Increased school accreditation from 33% to 100%

Increased full-day kindergarten programs from 0% to 100%

Stepped up capital improvement projects YEARS ahead of schedule

Increased parental involvement for text book selection

Helped with teacher recruitment and retention

School Accreditation. When Julie joined the School Board in October 2002 her immediate focus was on helping our schools become fully accredited. Only three of the nine schools in the Neabsco District were passing the SOL's (Standard of Learning examinations) when Julie was appointed to the Board. She personally met with all the principals in the district to discuss what help they needed to support their efforts to become fully accredited. Julie helped to secure additional funding for remediation programs, supported data instruction training for our teachers and created a SOL breakfast program to feed our students breakfast on SOL test days. Within Julie's first year on the Board our District schools increased accreditation from three to five and now we are very proud to report all nine schools in the Neabsco District are fully accredited!

Full-day Kindergarten. There are six elementary schools located in the Neabsco District. Five of those are Title I schools, which are the most economically disadvantaged schools with over 50% of the student population on free and reduced lunch. Data supports full-day kindergarten programs help these students most. Julie's second goal when joining the Board was to implement full-day kindergarten programs at all six elementary schools in the Neabsco District. When Julie was appointed to the Board no schools in the District had full-day kindergarten and only two schools had extended day kindergarten. After hard work and support from her fellow Board members and staff, Julie is very proud to report that all six elementary schools in the Neabsco District have full-day kindergarten programs!

Capital Improvement Projects. Julie has had a very active presence over the past four years in all of the schools she represents. She noticed right away our dedicated staff and our wonderful students, but unfortunately found that most of our buildings were old, run down, and falling apart. Julie worked with her fellow Board members and staff to step up capital improvement projects years ahead of schedule to ensure equity among all of our schools!

Julie helped and supported the following capital projects in Neabsco District:

Dale City Elementary -- installed a fence to protect our students from a 50 foot drop off, parking lot expanded ahead of schedule, complete renovation of the entire school, additional funds to add needed projects not in the original plan for renovation.

Neabsco Elementary -- replaced the carpet with title through out the entire school four years ahead of schedule, adding restroom facilities outside to help the students in trailers, and the entire school will be renovated during the next four years.

Bel-Air Elementary -- installed flashing lights, installed drug free zone signs, expanded the parking lot years ahead of schedule, changed the expansion of the building from a four classroom addition to an eight classroom addition, asked that the ball-field be repaired due to safety concerns, and the entire school will be renovated and expanded during the next year.

Minnieville Elementary -- expanded the parking lot, added lighting ahead of schedule, added steps that were not in the original plan, fully enclosed all open classrooms, renovated Science lab and renovated the entire school.

Kerrydale Elementary -- fully renovated the entire school and enclosed all open classrooms.

Enterprise Elementary -- expanded the parking lot four years ahead of schedule and the entire school will be renovated during the next four years.

Godwin Middle School -- completely renovated the auditorium years ahead of schedule and the entire school will be renovated during the next four years.

Beville Middle School -- worked with the local Police Department to correct/help the traffic flow to help our buses travel to and from the school every day to ensure student safety, and the entire school will be renovated during the next four years.

Gar-Field High School -- football field was upgraded and renovated, the entire school was renovated and all open classrooms were enclosed.

Increased Parental Involvement. One of the first actions Julie voted on the Board was on adopting text books for our History Department. Julie realized we needed to increase parental involvement with the selection process. She worked with our staff to help change our current policy and now School Board Members appoint parents to represent each District to help with the review process for every subject. Julie has also helped increase parental involvement by meeting with, promoting and working with parent teacher organizations at all schools in the Neabsco District. She also helps inform parents about Edulink at our schools so they can stay better informed with their child's daily progress. Julie has established a budget committee made up of parents to help review and share ideas about our school budget. Julie has also promoted and served as a volunteer at our schools. Active parental involvement is key to our children's success and Julie will work hard to continue to increase parental involvement at all levels of our schools and all levels of our decision making process.

Teacher Recruitment and Retention. Julie strongly supports our teachers and will continue to keep teacher recruitment and retention a top priority. Within months of joining the Board Julie met with teachers in the Neabsco District to discuss recruitment and retention. It was one of our very own teachers who came up with an excellent idea to help with retention... increase the amount of money the school division reimburses our teachers for continuing their education. When Julie joined the Board the school division only reimbursed $175 a year to our teachers for continuing their education. Within one year Julie gained the support of our staff and her entire Board and was able to double the reimbursement amount to $350 and has since increased the amount again to $750 a year. Julie also supported allowing our teachers more flexibility with their in-service training days, unencumbered planning time, affordable housing for our teachers, and competitive pay with surrounding jurisdictions.

Please visit Julie's issue page to see what Julie will work hard to accomplish over the next four years.