Beginning on Thursday, Sept. 19 at Angell Elementary School at 6:30 p.m., Superintendent Dr. Swift will visit each school in the district to meet, listen and learn from school staff and school families. These visits will conclude in December just before winter break. Periodically throughout these fall visits, Dr. Swift will share some initial impressions. A final report, Listen and Learn: We Are Ann Arbor, will be presented to the Board of Education and the community in January 2014.
At each of the schools, Dr. Swift will first meet with staff at the end of the school day then meet with parents, guardians, and community members in the evening. She will ask her guests to consider four questions as she gains knowledge about the school district, individual schools and the community AAPS serves. Guests will be asked in small groups to discuss:
- What is going well in the district and what are we proud of?
- What areas need our attention?
- What do we dream of and hope to achieve for our children and AAPS over the next 10 – 15 years?
- What are the top three priorities you would like to see Dr. Swift address?
Additionally, these questions will be available for citizen responses online as well; the online community forum will be posted beginning September 23.
Please join Dr. Swift on her AAPS Tour! If you can’t make your school night, please feel free to attend any of the more than 30 scheduled evenings.
A full list of dates and times will be released next week on the district website. The list will be promoted at each school as well as in Friday announcements.
I am looking forward to having Dr. Swift speak at our school. While my children attend Ann Arbor Open, I also plan on attending this event at our neighborhood school, Northside. I encourage all parents and school neighbors to attend these events if possible, community participation is critical to the success of our public schools.