Happy May, ACPS community!

May is one of those months where I often find myself straddling the line between looking forward to all of the events that late spring and early summer hold while also reviewing the bulk of our school year, which — believe it or not — is now behind us.

April, especially, is a month where we take time to honor the many achievements of our staff and students who continue to amaze us with all that they have accomplished, not only for their schools and peers, but for their communities at large.

Just this month for example, Western Albemarle students went out into their community to participate in various volunteer projects as part of their WAHS With A Cause program. The Albemarle High School Jazz Band took to the Jefferson Theater stage for their annual Swing Into Spring concert, the proceeds from which they donate to Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry. And to round out with one last example of the many ways our students continue to impact our community, students at Mountain View Elementary are holding a sock drive to collect materials to donate to Cville Sock Love, which provides socks and other personal items to The Haven.

We also took time this month to recognize our ACPS Teacher of the Year Jessica Eisenhauer and Classified Staff Member of the Year Pecolia Conner. I hope you will take some time to watch the two videos we filmed to get to know them better.

As we begin to look ahead, there is a lot on the horizon for ACPS. In the short-term, the end of the school year and graduation for our seniors are rapidly approaching. In the long-term, we have several large projects that will begin to take shape in the next several years.

In 2021, our Long Range Planning Advisory Committee made several project recommendations to our School Board, who then took those projects to the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors and requested they be included in the County’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP).

Several of those recommended projects are included in the County’s FY 23 Budget, FY 24 Recommended Budget and 5-year CIP, including an expansion at Mountain View Elementary, the construction of two new elementary schools (one in the Southern Feeder Pattern and one in the Northern Feeder Pattern), and the construction of High School Center II. As these projects get underway, we will be working closely with our community to continue the forward momentum. If you are interested in becoming part of our Long Range Planning Advisory Committee, please see our Committees webpage for how to apply.

I hope you have a positively spectacular May!

Sincerely,

Dr. Matthew S. Haas, Superintendent