HAMLET — Following a community meet and greet Wednesday evening, new Richmond County Schools Superintendent Dr. Joe Ferrell announced what he calls a “Listening and Learning Tour.”
According to a press release from the system office, Ferrell sent an email to staff expressing his “eagerness” to learn about the district.
His email reads as follows:
“Hello Richmond County Schools colleagues. I am so excited to be here and am looking forward to getting to know you and the wonderful things going on in our school district.
As I wrap up my second day here, I am confident I made the right decision to work for this great school system.
I am also excited to announce and begin a Listening & Learning Tour, which will allow me to visit each school and site as well as interact with a number of school system(s) and community stakeholders over the next few weeks/months. My goal during this tour is not to evaluate or analyze current practices, but to gain knowledge of what is working well and how I can support you all as educators as you do amazing work for the students of our community. I am looking forward to visiting our classrooms, meeting you, and gathering your thoughts about how we can make Richmond County Schools an even better place to work and learn.
I will soon be working with school and site leaders to schedule a time to kick off this important process. I will begin with our schools because that is where our students are. I know that there are other visits to schools planned, but I would like my first visit to each school to be my Listening & Learning Tour visit. I look forward to those visits over the next couple of weeks.
Thank you for the remarkable work you do every day to positively impact the lives and futures of our students.”
Ferrell took the reins on Monday and met members of the community Wednesday evening at Cole Auditorium.
Ferrell has been in education for 25 years with roles ranging from teacher to principal to superintendent in Person, Guilford, Alamance and Camden counties.
