September 23, 2025 • 24 mins
Our Superintendent, Dr. Jared Cotton, shares his excitement for the new school year, even after 34 years in education! In this conversation, he dives into the district’s Empower 2030 strategic plan, developed through collaboration with students, teachers, and the community. The plan highlights student mental health, innovative learning, and school improvements. Dr. Cotton also discusses the new SmithTech program at Oscar Smith Middle School, a cutting-edge space for STEM learning, and his commitment to student voice, giving them a direct influence on district decisions. From new sports programs to safety initiatives, Dr. Cotton believes students should always feel heard and valued. Tune in for more insights and ways to engage with Chesapeake Public Schools!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Amplify, the Chesapeake Public
Schools podcast, your front rowseat to the stories behind our
story.
All right, this is Matt Grahamhere with with Jay Luter.
How are you, matt?
I am great we're here for a newseason of Amplified.
(00:25):
I'm excited to be a part Yep, Ireally am, and you are our new
co-host for this year.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Yes, new co-host, new job, new everything for me this
summer Gosh 20 years as aelementary school principal and
assistant principal and nowjumping into the new role as
director of communications forChesapeake Public Schools,
telling all the importantstories that are happening in
our classrooms, on our campuses,with all of our students.
(00:52):
It is a big change, but it hasbeen such a joy to be a part of
what happens here on thecommunications team.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Yeah well, I'm happy to have you.
Thank you, I'm not just sayingthat because you're my boss,
it's the facts.
I'm happy to have you.
I'm not just saying thatbecause you're my boss, it's
just, it's the facts.
I'm happy you're here.
We literally went out to lunchthe other day and you're kind of
famous.
Right, you got hit up by somepeople in the community.
Matt, let's not call it famous.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
I'm really big with the eight and under crowd.
I think is what I like to say.
It's great being able to seestudents in the community.
That's something that I alwaysenjoy, and it's nice to have a
positive reputation withfamilies so that when they are
out they're not afraid to comeup and say hello.
I love hearing what myelementary students are up to,
(01:36):
watching them grow, graduate, goon to college or career.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
It's a blessing to work in elementary school, in
schools in general, to see kidsaccomplish their dreams and to
partner with families to be apart of that Right, and in
today's episode we brought inour superintendent.
Dr Jared Cotton to talk aboutso many great things that are
happening in our school system,right.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
So many cool things that are happening and back to
school.
Season is a time of excitementfor all of us, even the
Chesapeake Public Schoolsuperintendent.
It's still a time of excitementfor him.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Yeah, he was hitting up some things about this being
what his 34th year 34 years andhe's still like excited and he
always mentions how it's a freshstart, and he was also talking
about a lot of student voices,which is nice to hear too.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Really great to hear.
You know that's something thatDr Cotton really values is he is
out of the office and meetingwith students and seeing lots of
student groups and getting lotsof feedback from them, and
often the things that he talksabout with students he puts into
action.
So this is not just lip servicefrom Dr Cotton.
He is a big proponent oflistening to students and
(02:46):
finding out what they value andthen making those things happen.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Right.
So listeners, tune in and enjoythis conversation that we have
with Dr Cotton.
You're going to love it.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
All right, well, welcome everyone to our first
Amplified podcast of the schoolyear.
Today we are super excited tohave with us Superintendent Dr
Jared Cotton.
Dr Cotton, welcome.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Hey, welcome, glad to be here.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Yeah, Tell us how was your summer.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Boy, it was good, it was busy.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Busy but good A lot of people.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Even to this day I've been doing this.
This is my 34th year.
I have people who say you're solucky you have the summers off.
I said no, they don't give usthe summers off.
We actually were extra busy inthe summer.
It's a different kind of busy.
We're busy planning andpreparing and getting ready for
the new school year.
So we've been working toprepare for a great school year.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Hopefully you did take some time for yourself like
because you do encourage ourstaff to take some time at
vacation.
Did you have a chance to do anyof that?
Speaker 3 (03:41):
Well, I did take some time, but unfortunately I
didn't go anywhere.
I did one of those staycationsthey call them, where I had a
list of things I had to doaround the house.
So I had a productive summer athome.
I had a lot of work to do toget stuff done that I never have
time to do during the year, soI did some of that.
But then again during the yearI do try to go visit our son in
(04:02):
Florida to take some tripsduring the year.
Didn't do that this summer.
It's a little too hot inFlorida for that, so I didn't do
that this summer.
And then, of course, I wassaving up because my daughter,
who just passed the bar who'smoving to Charlotte.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
That's a big deal.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
So excited for her Graduated.
We married, passed the bar andshe's going to be an attorney in
Charlotte, north Carolina.
So excited to get her moved outthere.
So that's coming up in the nextcouple of weeks.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Fantastic, Dr Cotton.
I see your eyes light up whenyou talk about your kids.
I love that.
Seeing our children become thepeople that we have our hopes
and dreams for that's such acool thing, and we have that
same feeling for our studentshere in Chesapeake schools that
they accomplish all their dreams, right?
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Yeah, there's something special about when
your child gets a career and ajob and health insurance and so
all that's good stuff.
So both of our kids are doofilyemployed and ready to start
there.
Nice, they're off the cottonpayroll as they say they are and
they're not living in the housePerfect.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Dr Cotton, you said 34 years, so tell me, do you
still get excited about back toschool?
Speaker 3 (05:18):
I do, I do, I love.
That's what I love about beingin education.
