Dear Parents, Guardians, and Community  Members,

Welcome to the Alexander City School System. On behalf of my administrative colleagues and teaching professionals, it is my pleasure to welcome you to our community and to share with you my commitment to education as the leader of our school community.

Our continued commitment as a district is to provide quality teaching and learning opportunities and to ensure equity and excellence for all students. We recognize that as educators our goal is not just to prepare students to do well in school, but also to prepare them to be successful in life after school.  Although our focus certainly remains on ensuring that all students pass the state’s high stakes tests, we are also committed to provide your sons and daughters with a broader set of skills than those found in the acquisition of specialized knowledge.  A major goal for all of our graduates is that they become proficient in the skills necessary for success in a global, knowledge-based economy and those skills essential to success in the 21st century.   We recognize that high expectations for all and preparing students for their future, not our past, means working closely with parents and guardians to foster a partnership that promotes these goals.  Students learn and live in a world of diversity that must be recognized and emphasized in all aspects of a student-centered educational program.  Working as a community provides a foundation of knowledge that affords students the opportunity to develop the skills necessary for living in an ever-changing society.

More than ever schools are responsible for meeting the academic, emotional, physical, and social needs of students as they prepare for life beyond the compulsory school attendance years.  The Alexander City School System demonstrates that responsibility by offering a variety of programs and services that meet the needs of its students and staff, consistently working to elicit the maximum potential of both in the classroom, on the field and on the stage.  We celebrate academic excellence, athletic skill and creative expression when we sustain an environment where students and staff take responsibility for learning and teaching, sportsmanship and decorum.

I am proud to be a part of such an environment as a member of the Alexander City Schools staff,  and I know you will enjoy the same as an active member of our extended school family. Again, it is my distinct pleasure to welcome you to our community and to serve our students and staff as the Superintendent of Schools.

Sincerely,

Lou Ann Wagoner

Accomplishments and Recognitions

            In 2005 Alexander City School System was awarded District Accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) making them the 1^st city school system in the state and the nation to achieve this level of accreditation.  The school system has been accreditated by SACS since and has annually been recognized as a Quality District.

            In 2007 the Alexander City School System, in partnership with the Alexander City Chamber of Commerce, was awarded the National Civic Star Award by the American Association of School Administrators.  This award recognized the Gateway to Education Scholarship Program whereby ALL graduates of Benjamin Russell High School are assured two-years of tuition free education through Central Alabama Community College.

            The Council for Leaders in Alabama Schools has recognized three of Alexander City’s Schools as CLAS Banner Schools.  Nathaniel Stephens Elementary School, William L. Radney Elementary School and Benjamin Russell High School were each selected due to their focus on high expectations for student achievement and innovative programs to support these expectations. 

            Beginning with the 2007-2008 school year an Engineering Academy was implemented at Benjamin Russell High School in partnership with Auburn University’s College of Engineering.  The areas of Chemical, Civil, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering are paired with the high school courses of AP Biology, AP Calculus, Technology Education and Physics through which joint projects are completed by students from the high school and the university.  A Freshman Cohort will be implemented during the 2008-2009 school year to become a four-year academy program for engineering.

     The Alexander City School System was the first system in the state to have all schools designated as demonstration sites for the nationally recognized Alabama Reading Initiative.  Our schools have participated in TEAM –Math which is a partnership between our system and Auburn University with a focus on teaching mathematics from an investigative approach.  All mathematics teachers in our system are TEAM-math trained.

            The Alexander City Schools Education Foundation has recently completed the fundraising campaign for $1 million dollars to be used to make ALL core academic classrooms in the Alexander City School System a 21^st Century Classroom equipped with the most current and applicable technology to expand the learning opportunity for ALL students to the world stage.  By the end of this school year, all of our schools will be equipped and operational.