Superintendent's Message - May 18, 2020

Congratulations to our 2020-2021 Teacher of the Year Emily Wagoner, a 3^rd grade teacher at R. Brown McAllister Elementary School! We surprised her with the news at her home on Friday, May 15^th. Emily began her teaching career with CCS in 2014 as a 3rd grade teacher at Winecoff Elementary School. She joined the R. Brown McAllister Elementary School faculty in 2019.

 

We couldn’t celebrate our teachers of the year without the support and generosity of our community sponsors. Thank you to:

 

Gold Sponsors: Cabarrus County Education Foundation, Concord Mills, Charlotte International Auto Show, Great Wolf Lodge Concord, Publix Super Market Charities, Sea Life Charlotte-Concord, Mariam and Robert Hayes Charitable Trust

 

Silver Sponsors: Atrium Health, S.W. Concord Lowe’s, Modern Nissan of Concord, Sam’s Xpress Car Wash

 

Bronze Sponsors:  Autobell, Basilico’s Italiano Restaurant, Cabarrus Arts Council, Gem Theatre, Second Look Books

 

Our School Nutrition Program and Transportation Department teams continue to prepare and deliver meals for students in our community each weekday. You can find the list of meal locations and times on the Locations for School Meals icon on our district website. 

As a reminder to parents, you can apply for free or reduced meal benefits if there have been changes to your financial situation since the school closures. If you apply now and are eligible, this designation will allow your children to receive meal benefits for the first 30 days of the 2020-2021 school year before needing to apply in August. You should visit www.lunchapplication.com to apply for benefits. 

Additionally, North Carolina has been approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to begin a new program – the Pandemic-Electronic Benefits Transfer (P-EBT) Program – which will help families who have been economically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic purchase food for their children. No application is required for P-EBT benefits for children who are enrolled in a school that participates in the school breakfast and lunch programs under the National School Lunch Act and are already eligible for free or reduced-price meals at school.

 

We launched a new program on CabCoSchools TV21 titled Spotlight on Ingenuity: CCS Teachers at Work from Home. The segments feature CCS teachers and the innovative teaching strategies they are using to connect with students during the school closure. The program also is available on our YouTube Channel and a new episode will air each Wednesday.

Information about grading is available by selecting the Extended Home Learning icon on our district website. The section includes Student and Family Guides that explain grading and graduation guidelines organized by grade level. The section also includes resources for education and enrichment from UNC-TV.  

 

We announced a partnership with Charlotte Motor Speedway to hold graduation ceremonies for the Class of 2020. Each school will graduate in individual ceremonies at the Speedway on June 12 and 13. We appreciate the Speedway’s willingness to host our schools and also say thank you to State Superintendent Mark Johnson and his team for their efforts in initiating this idea with the Speedway. We are working hard to make this a memorable event for our students and look forward to celebrating the Class of 2020.

 

In addition to celebrating our graduating seniors, we also are developing plans for other end-of-year activities, as well as information about closing out the school year (e.g. returning library books, yearbook distribution, cleaning out lockers, medication pick-up, etc.) for students, families and staff. We will be sharing that information in the coming days.

This certainly was not the way any of us wanted the school year to end, so thank you for your patience, support and cooperation.

Please continue to stay safe and well by adhering to guidelines and recommendations from state and local health officials.