November
29, 2007
Dear
Parent/Guardian:
West
End High School is proud to provide your child the
best possible educational experiences. To that end,
we seek to employ the most qualified, competent, and
caring professional and support staff to work with
your child all day of the school year.
All
of our teachers graduated from colleges or universities
that were accredited by the Southern Association of
Colleges and Schools or a comparable regional accrediting
agency in another part of the United State. Further,
all of our teachers participate in a rigorous teacher
evaluation, all teachers are required to participate
in annual professional development activities that
include enhancing their teaching skills, course knowledge,
and may include other topics such as child/adolescent
development or classroom management skills.
On
January 8, 2002, President George Bush signed in law
the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and
made the law applicable to both experienced and new
teachers. The law contained a new definition of teachers
who are "highly qualified" as referenced
in the law. This new law places additional emphasis
on subject-matter or content knowledge of the teacher
as demonstrated to the state and local departments
of education. The new federal law gives teachers until
the end of the 2005-2006 school year to meet the new
federal definition, and it also required that we update
you on the highly qualified status of our teachers
at the beginning of the school year even if some are
very close to meeting all of the new federal requirements.
As
of the date of this letter, your child's teacher,
Elizabeth Potter, has yet to complete every requirement
of the new federal definition of "highly qualified"
as a choral teacher. She is teaching 7th grade choral
for 45 minutes each day. However we have full confidence
in her ability to teach effectively in the current
assignment. Some teachers have submitted work toward
meeting this new requirement that is currently under
review, but results were not received in time to meet
this reporting deadline.
If
you have any questions regarding the qualifications
of Elizabeth Potter, please feel free to contact me
at (205)589-6421. For additional information about
the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
or any other public school-related matter, please
visit the Alabama Department of Education's Web site
at www.alsde.edu .
Sincerely,
Mark
Stancil
Principal
