Happy New Year and Welcome Back!

I hope that your winter break was relaxing and that you're well-rested and ready to forge ahead into the second half of the school year. As we begin the second semester, I encourage you to recommit to the strategies that you vowed to employ back in August as the school year began. If you're like most of us, you may have let some of those strategies and tactics fall by the wayside. The good thing about a new year is that it gives us all a clean slate. Let's seize the opportunity and start the year off right - again.  

Since returning to school, our students and staff have been very busy. We've selected the district's top speller - Lindsay Horne, a 7th grader at J.N. Fries Middle School. She will go on to represent us in The Charlotte Observer's Regional Spelling Bee in March. We wish her all the best in the regional competition and know that she will represent Cabarrus County Schools well.

Some of our students and schools have received much-deserved attention for their good work in our local media. I hope you've seen the articles about our student, school and program successes in recent editions of The Independent Tribune and The Charlotte Observer. In just the past two weeks, CCS has been featured in articles about the Cox Mill High School marching band's success in building a program from scratch, our Early College High School students settling into their new location on the Rowan-Cabarrus Community College's campus, an Opportunity School student's entrepreneurial and community spirit, and efforts under way at Jay M. Robinson High School to build an athletics field house. Speaking of athletics, many of our athletic teams also have been featured in the local media for winning ways on and off the field as well.

Congratulations to all of our students and staff featured. You make us all proud.

Looking ahead, your Board of Education will hold its monthly work session on Monday,
Feb. 1st and its monthly business meeting on Monday, Feb. 8th. Both meetings will be held at the Education Center and begin at 6 p.m. You can visit our Board of Education section on our district homepage to review the meeting agendas.

In closing, the next few months will be filled with a variety of activities and events leading up to the end of another school year. As parents, I encourage you to stay focused, engaged and involved in your student's education. You have our word as CCS educators that we will do the same.

Sincerely,

Dr. Barry Shepherd
Superintendent