Superintendent

Rowan-Salisbury Schools Superintendent Dr. Lynn Moody is an accomplished leader in transforming education. She leads a district of over 19,500 students with 63% poverty, 3,000 employees, and a budget of $170 million. Through the district’s aggressive strategic plan focus on literacy and student engagement, Dr. Moody and her team are bringing national and state attention to the innovative practices that are receiving astonishing results for student success. The district was recently ranked in the top 10 nationally for pioneering technology uses; received the national digital curriculum strategy award and the national digital content & curriculum achievement award. In addition, Discovery Education presented Dr. Moody with the ‘Innovation in Education’ award. On a state level under Dr. Moody’s leadership team, the district has been recognized for excellence in educational programs as well as excellence in communication, public relations, and marketing. Dr. Moody received the ‘Friday Medal’ by the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation and the State of NC Order of the Long Leaf Pine. Dr. Moody serves on a number of local, state and national boards such as ERDI Network, NCHSSA, Responsive Classroom, Schlechty Network, Novant Health Rowan Medical Center and United Way.

Under Dr. Moody’s Leadership, there has been Rowan-Salisbury representation on national panels, presentations, and in publications such as the Learning Counsel, Education Talk Radio, Discovery Education, Future Ready Summit, NSPRA (National School Public Relations Association), ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education), NCASA (NC Association of School Administrators), ASU-GSV (Arizona State University - Global Silicon Valley), NCTIES (NC Technology In Education Society), Schlechty Center, Digital Promise, and Literacy Today.

Dr. Moody received her undergraduate and master’s degrees from NC State University and her doctorate of education degree from Nova Southeastern University. Before becoming a superintendent, she was a teacher, coach and administrator.

Dr. Moody resides in Landis, NC with her husband Wayne. She is proud of her three children who are all classroom teachers.

Message from…Superintendent Dr. Lynn Moody

FINDING OUR WAY BACK TO THE MIDDLE

Seems everyone is seeking a more reasonable balance to life. As the pendulum swings in our education world, we have gone from teacher created expectations to high stakes testing. We seem to have a hard time finding the middle, something more reasonable, something more balanced.

CHECKING FOR MASTERY is important. But, giving students lots of high-stake standardizing tests is not the only way to check for mastery. Student exhibition of their work or product should be valued at the same or higher level. And, students should have lots of opportunity for feedback on their work without fear of failure.

TECHNOLOGY DEVICES, SOFTWARE, AND THE INTERNET can provide information, clarity, and help us personalize education. But, students also need hands-on, direct instruction, and opportunities to work collaboratively to solve problems and produce authentic products. We need to be sure we provide a variety of ways to learn new material.

CHOICE in how a student presents their learning is motivational. But, clear direction and a focus on the standard helps students organize their thoughts. When we give students more choices about the ways in which they can demonstrate mastery, we make opportunities to demonstrate unlimited learning.

COMMON CORE STANDARDS provide us with learning goals that students need at each grade level. But, the number of standards in each subject is too many. We need to prioritize the essential standards that will bring the most value and spend more time on fewer standards. Focusing on the essential standards allows us to concentrate on timeless learning elements.

GRADES can help a student and their parent understand where the student ranks. But, students need to have their work critiqued from more than just their teacher. Peer critique is much more realistic to the work world. And learning to critique and accept criticism can be very valuable. This is a skill that actually needs guidelines and practice. Self-critique is equally important.

FINALLY, SEEING THE BEAUTY IN THE WORLD, making friends, giving service to others and just breathing in needs to be a part of everyday. Learning to be a kind person might just be what is needed most in this world.

I’m not for “throwing the baby out with the bath water.” But, I am for trying to find our way back to the middle.

Superintendent

Inspiring, Innovative and Engaging – this describes the new Community Schools concept that is being implementing across our community.

By now you have most likely participated in or heard about our 6 Community School areas and the events they have sponsored; such as back to school rallies, tail gates, family engagement events, movie nights to name a few examples. There have also been high school students dressed out in their school colors, welcoming elementary students to school.

