Southwestern Elementary School

Vision: Strive for excellence in education, celebrate diversity, and be committed to students, staff, and the school community. Mission: Produce 21st-century learners that will become productive citizens in society. Foster a dynamic, safe, and nurturing learning environment. Partner with the school community for the benefit of students and staff. Strengthen the school division by employing highly qualified and diverse staff. Effectively and efficiently manage capital and human resources. Effectively communicate to increase community investment. Suffolk Public Schools serve nearly 14,000 students. Every student has the opportunity to become productive citizens — from pre-school to specialty centers; from biomedical to engineering — our students receive education, certifications, and credentials that are life-changing. SPS believes in professional learning for our staff. This creates a dynamic learning environment. Our staff partners with the University of Virginia for the Master's degree program in Administration and Supervision. We focus on culturally relevant instruction and teaching strategies for our instructional staff. Through our strategic plan, Destination 2028: Connection, Educational Excellence and Innovation, we equip our students to become lifelong learners, while partnering with the community to provide an effective educational experience. All SPS students are provided with their own Chromebook SPS Connect to ensure that they will be digitally productive. We believe in providing the opportunity to succeed. With nearly 2,300 employees, SPS is a family. We support each other. We build strong relationships. We prepare your students to find success. Suffolk Public School recognizes that military-connected students need guidance from understanding school administrators, staff, and teachers. Close to 1,000 of our students are connected to military families. SPS is dedicated to providing a welcoming and engaging school environment for all families. For military-connected students, this means understanding the unique challenges that come with military life, including frequent moves, long-term deployments, and juggling varying graduation standards from state to state. SPS partners with the military School Liaison Officer program to help provide families with transitional aid during reassignments.In addition, several of our schools have been assigned Military and Family Life Counselors to help military-connected families throughout the school day and throughout the school year.