You know, every year is a freshstart.
It's a every year wherever youkind of get to do something
different, try something new,start fresh with new friends,
new goals, new experiences, andso that transcends to your adult
life.
When you're in education,wherever you start a new year,
(05:39):
you get excited.
And, of course, this year,which we'll talk about, we have
a new strategic plan which hasus excited as we move into the
new year and the future.
So, but nothing beats the firstday of school when you get to
see the students.
I had the chance to go toCrestwood Elementary for their
brand new opening, for the brandnew school, which is kind of
bittersweet for me because Iattended Crestwood when I was in
(05:59):
fifth grade and of course, Itaught at Crestwood and I taught
fifth grade in the sameclassroom where I was a student
and now they're in the brand newbuilding and I got to go there
to see the students arrive thefirst day and how excited they
were and how they were lookingaround at their new building and
how much joy they had on theirfaces as they walked.
And the parents were excitedtoo.
I saw the parents just lookingaround and saying this is just
(06:20):
amazing.
Matter of fact, I met with aPTA yesterday one of the parents
there and she said she's afraidto touch anything because the
building is so beautiful, butwe're excited to start the new
year every year.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Yeah, I mean that building looks amazing, A lot of
technology, innovative spaces.
But you mentioned the Empower,your strategic plan, the
strategic plan.
Can you share with us what thatis all about?
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Well, first of all, not my strategic plan our
strategic plan.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Can you share with us what that is all about?
Well, first of all, not mystrategic plan our strategic
plan.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
So we did spend some time.
You know, we just wrapped upEmpower 2025, which you know.
When we planned that out, wethought, wow, that's so far in
the future.
But we've been through a lotduring that period of time.
You know, we launched Empower2025 right before COVID hit and
then, of course, we had toreally work through all of that.
Not just us, but our parents,our community we all had those
(07:11):
challenges to work through.
But what was nice to see is howmuch we accomplished at the end
of those five years.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Even through COVID, dr Cotton.
Even through COVID, I thinkChesapeake Schools really
rallied and was able toaccomplish so many of the goals
in Empower 2025.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
You're right.
I mean we got one-to-onetechnology.
We thought that would take usseveral years to get there.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
It took us five minutes.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
You're right, I'd say , we had a five-year plan and it
turned into five months orthree months in that case.
But then we also added theinteractive panels to every
classroom.
We really leveraged our onlinelearning work and platform.
We really beefed that up withCBA, our Chesapeake Virtual
Academy.
(07:51):
That's going really well.
And then, of course, welaunched into our Empowered 2030
, which was a continuation ofwhat we had started, and so what
we did was we went back and wereinvested in what our goals and
our mission was in the previousplan and then we added to it,
we nuanced it and, for example,we did add some more emphasis on
(08:13):
mental health student mentalhealth because we know that's a
challenge for us.
Moving forward, we reinvestedin our facilities and our
operations.
Of course, at the heart of itall is always teaching and
learning our learners, whichwe're making sure that we create
innovative, exciting learningopportunities and experiences
for our students each and everyday.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Dr Cotton, one thing that really resonates with me in
the new Empower 2030 is howwe're changing the language
around our strategic plan andreally using that word our in
each area.
So it helps all of ourstakeholders to take more
ownership in the strategic plan.
Can you talk a little bit abouthow families and community
members and students can getinvolved in internalizing the
(08:57):
vision of Empower 2030?
Speaker 3 (08:59):
Well, actually, we encourage them to be involved
from the beginning, which Iappreciate.
We did a lot of focus groupsand we did a lot of.
Of course, you may know theperson, matt, who was involved
in that?
Speaker 1 (09:09):
I do, I do.
She was heavily involved, yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
Dr Fallon Graham who was leading a lot of that work,
and we pulled focus groupstogether for community members,
teachers, parents.
So we had lots of participationand we did a few here in this
building where members of thecommunity came out, where we
looked at where we've come andwhere we need to go.
So they were already investedearly on.
But a strategic plan ismeaningless if it's not a part
(09:32):
of what you do each and everyday.
You know so many strategicplans, you spend months working
on it.
Then you put it on the shelf.
Definitely not the case here.
We talk about the planconstantly.
We talk about how the planaligns with our budget
priorities, our goals for ourschool division.
We highlight examples of ourstrategic plan in action at our
school board meetings during thesuperintendent spotlight.
(09:54):
We like to highlight that aswell no-transcript basically
(10:27):
everything that we do.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
It all kind of comes back to that Now, along with
Empower, our new strategic plan.
What else are you excited forabout this school year?
Speaker 3 (10:37):
Well, there's so many things, but the one that's
really on my mind right now isbecause it just happened, we had
the ribbon cutting forSmithTech and Oscar Smith.
Middle School, so that wassomething that we've really been
working on and talking aboutfor the last several years.
And we did receive fundingthrough the state for a lab
school and I want to say we'reprobably, if not the only, we're
(10:59):
one of the only middle schoollab school programs in Virginia
and Smith Tech is a computerscience innovation and design
program for middle schoolers atOscar Smith Middle.
I'm so excited about whatthey're in for.
The students are excited, dr.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
Cotton.
The students were hyped for theribbon cutting weren't they?
They were very, very yeah, theywere so excited, and rightfully
so there's so many innovative,cool things that are coming to
their school that they reallyget to be a part of and really
dig into.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
And they'd only been in school for two weeks.
