workshops will begin November 10. Please visit the website for more information and to register today.
To better support our teachers with the increased use of technology, our School Board unanimously approved to purchase 2,900 new classroom Promethean Boards. We heard from our teachers that updated Promethean Boards would make educating our students more effective. This is just one example of working closely with our educators to resolve issues and alleviate challenges in the classroom.
Our motto is “We Learn. We Love. We Lead.” Love comes the most naturally. I see love every time I visit a classroom. Leading takes practice and experience, and it is tested the most during challenging times. Lastly, we must not forget to learn. We often talk about student learning, but it is equally important that we continue growing and learning as educators and adults.
Next week I look forward to learning from our JP Schools family through our first Discovery Day and Superintendent’s Council meetings. These meetings allow my team and me to walk away with fresh insight and helpful perspective to inform our decision making.
As we enter a well-deserved weekend, I hope you take time to rest and recover and seek out the teachable moments hiding all around you. Let’s continue to prepare our children for a lifetime of learning and build the future they deserve.
Dr. James Gray