From the Desk of…
Dr. Diana Bourisaw, Interim Superintendent
Fact or Fiction
There is a lot of misinformation floating around regarding
the St. Louis Public Schools. For example, a front page story
in yesterday’s newspaper inaccurately highlighted the
performance of charter schools. As I’ve highlighted several
times, our schools continue to outperform charter schools according
to MAP test results.
Attached is a document that will help us in dispelling the
myths regarding St. Louis Public Schools. I encourage you to
read it and, more importantly, use the real facts to help us
combat the persistent rumors about the district.
American Education Week
This week, November 12–18, 2006, we celebrate American
Education Week. This year's theme, Great Public Schools: A
Basic Right and Our Responsibility, highlights the importance
of bringing together educators, school staff, parents, students,
and communities in a unified effort to build great public schools.
Below are the themed days for this week along with a link to
more specific information that is available on the National
Education Association’s website.
• Monday, November 13: Nationwide Kick Off Celebration.
Begin American Education Week with a high profile event to
reinforce the theme and preview the week's activities.
• Tuesday, November 14: Invite Parents to School Day.
Encourage parents to spend the day with their child at school
to emphasize the importance of parental involvement.
• Wednesday, November 15: Education Support Professionals
Day. Recognize the secretaries, classroom aides, maintenance
people, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, and others who provide
invaluable services to schools and students.
• Thursday, November 16: Educator for a Day. Invite
community leaders to serve as an educator to get a glimpse
of a day in the life of a school employee.
• Friday, November 17: Substitute Educators Day. Honor
the educators who are called upon to substitute for regularly
employed teachers and other school employees.
St. Louis Board of Education Meeting – Nov. 14
The Board of Education will hold its administrative meeting
tomorrow, Nov. 14, beginning at 7:00 p.m. at the central office.
Annual Performance Report (APR) – Nov. 15
The State of Missouri’s Department of Elementary and
Secondary Education is expected to release the Annual Performance
Reports (APRs) for all school districts on Wednesday, Nov.
15.
In the past couple of months, many employees have been working
diligently to review and revise data that had previously been
reported to the state. There were several areas in which we
needed to amend data that had been inaccurately reported. Thank
you to all of the staff members involved in this monumental
task.
State Board of Education Meeting – Nov. 16
The State Board of Education will be meeting this Thursday,
Nov. 16, in Jefferson City. I will be presenting to the Board
an update on the state of the St. Louis Public Schools.
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