School Superintendent William’s Vision for the Pocahontas County Schools
On December 5th, we offered Pocahontas County School Superintendent Dr. Leatha Williams the opportunity to directly address the community about what her vision is for the schools.
“This year, some of the things that we start the school year with, and we have accomplished so far and we have done is a Principal and a Teachers’ Academy,” said Williams. “I wanted to emphasize the positive impact and the vital role that every staff member plays in a child’s life. It doesn’t matter if you are a cook, a bus driver, you’re a custodian, you’re a teacher, principal or even a county level administrator, each of us have an essential role to the success in our school system. I also wanted to reconnect everyone with the heart of our work, why we choose to be in this profession. We do it because we love our students, we love our schools, we love our community. Working in education is one of the greatest forms of public service, in my opinion. So, our theme this year is ‘we are stronger together’”
“Some challenges that I faced first coming here, it’s never easy to come into a school system that is under a state of intervention and facing the possibility of a full state take-over by the Department of Ed. So to begin that work, we had to reconnect, learn to trust, and learn to pull together, not just as a school system, but as a community. And, I think that is exactly what we have done since I’ve been here. So, I am incredibly proud of everyone in the school system including our board members, our teachers, and he support that staff has given me for their hard work and unwavering support”.
“Change is never easy. It means letting go of the past and embracing new ways of thinking. This process can be uncomfortable, and I respect how uncomfortable it has been at times, and the stress level that folks have had. But together we have faced it head-on, and it’s been handled like champions. Everything has not been perfect, we are not a perfect school system, but we can continue to grow and get better every day.”
“I really feel fortunate to be here in Pocahontas. Our school board members have been incredibly supportive. Everyone I’ve met in the community has been incredibly supportive. I actually met someone last night in Walmart from Marlinton, and I was telling them that I am the new superintendent here in Pocahontas County. They were so nice, so kind and so supportive. I haven’t come across anyone on Pocahontas County that hasn’t embraced the things that we are doing. Not to mention the beauty of Pocahontas County. It makes me feel like I am home because I am from Route 92, Neola.”
“Some things that we’ve really worked on, and I have focused on as superintendent of the school system, is: first of all, I wanted to improve school climate. The school climate is how you feel about your job, how you feel about coming to work, which connect back to those opening activities when we had our speakers who said ‘everybody is important. It’s important to greet every student at the door, it’ s important to know every student’s name, it’s important to know every student’s status, its important to know every student where we can make them stronger, and where we can grow them. Next, I wanted to establish a culture of high expectations from the board meetings down to the classrooms. So that we all have calibrated our understanding and we have a clear expectation of what standards of excellence looks like in Pocahontas County Schools.”
“In order to do that and to connect back to our theme, ‘stronger together,’ I really had to start reviewing our policies, our procedures, and our processes, and making sure everyone was following those consistently, and we were enforcing them consistently. Because there is no sense in having a policy if you’re not going to follow a policy. And I have talked about that at our board meetings, with the public, on a regular basis. And then the final thing that I am really homed in on and work with every elementary teacher in the school system so far, and I plan on working with every secondary teacher, is looking at our academic data identifying students who are close that need additional time and support; identifying students who are not close and filling skills gaps so we can move them forward. So, our school system is not just addressing high students or low students, but we are addressing all the students, including those 60% in the middle, that often get left out. So, my focus is on using data to take every student from where they are, and move them one level, so we can gradually get them up to performing on grade level standards.”
Thank you, Doctor Williams.
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