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Last
month we celebrated many achievements and accomplishments, including
the graduation of seniors across the District. All of them were joyous
occasions in the lives of our students, their parents and the school
community. Three ceremonies are especially noteworthy because they
marked the first graduations for the Met and Rosemont High School.
America’s Choice celebrated the graduation of its first four-year
class. (Last year, pupils who started at America’s Choice as
sophomores graduated.) Each ceremony was unique and reflective of the
individual culture at each campus.
I had the privilege and pleasure of
attending three ceremonies this year. I enjoyed the opportunity to
witness first hand the thoughtful messages of gratitude and optimism
expressed by our graduates and the pride exhibited by families and
friends. All three ceremonies were heartfelt acknowledgements of the
contributions of many to the success of each graduate. It truly does
take a village to raise a child.
To each of the graduates and your
families, I extend my best wishes and congratulations. I also hope
that each of you pursue a path of lifelong learning, and that your
high school graduation is the first of many graduation
ceremonies—advanced degree programs, career or certificate programs or
classes taken for personal interest such as learning a foreign
language, photography or gardening. A curious mind and the ongoing
development of new skills will enrich your lives and help you thrive
in the rapidly changing world of the 21st century.
One of my favorite quotations about
preparing youth for the future is from President Franklin Roosevelt.
He stated, “We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we
can build our youth for the future.” Approximately five years ago, our
District took the bold step of finding more successful ways to “build
our youth for the future.” With the help of many partners that
included foundations, community based organizations, universities and
elected officials, we began assessing what young people needed for
success in the 21st Century; the process became known as
e21 or Education for the 21st Century. This initiative has
continued to evolve. Today we offer more than forty high school
options for our students. We have increased rigor in the high school
program of study. Our curriculum is more relevant and we continue to
build positive relationships among students and between adults and
students.
Among the initial successes of our high
school redesign are greater personalization, an increase in the number
and diversity of students taking advanced placement classes, higher
graduation rates, and greater parent and community engagement in our
high schools. As we take note of these results, we also realize we
must accelerate our efforts to ensure that every student graduates and
that all students are prepared to exercise a variety of post secondary
choices. Most importantly, we must prepare our graduates to make
positive contributions to our society, enjoy success in the workplace,
be effective as parents and commit to life long learning. This summer
we will complete a report about the accomplishments, challenges, and
lesson learned from our high school redesign initiative. I do hope
that we have helped each graduate develop the essential skills to
navigate the future with joy, efficacy and success.
Superintendent's Prior Messages
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