Kathy Smith came to represent Sully on the School Board in a special election in 2002 after Gary Reese was elected to the General Assembly.

Early on in her tenure, Smith asked an innocuous question: If the School Board couldn't reduce average class size, could they do something about very large classes, classes with more than 30 students? The answer was yes, and with what turned out to be a modest expenditure, the schools were able to make a significant dent in the largest classes.

Smith is a former teacher, a parent of school-aged children and a PTA activist. Her background and direct approach make her a good addition to the School Board.

HELPING TO GUIDE ONE OF THE LARGEST AN BEST SCHOOL SYSTEMS IN THE COUNTRY takes experienced leadership and he ability to understand and balance the complex educational issues facing this increasingly diverse school system.

Kathy has proven leadership, and is proud of her role in furthering several very important school board initiatives:

• Expansion of full day kindergarten
• Increase in foreigh language instruction in elementary school
• Establishment of an independent audit committee for improved oversight
• Increase in beginning teacher salaries to attract the best and brightest

Kathy has a vision to prepare our children for their future by ensuring that they be given the opportunity to reach their academic potential and be prepared for what lies ahead in life. She is very proud to have helped establish new student achievement goals including lif skills and civic responsibility.

Kathy listens to you, and as your Sully District school board representative, has attended over 300 PTA, community, and school administration meetings during her tenure.

Kathy's experiene is relevant and personal

• Vice Chairman of the School Board

• Chairman of SchoolBoard Governance Committee

• Chairman of the School Board - 2004

• School Board Member - 5 years

• President Poplar Tree PTA - 4 years

• President Rocky Run PTA - 1 year

• President Chantilly High School PTSA - 2 years

• Teacher with 7 years classroom experience

• Parent of 4 children (3 FCPS graduates and one current high school student)

Send Contributions to:

Kathy Smith for School Board
P.O. Box 223514
Chantilly, VA 20153
(703) 803-7642

Kathy Smith, Sully District

Works For You. Works For Kids.

Full –day Kindergarten

Because it is important to make full day kindergarten available at all of our elementary schools, I am committed to bringing full day kindergarten to those schools still without it, in the next two years. Data has proven that full-day kindergarten results in higher student achievement, so I am proud that one of my first accomplishments as a newly elected School Board member in 2002 was leading FCPS to begin implementing this program. Currently, seven Sully district elementary schools offer full day kindergarten, and I will work diligently to complete the process of making it available in all of our schools.

Foreign Language

In order for our children to be successful and fulfilled in the world they will inhabit as adults, fluency in more than one language will be essential. Further, its is well known that students will have greater understanding of language if they begin instruction in elementary school. I am excited that part of the newly established student achievement goals is the ability to communicate in a least two languages. I am pleased that foreign language instruction is now available in several Sully district schools, and will work hard to ensure that it will be available to all of our children.

Student Achievement Goals

In my six years on the School Board, I have become increasingly concerned about the importance placed on measuring student success by multiple choice test results alone. In examining the skills that are vital for children to have if they are to live productive lives, it is clear that many of these skills cannot be measured by multiple-choice tests. Students need strong communication skills as well as the ability to analyze and solve problems. We want students to become adults who will be engaged members of their communities. I wanted to express these values in the goals set for our school system, and to find methods to measure success in meeting these goals.

After discussing these ideas with the community, we incorporated them into the current student achievement goals. These include academic skills, essential life skills, and civic responsibility.

I look forward to continuing the work of implementing these goals as an important framework in preparing out children for the future.

No Child Left Behind

It is essential that our schools meet the federal and state mandates, and I will hold the superintendent and school administration accountable for implementing necessary changes to make that happen. One consequence of the required testing is that schools must spend a significant amount of time and resources on tests and remediation, often at the expense of enriching and expanding the curriculum for all students. I will support the efforts of principals and teachers to do what’s necessary to provide the most challenging curriculum for each of our children.

Boundaries

Redrawing school boundaries understandably generates emotional reactions in our communities since we feel the bonds of our neighborhoods so strongly through our schools. In a dynamic community such as Fairfax County school enrollment can become unbalanced, leaving some schools under-enrolled, and some overcrowded. To address this situation, the Fairfax County School Board follows a redistricting process that is driven by community input.

The process begins in the late fall so that facilities staff can use the September 30 enrollment figures to develop the documents used in the boundary process. The first of three public meetings will be held at Chantilly High School on November 12 at 7:30pm, followed by similar meetings at Westfield High School on December 3 and Oakton High School on December 12. At each of these meetings, information will be shared with all participants in a general meeting, followed by facilitated breakout sessions. In January, 2008, the school system will offer a recommended solution, which will be open for comment at public hearings to be held on January 30 and 31. The School Board will make the final decision at its regular meeting on February 28. For detailed information on the boundary process, go to http://fcps.edu/news/boundary.

First and foremost, I believe that the final boundary decision should have a positive outcome for students in our schools. The final boundary solution should increase academic and extra-curricular activities, recognize the importance of keeping neighborhoods together, make sense geographically, and provide a grandfathering option. I am committed to an open, honest process and I encourage you to attend all three boundary meetings and speak at the Public Hearings. Your concerns are very important to me. Please contact me (Kathy.L.Smith@fcps.edu) at any time to voice your opinions and concerns on this important matter.

I am committed to doing what is best for Sully students, by having a transparent, open dialogue and by challenging the school system to bring forward common sense solutions. I will ensure that proposed changes reflect input from all affected communities and I will be a forceful and effective advocate among my colleagues on the School Board to achieve the best overall solution.

Your input is vital to me. Please contact me (Kathy.L.Smith@fcps.edu) at any time to voice your opinions and concerns on this important matter.

>> More on the Boundary Issue

VOTE to Re-ELECT Kathy Smith
School Board Sully District
Experience To Represent Your Interests

Works For You. Works For Kids.

Kathy Has Proven She Gets Things Done....

through her willingness to make tough choices on spending priorities and always focusing on the impact of these decisions on children.