Message from Superintendent Jeffrey Young
Posted on 12/03/2014
December 3, 2014
Dear CPS Community,
Last evening, the School Committee and I agreed to extend my term as Superintendent of Schools through June 30, 2016, at which time I plan to step down and conclude my service to the students, staff and families in our community. I thank the Cambridge School Committee for giving me the opportunity to work in this amazing and wonderful city.
I hope you will use this announcement as a momentary pause to reflect upon our six years of mutual effort and accomplishment. We have expanded our capacity to take on challenges that once seemed insurmountable. Together we decided which complex problems demanded our collective urgent attention and mobilized ourselves to tackle this most important work.
We have made significant progress. As a community, we summoned the courage to call out the issues of race and class and transformed the district by creating new schools that will better serve ALL Cambridge students for generations to come. Enrollment has increased by over 700 students (12%) over the past six years, which is evidence of increasing public confidence in CPS. We are building an infrastructure for curriculum, instruction and professional development that will provide the foundation for excellence in the years ahead. This year, the State awarded ten of our schools Level 1 status based on our educators’ work in reducing proficiency gaps and accelerating the academic growth of all children. Our programs for students with disabilities, English language learners, and advanced learners are more inclusive and stronger than ever. Family engagement has become a norm. Partnerships with the university and business communities are flourishing, and our relations with the City of Cambridge exemplify shared goals and mutual trust. Our capital plan will lead to the opening of a brand new facility to house the Martin Luther King, Jr. and Putnam Avenue Upper schools next September, and the design process is already underway for a new King Open/Cambridge Street Upper school facility. Through it all, you have held true to the fundamental and overarching belief that excellence and equity must live together in our schools.
Cambridge is on the right journey--a journey of hope--and I want to tell you what an honor and privilege it is to walk that path with you. Thank you for your support, your friendship, and your deep and abiding dedication to young people. This community is most fortunate to have its children in the care of our staff and families.
Indeed, you have made me proud to serve among you, so I am living uneasily with the mixed emotions that inevitably accompany a parting. But I am not leaving now. I look forward to using the time ahead as a seamless extension of our ongoing effort to make Cambridge the best place to teach and learn.
With respect and gratitude,
Jeffrey M. Young