They already had some video ofthem working with the drones and
working with some of theequipment and the STEM lab.
They're most I wouldn't saythey're most excited about it,
but several of them are excitedabout the production studio.
They have a music studio that weput into place so that they can
create their own music, and sothe students seem to be very
(11:48):
excited and and that's just asmall example of really what we
want to create everywhere wewant students to be excited
about coming to school and theexcitement from those students
on Friday.
You know that they're, thatthey're really looking forward
to learning and I love theirshirts I don't know if you
caught their shirts.
It's awesome.
Yeah, they said they'reinnovators, they're creators,
(12:11):
they're the beginning of theprogram.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
We are Smith Tech.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
It's pretty cool, yeah, and you said it best, Dr
Cotton, when you were speaking.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
I think that middle schoolers are in that season
where they're trying to kind offind themselves Right and and
this is a great chance for themto explore all those new
opportunities, big things thatI'm excited about this year.
There's so many other thingsgoing on.
Obviously, our teaching andlearning team has worked all
summer to prepare and workedwith teachers all summer to
create engaging learningexperiences for our students.
(12:47):
One of the things we want tomake sure is our students have
authentic, exciting learningopportunities.
Learning should be fun, notboring.
That's been a focus of ours forthe last several years
student-centered learning sothat our students are actively
engaged.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
I could go on for two days so you probably want to
get to your next question.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Well, I was wondering this, as the start of the year
is here.
If there was a message that youcould send directly to the
students and the families, whatwould that be?
Speaker 3 (13:16):
Well, I would say we're here to help you be
successful.
That's our goal, that's why wecome to work every day, because
we want to ensure their success.
And really our parents need tobe our partners and we value our
parents as partners.
So work with us, help us creategreat experiences.
You know, one of the things Iappreciate is I've had a couple
parents come up to me.
(13:36):
I actually had a grandparentcome up to me at church, had a
couple of parents come up to me.
I actually had a grandparentcome up to me at church just
this past weekend to thank mefor what a great job the staff
members have done for hergrandchild at one of our schools
, and to me that's so powerful.
And I got a nice email from aparent recently talking about
what a great experience herchild has already had.
And I don't get a lot of those,but I appreciate that because
(14:00):
we like to hear good things tooand we like to celebrate the
great things our staff membersare doing.
But that just goes to tell youthat that's why we're here every
day.
We want children to besuccessful.
We're here to support them.
What I would say to parents iswork with us, let's work
together.
We're a team and let's supportyour child, because they need as
many adults and advocates ontheir team, helping them to be
(14:21):
successful.
And for students, I would saywork hard, set goals for
yourself, take some risks andtry new things.
At school, there's clubs,there's opportunities.
We've really invested inexpanding opportunities,
especially at middle school.
We were just talking aboutmiddle school earlier.
We just added our activitycoordinators full time to work
with our students and we callthem activity coordinators
(14:42):
because it's not just aboutsports.
There are lots of activitiesthat are available to our middle
schoolers as well.
So we're investing in helpingour students have great
experiences at school and wewant students to take advantage
of those opportunities.
And we want students to takeadvantage of those opportunities
.
We don't want students to nottake advantage of those great
opportunities and if we don'toffer something we should offer,
(15:03):
we want to hear about it.
I had a student email me justthe other day about we need a
new course, about something thatshe wants to study in the
future, and we value thatfeedback because we're always
trying to create relevantlearning opportunities for our
students.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Families.
Don't forget that the onlinestudent verification process is
due by September 30th and ourfamily and community engagement
team is hosting several upcomingevents, including our Community
Resource Fair on October 2ndand a webinar on our specialized
programs and academies onOctober 14th.
Also, if you or someone youmight know is interested in
(15:40):
joining our team, don't miss ourone-stop job fair on October
8th at the School AdministrationBuilding from 11 am to 2 pm.
Visit cpschoolscom for all thedetails.
And now let's get back to ourconversation with Superintendent
Dr Jared Cotton.
I can tell you're reallyexcited for the school year.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Yeah, we're always excited.
We're looking forward to havinga great year and we're off to a
great start, which is alwaysgood.
I know that we have some coolthings happening right now.
We're dabbling into AIartificial intelligence looking
at ways that we can use it forgood, not evil right.
To help our students besuccessful and I know we did
some piloting last year andwe're offering some resources
(16:25):
for our students this year.
We're also piloting ourinstructional model, that
teaching and learning frameworkthat students have helped us
work on last year.
We also did lots of focusgroups with our students last
year to talk about safety andways that we can improve safety
in our schools.
A lot of that information hashelped guide us through our work
(16:46):
as we move into this year.
There's a lot going on that'smoving forward, but ultimately
all the plans are wonderful, buthow it all comes together is
what really matters.
So what I've been encouraged byis the good feedback I've
received from families at thebeginning of this year that we
put some things in place lastyear to make this year's opening
smoother.
And that's our goal ineducation.
(17:08):
That's our goal as anorganization is to always
improve, to always do better.
Remember when you talked aboutwhat I like about the new year
fresh start, new year, new timeto try new things and make
things better.
And what I appreciate is wehave let's Talk, which is our
platform that's available to ourfamilies to provide comments,
(17:29):
questions or suggestions.
We don't get a lot ofcompliments, but we like those
too, but you can, you cantotally compliment someone in
let's Talk.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
There is a brag on the bus driver ready for you in
there, which is great weappreciate it.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
By the way, that's where we get a lot of our
compliments is bus driversbecause, we have so many great
bus drivers who do such a goodjob and our parents like to
point that out, so we alwayswould encourage the compliments.
