APS Superintendent, ‘We’re Overcoming Challenges But Much More To Do’

Superintendent Davis acknowledged the last school year was rough.

“We still shutter all of us, when we read or hear the words the biggest cheating scandal in U.S history. That headline was stamped all over the world.”

Davis told the attendees APS is devoted to building a culture of excellence both inside and outside the classroom.

He told the room, it’s time to get back to, “the work of educating children, doing it with honor, doing it with dignity, with integrity and with a focus on transparency.”

Davis highlighted achievements that were overshadowed by the cheating scandal and the school board’s infighting which led to accredited probation.

Now he says the school system is refocused.

Flanked by large graphs from an overhead projector, Davis said there are gaps in learning between APS schools.

“For example, in science when we average the results of our three highest performing schools we find that 97 percent are meeting or exceeding standards however our three lowest performing schools are only meeting 36-percent proficient.”

Davis says the new cluster model will hopefully fix problems like that.

Students from elementary grades will feed into a specific middle and high school.

This will ensure students stay on track with subjects such as foreign languages.

Davis also stressed the importance of outside partnerships and parental involvement.

This sentiment was echoed by APS 4^th grader James Bond.

The straight-A Bond is a student at West Manor.

He introduced Superintendent Erroll Davis and instructed the audience to, “please keep supporting my fellow students and me. We need you and the superintendent needs you too.”