By  Dr. Pam Cain

Superintendent Kannapolis City Schools

The year 2016 promises to be a wonderful year of progress and achievement in Kannapolis City Schools.

It will include the launching of a new welding certification program at A.L. Brown High School that is a partnership with Rowan-Cabarrus Community College. The new program will train Kannapolis students for high paying and successful careers and help local businesses find qualified welders to keep building the economy and provide economic prosperity for our community.

We also will unveil a new media center at A.L. Brown High School. Thanks to a grant from the Cannon Foundation, we have remodeled the media center to meet the needs of today’s digital learners. The new media center, which students helped to plan and design, features additional computers, iPads, books, group study areas, charging stations, and a 3-D printer.

It even includes a café where students can read, use digital devices and catch up on school news while they eat lunch. Students can also use 3-D modeling, audio recordings and virtual reality to create innovative projects for their classes. It is an exciting addition to A.L. Brown that will expand our students’ capabilities, and we are extremely grateful to the Cannon Foundation for making it possible.

We also will have something new for all students during 2015-16. We are excited that we will now offer a free breakfast and free lunch to all students during the coming year. This will be a huge benefit for everyone. It will save parents time and money, eliminate paperwork for families and our schools, and give every child access to two nutritious meals each day.

As always, we will keep our focus during 2015-16 on student achievement and implementing our strategic plan. Our strategic plan centers on developing literacy skills and delivering excellence in science, technology, engineering, math and the arts.

It also focuses on making sure our students are college and career ready when they graduate. As part of our efforts to make sure we are reaching our strategic goals, we will survey students, staff, parents and community members to ask if we are meeting their needs. We believe we can only be successful if the people we serve are benefitting from what we do.

This time of year always brings fresh enthusiasm, and we are excited about what lies ahead for Kannapolis City Schools. I am looking forward to working with staff, parents and community members to help make our children successful and give them a wonderful school year. Thank you for all your support of our students, staff and schools.