But we also have suggestionsand comments and what's
important for our families toknow is we review those and we
respond to those.
We have a safety report linethat we have as well, where we
(18:05):
get a lot of our informationfrom our students and families
and what we appreciate is ourfamilies tell us things and even
if they're not sure that it'simportant for us to know, it's
better to err on the side ofcaution and just let us know so
that we can check into thosethings.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Dr Cotton, one thing that you highlighted a minute
ago is you were talking aboutgetting feedback from your
students right and I think thatis a cornerstone with the way
that you lead is that you alwayswant to hear student voices.
I think that in the world oftechnology, we talk about making
sure that we are consulting theend user right, and in the work
that we do, the students areour end users right.
(18:43):
Can you talk about a little bitmore about how you include
student voices in all the workthat you do?
Speaker 3 (18:48):
Yeah, I always say our students are our most
important customers.
They're why we're here, they'rethe reason we exist.
So I do try to get studentvoice quite often.
I mentioned the focus groupsthat our research team worked on
last year.
They met with student groupsthroughout all of last year.
I meet with the studentleadership, the SCA, our student
(19:08):
council.
I meet with them every monthwhere we talk about areas of
concern or ways that we canimprove, and I've also done the
student voices tour severaltimes where I go around to
schools and what I like aboutthat is I get a random selection
of students from each school.
Some of them may not havevolunteered to be on that
they're not all SCA presidentsright.
(19:29):
You're right.
So they came.
And then one thing's for sureif you don't want to know, don't
ask, because the students willtell you the good, the bad and
ugly.
So they'll tell you all of it.
So you really you can't getyour feelings hurt because
they'll tell you what they think.
But what I value about that somuch is so much of what they've
told me over the years have comeinto play.
(19:50):
I give you a good example.
I met with middle schoolers andthey really wanted baseball and
soccer at the middle schoollevel and within a couple of
years we've added those to ourmiddle school sports schedule,
which was huge.
So when I went and met withseveral groups that kept coming
up and I said, well, I think Ican do something about that.
And I said, so, let's see if wecan plan on it.
(20:11):
And then my team was so excitedabout it that we did it in one
year.
We probably should have donestretched it out a little bit,
but we did it right away.
So that's a perfect example ofthat.
I'll give you another example.
I was talking to the SCA aboutsafety initiatives and how to
report concerns in their school.
I was talking to them about thereport line.
And then they're funny.
(20:33):
They did a quick Instagramsurvey while I was talking to
find out who else knew about thereport line and then reported
back to me.
Nobody knew.
So I said, well, that's aconcern, we need to do a better
job of getting the word out.
So what I did with the SCA is Isaid I need you to help me tell
your colleagues at school andyour friends and your peers
about ways to report anonymously.
(20:55):
That's important.
They wanted to be able toreport it anonymously as well,
so that led to us working on aplan to do that.
So, and then, on top of that, Iknow that you probably know
about the Teen Summit that wedo- Correct.
This year we've been doing thatfor a few years Our SCA group
actually plans and they presentat the Teen Summit.
So then that gets our studentsinvolved in sharing with other
(21:17):
students and also parents, andthere's something special about
seeing parents at the TeenSummit listening to high
schoolers about balancing theirtime schedule with all their
responsibilities at school andnote-taking skill.
I mean.
The number of topics that theydo is pretty amazing.
So, yes, I would say you haveto have students involved in
(21:38):
what you do and, unfortunately,a lot of times we don't listen
directly to students, andthey're the most important
people in the school division,and so that's how we should
operate day to day.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Yeah, my daughter has a knack for telling me exactly
how she feels and, like you said, sometimes don't ask the
question unless you want to knowthe truth.
She's going to tell me thetruth.
There's no doubt about that.
But I love it and it's thefeedback that you take and you
take in and we move forward withthat and try to make things
better, whatever that is.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
And it's cheap.
All I do is bring donuts andthey love.
They'll eat the donuts and tellme what they think.
But also we have teacher groupsI meet with as well, and I
think that that's important.
Also, I meet with teachers ofthe year and previous teachers
of the year and they providefeedback as well.
We also do surveys for studentsand staff.
(22:30):
Every other year we do theEmpower survey, where we gather
feedback.
But what I'm most proud of iswhen we ask the question would
you recommend a really goodfriend to come to work for
Chesapeake Public Schools?
And we get very high agreementon that item, which I'm proud of
, because if you didn't enjoyworking for this school division
(22:50):
, you wouldn't want a friend ofyours to come work here.
So to me that's a goodindication that we're doing good
things.
We can always do better and, asI said earlier, we're always
trying to do better each andevery day.
But it's nice to know that ourstaff members are proud to work
for Chesapeake Public Schools.
Of course, I'm biased, I agree.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
We all are.
We all are.
Dr Cotton, thanks for being apart of our first episode of
Amplified for the 25-26 schoolyear.
We're thrilled to be able tospend a few minutes with you and
reflect a little bit on wherewe've been and where we're going
.
So, guys, here's to a greatschool year.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
Yeah, thank you for coming in again, as always.
Speaker 3 (23:30):
Always happy to do it .
It's my.
It's the third year, Third year.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
You're the third year and you're the guest we keep
bringing back.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
There you go, you're doing it right.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
No, but thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Same time next year.
