On Monday, Aug. 5, the school doors will open for the beginning of the 2013-14 school year.

We welcome all students and families as we continue our emphasis on high student achievement and maintaining quality programs. This year the district will focus on several initiatives to increase student achievement and prepare our students to be career and college ready.

First, is the full implementation of the Arizona Common Core Standards, and the preparation for the PARCC assessments that accompany them.

The Common Core Standards are a set of standards that provide a consistent framework to prepare students for success in college and/or the 21st century workplace.

The standards define the knowledge and skills students should have within their K-12 education careers so they will graduate high school able to succeed in entry-level, credit-bearing academic college courses and in workforce training programs.

The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) is a consortium of states working together to develop a common set of K-12 assessments in English and math anchored in what it takes to be ready for college and careers.

These new K-12 assessments will build a pathway to college and career readiness by the end of high school, mark students’ progress toward this goal from third grade on, and provide teachers with timely information to inform instruction and provide student support.

The PARCC assessments will be ready for Arizona to administer during the 2014-15 school year.

Second, we will continue developing our teacher and principal evaluation systems. The district has adopted a model framework for teacher and principal evaluations that includes quantitative data on student academic progress.

We recognize that great classroom teaching and principal leadership are the strongest predictors of student success and we will continue to refine our processes to ensure we have fair and effective evaluation systems that promote student achievement.

Even though these two initiatives are significant, we will not lose sight of our ongoing efforts of enhancing partnerships with post-secondary institutions and industry professionals, providing quality professional development opportunities for staff, offering a wide range of Honors, Advance Placement and Dual Enrollment courses as well as teacher-sponsored clubs and activities and interscholastic athletic programs, and maintaining a commitment to fiscal responsibility.

I welcome you to the 2013-14 school year and encourage you to visit our schools, become involved, and collaborate with us as we create safe, successful learning environments where all students are challenged and excel.