Cherokee County strives to secure commitment by all groups of stakeholders to a shared purpose and direction.  Through individual School Improvement Plans, this system and its schools have clearly defined expectations for student learning aligned with the vision that is fully supported by system and school personnel and external stakeholders.  These expectations serve as the focus for assessing student performance, system and school effectiveness.  Our vision guides allocations of time and human, material, and fiscal resources.

Documenting and Using Results

North Carolina has established an accountability system through the ABC's or public education that is a comprehensive assessment system based on clearly defined performance measures that yield valid and reliable results, including multiple measures of individual student achievement that assess higher order thinking skills and are of adequate technical quality.  The assessment system is used to assess student performance on expectations for student learning, evaluate the effectiveness of curriculum and instruction, design and improve instructional strategies and practices, and determine interventions to improve and enhance student performance.  The assessment system yields timely and accurate information that is meaningful and useful to system/school leaders, teachers, and other stakeholders in understanding student performance, system and school effectiveness, and the results of improvement efforts for individual students and groups and subgroups of students.  Cherokee County also utilizes local option testing to monitor growth intermittently throughout the year.  Personal education plans are developed as a component of CCS policy for ALL children falling short of acceptable proficiency levels. 

Governance and Leadership

The administration of Cherokee County Schools nurtures leaders who advocate for the system's vision and improvement efforts.  These leaders  who emerge from the population of teachers, administrators, and students provide direction, lend support, and systematically allocate resources for systemic and sustainable implementation of curricular and co-curricular programs that enable students to achieve expectations for their learning.  Leaders ensure collaboration and shared responsibility for system and school improvement among stakeholders with clearly defined expectations for each stakeholder group.  The leaders p rovide stakeholders meaningful roles in the decision-making process that promote a culture of participation, responsibility, and ownership.  The system's policies, procedures, and organizational conditions ensure equity of learning opportunities and support for innovation and are deeply embedded in the way the system and its schools functions.

Resources and Support Systems  

Cherokee County Schools effectively uses human, material, and fiscal resources to implement a curriculum that enables students to achieve and exceed expectations for student learning, to meet special needs of all students, and to comply with applicable regulations.  The system systematically employs and allocates staff members who are well qualified for their assignments in all content areas.  The system provides and fully supports ongoing, job-embedded learning opportunities for all staff to improve their effectiveness, including both professional and support staff.  The system ensures compliance with applicable local, state, and federal regulations

 Teaching and Learning

Our school system implements a curriculum based on clear and measurable expectations for student learning that provides multiple opportunities for all students to acquire requisite knowledge, skills, and attitudes.  The system has a formalized process to align instructional practices with the curriculum and demonstrates results through systemic and sustainable implementation across the system.  Teachers use proven, research-based, instructional practices that actively engage students in the learning process and encourage students to take ownership of their learning.  Teachers consistently provide opportunities for students to apply their knowledge and skills to real world situations.  Teachers give students frequent feedback using a variety of methods to improve their performance.

 Stakeholder Communications

Cherokee County Schools has the understanding, commitment, and support of all stakeholders.  System and school personnel actively promote and provide regular, systematic opportunities for collaboration and shared leadership among all stakeholders to help students learn and advance improvement efforts and can demonstrate a high level of meaningful participation by most stakeholder groups. 

Commitment to Continuous Improvement

Our school system fully implements a collaborative and ongoing process for improvement that aligns all functions of the system and its schools with the expectations for student learning.  Improvement efforts are systemic, sustained, and fully embedded, and the system demonstrates significant progress in improving student performance, system and school effectiveness.  New improvement efforts are clearly informed by the documented results of earlier efforts through reflection and assessment of a highly sustained, continuous process of improvement.