Right Same time next year.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Thank you, Dr.
Speaker 3 (23:43):
Cotton.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
We hope you enjoyed the stories behind our story on
this episode of Amplified theChesapeake Public Schools
podcast.
Connect with us at cpschoolscom.
Forward slash Amplified and besure to subscribe or follow us
wherever you get your podcasts.
You're listening to Amplify, the Chesapeake Public
Schools podcast, your front rowseat to the stories behind our
story.
All right, this is Matt Grahamhere with with Jay Luter.
How are you, matt?
I am great we're here for a newseason of Amplified.
(00:25):
I'm excited to be a part Yep, Ireally am, and you are our new
co-host for this year.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Yes, new co-host, new job, new everything for me this
summer Gosh 20 years as aelementary school principal and
assistant principal and nowjumping into the new role as
director of communications forChesapeake Public Schools,
telling all the importantstories that are happening in
our classrooms, on our campuses,with all of our students.
(00:52):
It is a big change, but it hasbeen such a joy to be a part of
what happens here on thecommunications team.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Yeah well, I'm happy to have you.
Thank you, I'm not just sayingthat because you're my boss,
it's the facts.
I'm happy to have you.
I'm not just saying thatbecause you're my boss, it's
just, it's the facts.
I'm happy you're here.
We literally went out to lunchthe other day and you're kind of
famous.
Right, you got hit up by somepeople in the community.
Matt, let's not call it famous.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
I'm really big with the eight and under crowd.
I think is what I like to say.
It's great being able to seestudents in the community.
That's something that I alwaysenjoy, and it's nice to have a
positive reputation withfamilies so that when they are
out they're not afraid to comeup and say hello.
I love hearing what myelementary students are up to,
(01:36):
watching them grow, graduate, goon to college or career.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
It's a blessing to work in elementary school, in
schools in general, to see kidsaccomplish their dreams and to
partner with families to be apart of that Right, and in
today's episode we brought inour superintendent.
Dr Jared Cotton to talk aboutso many great things that are
happening in our school system,right.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
So many cool things that are happening and back to
school.
Season is a time of excitementfor all of us, even the
Chesapeake Public Schoolsuperintendent.
It's still a time of excitementfor him.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Yeah, he was hitting up some things about this being
what his 34th year 34 years andhe's still like excited and he
always mentions how it's a freshstart, and he was also talking
about a lot of student voices,which is nice to hear too.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Really great to hear.
You know that's something thatDr Cotton really values is he is
out of the office and meetingwith students and seeing lots of
student groups and getting lotsof feedback from them, and
often the things that he talksabout with students he puts into
action.
So this is not just lip servicefrom Dr Cotton.
He is a big proponent oflistening to students and
(02:46):
finding out what they value andthen making those things happen.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Right.
So listeners, tune in and enjoythis conversation that we have
with Dr Cotton.
You're going to love it.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
All right, well, welcome everyone to our first
Amplified podcast of the schoolyear.
Today we are super excited tohave with us Superintendent Dr
Jared Cotton.
Dr Cotton, welcome.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Hey, welcome, glad to be here.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Yeah, Tell us how was your summer.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Boy, it was good, it was busy.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Busy but good A lot of people.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Even to this day I've been doing this.
This is my 34th year.
I have people who say you're solucky you have the summers off.
I said no, they don't give usthe summers off.
We actually were extra busy inthe summer.
It's a different kind of busy.
We're busy planning andpreparing and getting ready for
the new school year.
So we've been working toprepare for a great school year.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Hopefully you did take some time for yourself like
because you do encourage ourstaff to take some time at
vacation.
Did you have a chance to do anyof that?
Speaker 3 (03:41):
Well, I did take some time, but unfortunately I
didn't go anywhere.
I did one of those staycationsthey call them, where I had a
list of things I had to doaround the house.
So I had a productive summer athome.
I had a lot of work to do toget stuff done that I never have
time to do during the year, soI did some of that.
But then again during the yearI do try to go visit our son in
(04:02):
Florida to take some tripsduring the year.
Didn't do that this summer.
It's a little too hot inFlorida for that, so I didn't do
that this summer.
And then, of course, I wassaving up because my daughter,
who just passed the bar who'smoving to Charlotte.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
That's a big deal.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
So excited for her Graduated.
We married, passed the bar andshe's going to be an attorney in
Charlotte, north Carolina.
So excited to get her moved outthere.
So that's coming up in the nextcouple of weeks.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Fantastic, Dr Cotton.
I see your eyes light up whenyou talk about your kids.
I love that.
Seeing our children become thepeople that we have our hopes
and dreams for that's such acool thing, and we have that
same feeling for our studentshere in Chesapeake schools that
they accomplish all their dreams, right?
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Yeah, there's something special about when
your child gets a career and ajob and health insurance and so
all that's good stuff.
So both of our kids are doofilyemployed and ready to start
there.
Nice, they're off the cottonpayroll as they say they are and
they're not living in the housePerfect.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Dr Cotton, you said 34 years, so tell me, do you
still get excited about back toschool?
Speaker 3 (05:18):
I do, I do, I love.
That's what I love about beingin education.
You know, every year is a freshstart.
It's a every year wherever youkind of get to do something
different, try something new,start fresh with new friends,
new goals, new experiences, andso that transcends to your adult
life.
When you're in education,wherever you start a new year,
(05:39):
you get excited.
And, of course, this year,which we'll talk about, we have
a new strategic plan which hasus excited as we move into the
new year and the future.
