MoCo Superintendent Shares New Vision

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In her first official meeting as the Montgomery County Schools Superintendent, Dr. Ronda Hightower shared a new vision which she was bringing to the school, which will add on to the district’s current motto, “You Matter.”

“I do want to take just a second to cast a vision that I shared with the school district leadership last week. Next year, we are going to focus on ‘We believe in you,’” Hightower told the Board and meeting attendees.

She continued, “Stepping in to this district — that is not a turnaround district – there are so many great things already hap- continued from page

pening here; I just want to be able to build on what is already here, and this is an example of that. We already have ‘You Matter’ in our district, and I just want to build on that with ‘We believe in you.’” According to Hightower, the statement has two meanings – that the system believes both in their students and staff members. “It is twofold – we believe in every single child, and if you get to know me, you know I am very passionate about this. I do believe in every single child’s potential and that we are designed to be human lighthouses to help those children reach that potential,” she emphasized. “The second part is that we also believe in our team here at Montgomery County. We do believe that we are better together – that separately, we are just separate energies doing our thing. But when we decide that we are going to work together, we become a combined synergy and are going to do a lot for kids.”

The new superintendent also commented on her devotion to carrying out the strategic goals of the district, which are to improve student success, culture and climate, and organizational and operational effectiveness. She spoke on the meaning of each goal, as she explained: Improving Student Success — We are giving them a viable curriculum, we are hiring highly certified teachers, and we are preparing them as a whole not just for academics, but for life, college, and/or a career.”

Improving Culture and Climate — “It means getting our parents truly involved. It means getting them more involved and engaged, and providing opportunities for them. That means open lines of communication. That means students and staff feeling valuable and appreciated.”

Improving Organizational and Operational Effectiveness — We recruit and retain a highly effective workforce. We are going to continue to have facilities that are second to none and upgrade our safety and security of our campus.”

Hightower began her mission of carrying out these plans during the meeting, as she accepted a check to purchase equipment to screen students’ vision from Vidalia Lions Club Member Linda Page. Page told Hightower that she hoped these machines would help ensure that all students had the best possible opportunity to learn, and promised that the Club would help with screenings when needed.

Also during the meeting, Assistant Superintendent Scott Barrow provided the Board with an update on improvements being made to the buildings and grounds within each school campus in preparation for the upcoming school year.

The next meeting of the Board will held at 6 p.m. on Thursday, July 11.

FACILITIES UPDATE – Montgomery County Schools Assistant Superintendent Scott Barrow provides the Board with an update on the district’s facilities.Photo by Makaylee Randolph