It is with sincere excitement and interest that I welcome you to the New York, Virginia and Puerto Rico school district of the Department of Defense Education Activity. As we prepare for the opening of school year 2014/2015, we want to reach out to all our stakeholders to build on our already strong partnership in pursuit of the significant mission of educating our students for the future. This mission is one that is most effectively accomplished by a team effort involving the school staff, students and parents. In advance of our collaborative effort, I want to thank you for the involvement and commitment you bring to our team.

I want to share some of the focus areas for DoDEA school systems in the 2014/2015 school year. You will hear a continuous emphasis on preparing students to be “College and Career Ready.” This goal is DoDEA’s umbrella under which we carry out the many tasks designed to position all DoDEA students to become College and Career Ready. You will also hear more about 21st Century Teaching, Learning and Leading. The 21st CTLL has a heavy emphasis on a learning environment infused with technology, collaborative learning, differentiated instruction and other enhancements which are aligned with our goal to develop College and Career Ready students. Our schools are committed to continuous school improvement which also provides opportunities for our parents to be directly involved in our processes focused on increasing student achievement. If you are interested in playing a role in this process please contact the school principal.

As a career educator with DoDEA, I know I speak for all of our staff when I sincerely say that we love our work and we love serving the dependents of the active duty military and eligible federal agencies. I look forward to seeing you in active support of our combined mission.

Thank you for being part of our team, and best wishes for a fulfilling and inspiring school year.