So, but nothing beats the firstday of school when you get to
see the students.
I had the chance to go toCrestwood Elementary for their
brand new opening, for the brandnew school, which is kind of
bittersweet for me because Iattended Crestwood when I was in
(05:59):
fifth grade and of course, Itaught at Crestwood and I taught
fifth grade in the sameclassroom where I was a student
and now they're in the brand newbuilding and I got to go there
to see the students arrive thefirst day and how excited they
were and how they were lookingaround at their new building and
how much joy they had on theirfaces as they walked.
And the parents were excitedtoo.
I saw the parents just lookingaround and saying this is just
(06:20):
amazing.
Matter of fact, I met with aPTA yesterday one of the parents
there and she said she's afraidto touch anything because the
building is so beautiful, butwe're excited to start the new
year every year.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Yeah, I mean that building looks amazing, A lot of
technology, innovative spaces.
But you mentioned the Empower,your strategic plan, the
strategic plan.
Can you share with us what thatis all about?
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Well, first of all, not my strategic plan our
strategic plan.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Can you share with us what that is all about?
Well, first of all, not mystrategic plan our strategic
plan.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
So we did spend some time.
You know, we just wrapped upEmpower 2025, which you know.
When we planned that out, wethought, wow, that's so far in
the future.
But we've been through a lotduring that period of time.
You know, we launched Empower2025 right before COVID hit and
then, of course, we had toreally work through all of that.
Not just us, but our parents,our community we all had those
(07:11):
challenges to work through.
But what was nice to see is howmuch we accomplished at the end
of those five years.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Even through COVID, dr Cotton.
Even through COVID, I thinkChesapeake Schools really
rallied and was able toaccomplish so many of the goals
in Empower 2025.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
You're right.
I mean we got one-to-onetechnology.
We thought that would take usseveral years to get there.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
It took us five minutes.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
You're right, I'd say , we had a five-year plan and it
turned into five months orthree months in that case.
But then we also added theinteractive panels to every
classroom.
We really leveraged our onlinelearning work and platform.
We really beefed that up withCBA, our Chesapeake Virtual
Academy.
(07:51):
That's going really well.
And then, of course, welaunched into our Empowered 2030
, which was a continuation ofwhat we had started, and so what
we did was we went back and wereinvested in what our goals and
our mission was in the previousplan and then we added to it,
we nuanced it and, for example,we did add some more emphasis on
(08:13):
mental health student mentalhealth because we know that's a
challenge for us.
Moving forward, we reinvestedin our facilities and our
operations.
Of course, at the heart of itall is always teaching and
learning our learners, whichwe're making sure that we create
innovative, exciting learningopportunities and experiences
for our students each and everyday.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Dr Cotton, one thing that really resonates with me in
the new Empower 2030 is howwe're changing the language
around our strategic plan andreally using that word our in
each area.
So it helps all of ourstakeholders to take more
ownership in the strategic plan.
Can you talk a little bit abouthow families and community
members and students can getinvolved in internalizing the
(08:57):
vision of Empower 2030?
Speaker 3 (08:59):
Well, actually, we encourage them to be involved
from the beginning, which Iappreciate.
We did a lot of focus groupsand we did a lot of.
Of course, you may know theperson, matt, who was involved
in that?
Speaker 1 (09:09):
I do, I do.
She was heavily involved, yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
Dr Fallon Graham who was leading a lot of that work,
and we pulled focus groupstogether for community members,
teachers, parents.
So we had lots of participationand we did a few here in this
building where members of thecommunity came out, where we
looked at where we've come andwhere we need to go.
So they were already investedearly on.
But a strategic plan ismeaningless if it's not a part
(09:32):
of what you do each and everyday.
You know so many strategicplans, you spend months working
on it.
Then you put it on the shelf.
Definitely not the case here.
We talk about the planconstantly.
We talk about how the planaligns with our budget
priorities, our goals for ourschool division.
We highlight examples of ourstrategic plan in action at our
school board meetings during thesuperintendent spotlight.
(09:54):
We like to highlight that aswell no-transcript basically
(10:27):
everything that we do.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
It all kind of comes back to that Now, along with
Empower, our new strategic plan.
What else are you excited forabout this school year?
Speaker 3 (10:37):
Well, there's so many things, but the one that's
really on my mind right now isbecause it just happened, we had
the ribbon cutting forSmithTech and Oscar Smith.
Middle School, so that wassomething that we've really been
working on and talking aboutfor the last several years.
And we did receive fundingthrough the state for a lab
school and I want to say we'reprobably, if not the only, we're
(10:59):
one of the only middle schoollab school programs in Virginia
and Smith Tech is a computerscience innovation and design
program for middle schoolers atOscar Smith Middle.
I'm so excited about whatthey're in for.
The students are excited, dr.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
Cotton.
The students were hyped for theribbon cutting weren't they?
They were very, very yeah, theywere so excited, and rightfully
so there's so many innovative,cool things that are coming to
their school that they reallyget to be a part of and really
dig into.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
And they'd only been in school for two weeks.
They already had some video ofthem working with the drones and
working with some of theequipment and the STEM lab.
They're most I wouldn't saythey're most excited about it,
but several of them are excitedabout the production studio.
They have a music studio that weput into place so that they can
create their own music, and sothe students seem to be very
(11:48):
excited and and that's just asmall example of really what we
want to create everywhere wewant students to be excited
about coming to school and theexcitement from those students
on Friday.
