By Dr. Pam Cain

Kannapolis City Schools

2015 promises to be a wonderful year of progress and achievement in Kannapolis City Schools. It will include the unveiling of a new strategic plan, the planning and design of a new middle school and making sure that our parents, community and guests find a warm, welcoming environment when they visit Kannapolis City Schools.

This month, we will begin 2015 by introducing a new five-year strategic plan.

As we developed the plan, we included staff, parents, business leaders, elected officials, and others throughout the community. The strategic plan spotlights student achievement and helps to make sure our children will be successful beyond graduation.

It focuses on literacy, science, technology, engineering, math and the arts. It also emphasizes being ready for college and careers.

The plan includes a scorecard that will measure our progress over the next five years and keep us on track for achieving our goals by 2020.

During 2015, we will also begin fulfilling a longtime need in Kannapolis City Schools. We will start the planning and design of a new middle school. Currently, nearly all of our schools are overcrowded. The new school will relieve overcrowding plus increase opportunities for students throughout the district.

The new school will be built next to our current middle school and will have better resources for preparing students for success in science, technology, engineering and math.

Once it is built, we will turn our current middle school into an intermediate school. That will give KCS two intermediate schools, and each will become a magnet school, which will offer new opportunities for students.

Finally, 2015 will be a year of adding a warmer and more welcoming touch to our schools. We are known for our family atmosphere, but we want to do a better job of making parents and visitors feel welcome.

During 2015, we will add visitor parking and improve signage to help our visitors feel more welcome. We also will reach out even more to our Latino families to make sure they feel welcome at our schools.

We will continue to have safety as a top priority. We will keep our entrances locked so visitors must be buzzed in to enter our schools, but we will make sure everything is warm and inviting once they enter our schools and offices.

This time of year brings fresh enthusiasm to all that we do, and we are excited about what lies ahead. We believe 2015 will be a wonderful year for Kannapolis City Schools and our community, and we appreciate the support of our parents and community.

Cain is superintendent of Kannapolis City Schools.