U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will launch his “Strong Start, Bright Future,” back-to-school bus tour Monday in New Mexico, spotlighting the importance of all of America’s students benefiting from high-quality education opportunities.
The kickoff event will take place at 9:00 a.m. at the Santa Fe Children’s Project Early Learning Center where Secretary Duncan will tour classes and hold a town hall on the critical importance of quality early learning programs. He will stress that children who have rich early learning experiences are better prepared to thrive in school.
From Santa Fe, Secretary Duncan will travel to Albuquerque for events beginning at 12:45 p.m. at Emerson Elementary. There, he will showcase successful turnaround efforts aimed at transforming low-performing schools into sites of educational excellence. The Education Department’s School Improvement Program has invested up to $2 million per school to improve more than 1,300 of the country’s lowest-performing schools.
At Emerson, the secretary will visit classrooms and hold a roundtable with Albuquerque district leaders, labor leaders, parents, teachers and students to discuss turnaround efforts and school improvement grants.
Day One of the bus tour will end in Polvadera, north of Socorro, where Duncan will tour Midway Elementary and hold a town hall-style meeting with parents, students, teachers, community members and stakeholders. The secretary will engage the audience in a conversation about education in rural areas, the use of technology to enhance teaching and learning, and the President's ConnectED initiative to connect 99 percent of the nation's students to high-speed Internet.
“The strength of America's economy is inextricably linked to the strength of America's education system,” said Secretary Duncan. “This year's bus tour will be an opportunity to discuss throughout the southwest how investments in education are critical to our country’s future and how state and local reforms are delivering encouraging results. Our theme of ‘Strong Start, Bright Future’ also speaks to the importance of starting the school year off right and providing all our children with high-quality preschool to prepare them ultimately for success in college and careers.”
From Socorro, the secretary’s week-long bus tour will take him to El Paso, Texas, Columbus, N.M., Tucson, Ariz., Tempe, Ariz., Phoenix, Scottsdale, Ariz., Yuma, Ariz., and Chula Vista, Calif.
Press availabilities will be held at each public event.
In addition to Secretary Duncan’s appearances, Joiselle Cunningham, a U.S. Education Department Teaching Ambassador Fellow from Washington, will visit the Native American Community Academy at 9 a.m. Monday, Sept. 9 in Albuquerque to learn about promising examples of teachers working with low-performing districts or challenging students. Later at 12:15 p.m., she'll join Secretary Duncan for his visit to Albuquerque's Emerson Elementary. Afterwards, Cunningham will discuss with Emerson’s staff their success in school turnaround efforts.
For live, up-to-the-minute updates from the road, follow the “Strong Start, Bright Future” tour on Twitter using the hashtag #edtour13, or see the department’s bus tour page. To receive media advisories, press releases, notifications about postings to the blog, and other special updates during the tour, subscribe to the department’s Strong Start, Bright Future e-mail updates.
Below are details for the trip’s first day in the Southwest.
.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will launch his “Strong Start, Bright Future,” back-to-school bus tour Monday in New Mexico, spotlighting the importance of all of America’s students benefiting from high-quality education opportunities.
The kickoff event will take place at 9:00 a.m. at the Santa Fe Children’s Project Early Learning Center where Secretary Duncan will tour classes and hold a town hall on the critical importance of quality early learning programs. He will stress that children who have rich early learning experiences are better prepared to thrive in school.
From Santa Fe, Secretary Duncan will travel to Albuquerque for events beginning at 12:45 p.m. at Emerson Elementary. There, he will showcase successful turnaround efforts aimed at transforming low-performing schools into sites of educational excellence. The Education Department’s School Improvement Program has invested up to $2 million per school to improve more than 1,300 of the country’s lowest-performing schools.
At Emerson, the secretary will visit classrooms and hold a roundtable with Albuquerque district leaders, labor leaders, parents, teachers and students to discuss turnaround efforts and school improvement grants.
Day One of the bus tour will end in Polvadera, north of Socorro, where Duncan will tour Midway Elementary and hold a town hall-style meeting with parents, students, teachers, community members and stakeholders. The secretary will engage the audience in a conversation about education in rural areas, the use of technology to enhance teaching and learning, and the President's ConnectED initiative to connect 99 percent of the nation's students to high-speed Internet.
“The strength of America's economy is inextricably linked to the strength of America's education system,” said Secretary Duncan. “This year's bus tour will be an opportunity to discuss throughout the southwest how investments in education are critical to our country’s future and how state and local reforms are delivering encouraging results. Our theme of ‘Strong Start, Bright Future’ also speaks to the importance of starting the school year off right and providing all our children with high-quality preschool to prepare them ultimately for success in college and careers.”
From Socorro, the secretary’s week-long bus tour will take him to El Paso, Texas, Columbus, N.M., Tucson, Ariz., Tempe, Ariz., Phoenix, Scottsdale, Ariz., Yuma, Ariz., and Chula Vista, Calif.
Press availabilities will be held at each public event.
In addition to Secretary Duncan’s appearances, Joiselle Cunningham, a U.S. Education Department Teaching Ambassador Fellow from Washington, will visit the Native American Community Academy at 9 a.m. Monday, Sept. 9 in Albuquerque to learn about promising examples of teachers working with low-performing districts or challenging students. Later at 12:15 p.m., she'll join Secretary Duncan for his visit to Albuquerque's Emerson Elementary. Afterwards, Cunningham will discuss with Emerson’s staff their success in school turnaround efforts.
For live, up-to-the-minute updates from the road, follow the “Strong Start, Bright Future” tour on Twitter using the hashtag #edtour13, or see the department’s bus tour page. To receive media advisories, press releases, notifications about postings to the blog, and other special updates during the tour, subscribe to the department’s Strong Start, Bright Future e-mail updates.
Below are details for the trip’s first day in the Southwest.