A Message from Dr. Barry Shepherd, Superintendent, Cabarrus County Schools…

Dear Parents:

Cabarrus County Schools seeks to educate every child and is constantly striving to research, develop, and implement strategies that will enable each student to achieve grade level proficiency and beyond. The overarching theme of our work is to prepare our students to be globally competitive citizens.

A new, aggressive reading program shows a continuing strong increase in the number of kindergarteners going to first grade at or above grade level in reading. Our goal to have students to grade level by the third grade is closer to full realization each year. Annually, additional data gathered from the reports mandated by No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) provides feedback for the system on the progress made toward reaching that goal. 

Our school system receives two levels of feedback:  school progress and system progress.
At the school level, the 32 Cabarrus County Schools combined had 664 Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) target goals for the 2007-08 school year and met 543 of those goals – approximately 82%.

As a system, there were 68 possible academic targets.  Cabarrus County Schools met 54 of the AYP targets or 79.4% of the goals for 2007-08. The efforts of parents, teachers, students, and community are paying rich dividends in the continued educational growth of Cabarrus County’s youth.

Does this mean that the system has achieved all it can? Absolutely not. The true purpose of NCLB is to allow school systems to see where subgroups of students are not succeeding and target groups that need special attention. Cabarrus County Schools has identified limited English, students with disabilities, and economically disadvantaged students as needing additional help in reading and/or math. Although we have made progress, there is still more work to do. The system is closely examining and implement-ing strategies that will lead to more successfully meeting the specific needs of the students in these groups.

As superintendent, I have personally seen the tremendous efforts put forth by the dedicated teachers and administrators of Cabarrus County Schools where nearly 99% are highly qualified as designated by NCLB and more than 85% participated in high quality professional development.

We’re proud of our accomplishments and are encouraged by our prospects for continued growth and success. As we carry out the work of continuous improvement, I am confident that we will see even more progress in our students’ academic achievement. 

Sincerely,

Superintendent