Dear Trailblazer Family,

How does one begin to say good-bye?  Those are words that I did not imagine I would be asking myself anytime soon.  But, here I am preparing to say good-bye to my Banks Road family.  In July I became engaged to a Carteret County commercial fisherman and I knew that in working to join our lives, one of us would need to move.  He started looking at opportunities in Wake County and I began looking at Carteret County Schools.  An opportunity presented itself much more quickly than I could have imagined and within short order, I was offered a position. On Thursday I accepted a job offer as a principal in a Carteret County school- Harkers Island Elementary. 

Banks Road has been a gift and a blessing to me.  This community is rich in a caring and dedicated school staff and supported by passionate and hardworking parents.  Each day I have the pleasure of interacting with students who are excited about learning and who put their best foot forward in all they do.  It has been an absolute joy to join you in moving Banks Road forward in many areas like technology availability and use, growth of our club opportunities for students, enhancements to our campus -such as the raised bed gardens, and steady student academic growth.  We are once again a High Performing school having met all 15 state and district established growth goals for 2016 - 2017.  Each of you have left your mark on me, helped me to become a better leader, and reminded me daily that what we do here everyday is all about our kiddos.

Banks Road will continue to be a hidden treasure in south of the district.  I will pray for the new leadership - that the new principal will move Banks forward in ways that I could not while still nurturing the amazing culture and climate that exists here.  Dr. Robinson the Area Superintendent held a Parent Input session Wednesday the 23rd at 5:00 in the Media Center if you were not able to provide feedback regarding the new principal, you can access his feedback survey:

Jessica Burroughs