Connections

Dear families, staff and ACPS community,

It's with immense joy, pride and a great deal of positive anticipation that I welcome you to a new school year! What a great start this week.

The theme for our 2023-24 school year is Relationships Matter. This week, as I spent time at each of our schools and centers, I saw that our students and staff quickly were invested in building positive relationships with each other. Research tells us that the quality of the learning environment is a strong influence on the quality of the learning. And it was clear, even on the first day of school, that students are engaged and eager to lean into opportunities every new year brings.

I saw this enthusiasm from a special point of view: While driving an open bus route for Burley Middle School students. I will drive this route until we can assign a driver — and we are beginning to make progress! More than 300 students came off the bus service waiting list this week and we expect that over the next several weeks, this number will continue to increase. We currently have eight trainees working towards becoming bus drivers and we will be able to rework routes once ridership stabilizes. This wouldn’t have been possible without the cooperation of our families, our school administrators and our transportation department working together to meet individual needs and to partner in our ongoing recruitment of drivers.

When you log onto our home page, you will see a reminder about our alternate bus stop option, which makes it possible for families without bus service to apply for a bus stop for their child on a route that has an assigned driver. To learn more and apply, please visit the “Alternate Pick-up/Drop-off Location” section of Transportation’s Parent Resources page.

I also encourage you to make use of our PowerSchool Parent Portal, where you can find transportation information for your student(s) and much, much more. If you have yet to explore this tool, take a few moments to watch our video on how to sign up for and use our parent portal.

Speaking of reminders, our theme this year carries an important message. Across our country, chronic absenteeism is denying students the chance to reach their highest personalized goals and to take advantage of the innovative student project-based learning that makes it possible. We want your child in school and to look forward to the experiences there that will forever improve their lives. Together, here in Albemarle, we can solve what is a national problem.

I am thrilled and honored to be entering another school year with you, and I — for one — cannot wait to see what this year brings.

Sincerely,

Dr. Matthew S. Haas, Superintendent

P.S. Don't forget to check out our Back to School photo gallery!

A lot has happened this month! Here's what we think is important to know:

If your student is without bus service have the option of applying for an alternate bus stop on a route that has an assigned driver. To learn more and apply, please visit the “Alternate Pick-up/Drop-off Location” section of Transportation’s Parent Resources page.

Our Extended Day Enrichment Program (EDEP) is hiring. Visit our website to learn more or apply!

Email: superintendentoffice@k12albemarle.org
Website: k12albemarle.org
Location: 401 McIntire Road, Charlottesville, VA, USA
Phone: (434) 296-5820
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/K12Albemarle
Twitter: @k12albemarle