The beginning of a new school year is the best time of year to me.

There is an excitement in the air. Teachers are busy preparing their classrooms for their new students, making sure that it is an environment that will inspire and excite young minds. Students and their parents are picking up school supplies. Even with all the advances in technology, nothing says “new school year” more than a fresh pack of the classic No. 2 pencils.

Teachers, principals, students and their parents enter the new school year with high expectations. The state also has high expectations. The Mississippi Board of Education recently raised the bar for our students to be more in line with national standards. We know that Mississippi’s children are just as bright as children in any other state and will rise to meet our expectations.

They will not be alone in trying to meet these high standards. We have wonderful teachers and principals that are working very hard to accelerate student achievement and ensure that every child is reaching his or her full potential. Over the past two years, we have developed and teachers have begun implementing a new, more rigorous curriculum on all grade levels in math and reading. More rigorous assessments were developed to be in line with the curriculum. Teachers were involved in every step of the process to ensure that our expectations of children are where they should be, not too low and not too high.

As they grow up, our children will compete with children from other states and other countries for the best jobs. We want to ensure that they are fully prepared. I hope that all parents will take the opportunity of all those “back-to-school” nights to meet their children’s teachers and principals.

Parental involvement is a key element of any successful school. There are many ways that parents can help their children individually and their school to succeed. Getting to know the teachers and principals and letting them know of your willingness to help is a great beginning.

Schools must also have committed leaders to be successful. Mississippi is fortunate to have many superintendents and school boards that are models of what school leadership should look like. As school leaders, they develop and implement the policies that will ensure that teaching and learning is optimized. I hope you will let your local school board members and superintendents know that you appreciate their commitment and dedication also.

Our schools must have a great teacher in every classroom, great leaders in every school and district, a strong curriculum and assessment system, strong parental and community involvement and be designed to be relevant to students and the world they will enter after graduation. With all of these elements in place, the sky is the limit for our schools and our students.

Like you and your children, I have high expectations for the new school year. I know that great things will happen for boys and girls this year and that next year will be even better as we continue to build a stronger educational system.

I appreciate all the hard work, dedication and sacrifice that teachers, school leaders, parents and, of course, the students themselves devote to ensuring a successful school year.

I congratulate all of you and wish you the best year ever!

Dr. Hank M. BOUNDS is the state superintendent of education.