Patrick County Public Schools

Dr. Roger N. Morris, Division Superintendent

July 1, 2011

To The Community:

I begin by saying what an honor and privilege it is to continue as your Division Superintendent for Patrick County Public Schools for another year. We take this opportunity to thank the community, the students, the parents, the staff, and the School Board for their support as we have successfully met all of our goals and challenges this past year.

We have accomplished a great deal this past school year. We continue to receive the academic honors that were once goals, but now they have become expectations. All of the schools are accredited and met the federal standards of Adequate Yearly Progress. The graduating class of 2011 earned over 1.2 million dollars in financial assistance for college and postsecondary education. Over eighty-six percent of our graduates will attend postsecondary education programs, beginning this summer or fall! Twenty-three graduates also received their associate's degree from Patrick Henry Community College at the same time they received their high school diploma. The high school continues to be recognized as a top five school in Virginia. Also, Patrick Springs Primary was selected as a National Blue Ribbon School. Woolwine Elementary continues to be recognized a a Title One Distinguished School and Meadows of Dan Elementary School was recognized by the Governor with the Governor's Award of Excellence. Blue Ridge Elementary continues to be recognized in the area of student attendance. Stuart and Hardin Reynolds also were recognized this year for their work in test scores and instruction. I have no doubt that Patrick County Public Schools is the best school system anywhere.

Our web pages are an excellent tool for citizens to stay informed of our activities. We encourage individuals to check our various links.

Most of our accomplishments cannot be achieved without the dedication and hard work our our staff. We encourage parents, students, and others to take the time to thank our staff for the hard work they do to educate the children of Patrick County. As I stated in past years and I state it again - "educating children is not a burden of society, but an investment in Patrick County’s future." A high-quality education is a small monetary investment for the taxpayers of Patrick County, and like any investment, it must develop and grow to become worthwhile. But investing in children is more than just economics, it is an investment of life and love. In these interesting economic times, it is so important for the school system to receive the appropriate amount of resources and to be a wise steward of these resources to prepare our children for the 21st Century workforce. This new workforce is no longer dominated by manufacturing but is driven by entrepreneurship, finance, health care, renewable energy development, and a reclamation of "American ingenuity".

To put it succinctly, we need you! If you are a citizen of Patrick County and whether or not you have a direct connection to a school, I encourage you to contact either a school or this office to volunteer to read to a child or participate in other worthwhile activities. You may e-mail me at roger.morris@patrick.k12.va.us. The school division has a Facebook page and so do I. So if you use Facebook, please look us up.

If you wish to tour a school, please contact that school’s principal and set up an appointment.

Together we make a difference!

Click here to know more about the Superintendent.