You know that they're, thatthey're really looking forward
to learning and I love theirshirts I don't know if you
caught their shirts.
It's awesome.
Yeah, they said they'reinnovators, they're creators,
(12:11):
they're the beginning of theprogram.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
We are Smith Tech.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
It's pretty cool, yeah, and you said it best, Dr
Cotton, when you were speaking.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
I think that middle schoolers are in that season
where they're trying to kind offind themselves Right and and
this is a great chance for themto explore all those new
opportunities, big things thatI'm excited about this year.
There's so many other thingsgoing on.
Obviously, our teaching andlearning team has worked all
summer to prepare and workedwith teachers all summer to
create engaging learningexperiences for our students.
(12:47):
One of the things we want tomake sure is our students have
authentic, exciting learningopportunities.
Learning should be fun, notboring.
That's been a focus of ours forthe last several years
student-centered learning sothat our students are actively
engaged.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
I could go on for two days so you probably want to
get to your next question.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Well, I was wondering this, as the start of the year
is here.
If there was a message that youcould send directly to the
students and the families, whatwould that be?
Speaker 3 (13:16):
Well, I would say we're here to help you be
successful.
That's our goal, that's why wecome to work every day, because
we want to ensure their success.
And really our parents need tobe our partners and we value our
parents as partners.
So work with us, help us creategreat experiences.
You know, one of the things Iappreciate is I've had a couple
parents come up to me.
(13:36):
I actually had a grandparentcome up to me at church, had a
couple of parents come up to me.
I actually had a grandparentcome up to me at church just
this past weekend to thank mefor what a great job the staff
members have done for hergrandchild at one of our schools
, and to me that's so powerful.
And I got a nice email from aparent recently talking about
what a great experience herchild has already had.
And I don't get a lot of those,but I appreciate that because
(14:00):
we like to hear good things tooand we like to celebrate the
great things our staff membersare doing.
But that just goes to tell youthat that's why we're here every
day.
We want children to besuccessful.
We're here to support them.
What I would say to parents iswork with us, let's work
together.
We're a team and let's supportyour child, because they need as
many adults and advocates ontheir team, helping them to be
(14:21):
successful.
And for students, I would saywork hard, set goals for
yourself, take some risks andtry new things.
At school, there's clubs,there's opportunities.
We've really invested inexpanding opportunities,
especially at middle school.
We were just talking aboutmiddle school earlier.
We just added our activitycoordinators full time to work
with our students and we callthem activity coordinators
(14:42):
because it's not just aboutsports.
There are lots of activitiesthat are available to our middle
schoolers as well.
So we're investing in helpingour students have great
experiences at school and wewant students to take advantage
of those opportunities.
And we want students to takeadvantage of those opportunities
.
We don't want students to nottake advantage of those great
opportunities and if we don'toffer something we should offer,
(15:03):
we want to hear about it.
I had a student email me justthe other day about we need a
new course, about something thatshe wants to study in the
future, and we value thatfeedback because we're always
trying to create relevantlearning opportunities for our
students.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Families.
Don't forget that the onlinestudent verification process is
due by September 30th and ourfamily and community engagement
team is hosting several upcomingevents, including our Community
Resource Fair on October 2ndand a webinar on our specialized
programs and academies onOctober 14th.
Also, if you or someone youmight know is interested in
(15:40):
joining our team, don't miss ourone-stop job fair on October
8th at the School AdministrationBuilding from 11 am to 2 pm.
Visit cpschoolscom for all thedetails.
And now let's get back to ourconversation with Superintendent
Dr Jared Cotton.
I can tell you're reallyexcited for the school year.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Yeah, we're always excited.
We're looking forward to havinga great year and we're off to a
great start, which is alwaysgood.
I know that we have some coolthings happening right now.
We're dabbling into AIartificial intelligence looking
at ways that we can use it forgood, not evil right.
To help our students besuccessful and I know we did
some piloting last year andwe're offering some resources
(16:25):
for our students this year.
We're also piloting ourinstructional model, that
teaching and learning frameworkthat students have helped us
work on last year.
We also did lots of focusgroups with our students last
year to talk about safety andways that we can improve safety
in our schools.
A lot of that information hashelped guide us through our work
(16:46):
as we move into this year.
There's a lot going on that'smoving forward, but ultimately
all the plans are wonderful, buthow it all comes together is
what really matters.
So what I've been encouraged byis the good feedback I've
received from families at thebeginning of this year that we
put some things in place lastyear to make this year's opening
smoother.
And that's our goal ineducation.
(17:08):
That's our goal as anorganization is to always
improve, to always do better.
Remember when you talked aboutwhat I like about the new year
fresh start, new year, new timeto try new things and make
things better.
And what I appreciate is wehave let's Talk, which is our
platform that's available to ourfamilies to provide comments,
(17:29):
questions or suggestions.
We don't get a lot ofcompliments, but we like those
too, but you can, you cantotally compliment someone in
let's Talk.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
There is a brag on the bus driver ready for you in
there, which is great weappreciate it.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
By the way, that's where we get a lot of our
compliments is bus driversbecause, we have so many great
bus drivers who do such a goodjob and our parents like to
point that out, so we alwayswould encourage the compliments.
But we also have suggestionsand comments and what's
important for our families toknow is we review those and we
respond to those.
