The launch of the school year may mean more to Superintendent Angelica Ramsey than almost anyone else. She says she has a huge job ahead.
"A sense of urgency we have but we also are going to do it with joy. We need to make sure that our schools are places where children want to come to increase our attendance rate tenants, right, not because of dollars attendance rate, because if you're not in your seat, you're not learning," said Ramsey.
Students in many Fort Worth ISD schools have struggled over the years to hit academic levels. Reading has been a struggle for the district which has many students who don't speak English as their first language and other schools where some say behavior and buy-in have hampered learning. So how will she fix it?
"This is the worst interview ever because I'm gonna stay tuned," said Ramsey.
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She's a constant joker, who believes in laughter and relationships as a way to enact change.
Ramsey then went on and on talking about making it easier to attend the district's gold seal programs in specialized learning, supporting teachers more than ever.
She vows not to sit in her office and make edicts on fixing everything, but to empower teachers to identify what works for each student.
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"These are probably things I shouldn't say out loud. But I wouldn't worry so much, it has been on the mark the first year or two years because you're building the foundation. I want to see growth. If we're meeting every child where they're at, and we're growing them, we're succeeding," she said.
Ramsey wants strong connections with families and family events at least once a month to help parents see and know what they're doing in the classroom and academic growth.
"We know that we're the heartbeat of every single community, we know that we also feel a great sense of responsibility for it. So we have the people in place that understand change is necessary, change is messy. But change when you have our students at the forefront, and for them, is going to be so much fun," she said.