Within RSS we have 6 community areas: North, South, East, West, Salisbury, and Southeast. We are personalizing the learning experience for children and families through our Community Schools by following your child from Kindergarten through high school. We may all fall under the larger umbrella of Rowan-Salisbury, but we have smaller Community Schools focusing on providing a family-centered environment for giving children the best education possible.

This spring each of the six Community Schools will be hosting a Exhibition to our communities. These events will showcase the inspiring work by our students.

Staying connected with the Rowan County community is vital to growth of Rowan-Salisbury Schools. Dr. Moody continually provides opportunities to connect our schools with our community in a variety of innovative and inspiring ways, such as:

• Developing Community Schools Exhibitions and Events among the 6 area school communities in our district
• Sponsoring Literacy Summits
• Serving on a number of community boards such as United Way, Rotary, and the Chamber
• Providing community lunch and learns with job-alike community groups and parent groups
• Presenting at local community organizations
• Opening schools through Community School Visits

A Brief History – Full Circle

RPE

Years ago, a group of dedicated business professionals and community leaders formed the Rowan-Salisbury Education Foundation to provide support and funding for programs that went above and beyond the normal curriculum in the Rowan Salisbury Schools. The name was later changed to Rowan Partners for Education (RPE) to better represent the mission of the organization.

IMPACT

A few years ago, another group of dedicated business and community leaders came together and formed the Rowan-Salisbury Schools IMPACT Fund. This group of hard- working individuals achieved many accomplishments that benefited the students and staff of our district to which we are very grateful.

RPE

Moving forward, the name is again Rowan-Partners for Education and dedicated to:

• Provide funding for innovative teaching methods
• Ignite stronger and more positive results
• Recognize the achievements of our teachers & students
• Encourage students to reach higher academic success
• Provide support to push through innovative projects

RPE continues to build on what the original founders saw as such an incredible resource in our community. While RPE will work closely with RSS to help achieve common goals, the mission is to add to and not replace any existing programs.

Jon and Susan Steele co-chair RPE.

Rowan-Salisbury staff and students connect and communicate through a program called ‘Rounding’ based on the practice of grand rounds common in hospitals. Administrative leaders are divided into teams that visit schools to ask about innovative and engaging work, as well as how administrators can offer support.

Rounding offers department staff a first-hand look into classrooms across our community. During these visits, the teams focus on different parts of the school’s campus to gain a wide range of opinions by speaking with school-level staff and students.

Following each round of visits, the teams gather back at the Wallace Educational Forum to share the information from their interviews. Principals are invited to hear the feedback and to see the ‘sticky notes’ on the wall that are displayed in categories like Engaging Instruction, Short-Term Improvement, and Long-Range Improvements.

The data is shared with departments to determine what immediate changes can take place for improvements and how to better implement the strategies of the strategic plan.

This willingness to give everyone a voice and to work together makes it an exciting time to be a part of Rowan-Salisbury Schools.

The Superintendent’s Student Leadership Team (SLT) is a group of highly motivated high school students interested in developing their leadership skills and promoting public education. Working with the superintendent and her team, the SLT meets monthly to “think outside the box” and develop innovative ideas to improve the teaching and learning experiences across our community.

Each year, the SLT presents their innovated ideas in a variety of platforms such as community presentations, exhibitions, and events to local, state and national elected officials, business and community partners, and school administrators.

Communication is important, and Dr. Moody stays connected with teachers across the community in an effort to keep them informed as well as listening to their comments.

Monthly, one teacher from each of our 35 schools joins the superintendent for an informal dialogue while enjoying breakfast prepared by our RSS School Nutrition Department. During this time, educators have the opportunity to hear from Dr. Moody about current topics, and ask questions in addition to providing ideas on the learning environments in our schools.

In turn, these teachers return to their home schools sharing what they have learned and shared with their fellow educators.