We have a safety report linethat we have as well, where we
(18:05):
get a lot of our informationfrom our students and families
and what we appreciate is ourfamilies tell us things and even
if they're not sure that it'simportant for us to know, it's
better to err on the side ofcaution and just let us know so
that we can check into thosethings.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Dr Cotton, one thing that you highlighted a minute
ago is you were talking aboutgetting feedback from your
students right and I think thatis a cornerstone with the way
that you lead is that you alwayswant to hear student voices.
I think that in the world oftechnology, we talk about making
sure that we are consulting theend user right, and in the work
that we do, the students areour end users right.
(18:43):
Can you talk about a little bitmore about how you include
student voices in all the workthat you do?
Speaker 3 (18:48):
Yeah, I always say our students are our most
important customers.
They're why we're here, they'rethe reason we exist.
So I do try to get studentvoice quite often.
I mentioned the focus groupsthat our research team worked on
last year.
They met with student groupsthroughout all of last year.
I meet with the studentleadership, the SCA, our student
(19:08):
council.
I meet with them every monthwhere we talk about areas of
concern or ways that we canimprove, and I've also done the
student voices tour severaltimes where I go around to
schools and what I like aboutthat is I get a random selection
of students from each school.
Some of them may not havevolunteered to be on that
they're not all SCA presidentsright.
(19:29):
You're right.
So they came.
And then one thing's for sureif you don't want to know, don't
ask, because the students willtell you the good, the bad and
ugly.
So they'll tell you all of it.
So you really you can't getyour feelings hurt because
they'll tell you what they think.
But what I value about that somuch is so much of what they've
told me over the years have comeinto play.
(19:50):
I give you a good example.
I met with middle schoolers andthey really wanted baseball and
soccer at the middle schoollevel and within a couple of
years we've added those to ourmiddle school sports schedule,
which was huge.
So when I went and met withseveral groups that kept coming
up and I said, well, I think Ican do something about that.
And I said, so, let's see if wecan plan on it.
(20:11):
And then my team was so excitedabout it that we did it in one
year.
We probably should have donestretched it out a little bit,
but we did it right away.
So that's a perfect example ofthat.
I'll give you another example.
I was talking to the SCA aboutsafety initiatives and how to
report concerns in their school.
I was talking to them about thereport line.
And then they're funny.
(20:33):
They did a quick Instagramsurvey while I was talking to
find out who else knew about thereport line and then reported
back to me.
Nobody knew.
So I said, well, that's aconcern, we need to do a better
job of getting the word out.
So what I did with the SCA is Isaid I need you to help me tell
your colleagues at school andyour friends and your peers
about ways to report anonymously.
(20:55):
That's important.
They wanted to be able toreport it anonymously as well,
so that led to us working on aplan to do that.
So, and then, on top of that, Iknow that you probably know
about the Teen Summit that wedo- Correct.
This year we've been doing thatfor a few years Our SCA group
actually plans and they presentat the Teen Summit.
So then that gets our studentsinvolved in sharing with other
(21:17):
students and also parents, andthere's something special about
seeing parents at the TeenSummit listening to high
schoolers about balancing theirtime schedule with all their
responsibilities at school andnote-taking skill.
I mean.
The number of topics that theydo is pretty amazing.
So, yes, I would say you haveto have students involved in
(21:38):
what you do and, unfortunately,a lot of times we don't listen
directly to students, andthey're the most important
people in the school division,and so that's how we should
operate day to day.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Yeah, my daughter has a knack for telling me exactly
how she feels and, like you said, sometimes don't ask the
question unless you want to knowthe truth.
She's going to tell me thetruth.
There's no doubt about that.
But I love it and it's thefeedback that you take and you
take in and we move forward withthat and try to make things
better, whatever that is.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
And it's cheap.
All I do is bring donuts andthey love.
They'll eat the donuts and tellme what they think.
But also we have teacher groupsI meet with as well, and I
think that that's important.
Also, I meet with teachers ofthe year and previous teachers
of the year and they providefeedback as well.
We also do surveys for studentsand staff.
(22:30):
Every other year we do theEmpower survey, where we gather
feedback.
But what I'm most proud of iswhen we ask the question would
you recommend a really goodfriend to come to work for
Chesapeake Public Schools?
And we get very high agreementon that item, which I'm proud of
, because if you didn't enjoyworking for this school division
(22:50):
, you wouldn't want a friend ofyours to come work here.
So to me that's a goodindication that we're doing good
things.
We can always do better and, asI said earlier, we're always
trying to do better each andevery day.
But it's nice to know that ourstaff members are proud to work
for Chesapeake Public Schools.
Of course, I'm biased, I agree.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
We all are.
We all are.
Dr Cotton, thanks for being apart of our first episode of
Amplified for the 25-26 schoolyear.
We're thrilled to be able tospend a few minutes with you and
reflect a little bit on wherewe've been and where we're going
.
So, guys, here's to a greatschool year.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
Yeah, thank you for coming in again, as always.
Speaker 3 (23:30):
Always happy to do it .
It's my.
It's the third year, Third year.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
You're the third year and you're the guest we keep
bringing back.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
There you go, you're doing it right.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
No, but thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Same time next year.
Right Same time next year.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Thank you, Dr.
Speaker 3 (23:43):
Cotton.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
We hope you enjoyed the stories behind our story on
this episode of Amplified theChesapeake Public Schools
podcast.
Connect with us at cpschoolscom.
Forward slash Amplified and besure to subscribe or follow us
wherever you get your podcasts.
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