Dear Parent(s) and Guardian(s),
My name is Shahid Muhammad and I am the principal of Galway ES.  The 2007-2008 school year will be my 14th year as an educator.  I am looking forward to serving the Galway Elementary School community.  I believe every child can learn and at high levels.  My core values are commitment, perseverance, knowledge acquisition and collaboration.  My vision is for all Galway Elementary School students to exceed proficiency on state and local summative school year assessments, to be socially and academically prepared for rigorous middle school instruction and to hold steadfast to a joy of learning throughout their lives.  Galway is now located at The Fairland Holding School at 13313 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904.  We will be at the Fairland Center until 2009, while our school undergoes modernization.  We are very excited about the new school plans and eagerly wait our return.   
 The Galway School Improvement team has been gathering and analyzing data and collecting feedback from students, parents, and staff members in an effort to create specific goals focused on school improvement and student success.  We have examined both the school climate data collected by MCPS last spring through feedback from staff members, parents, and students and the academic data from the 2006-2007 school year.
 We believe we have an excellent school with many positive characteristics to be proud of.  As we move into the 2007-2008 school year we will focus on:

• Increasing School-wide reading achievement  
• Increasing academic rigor
• Improving student peer-to-peer relationships

 Please review our School Improvement Plan for the 2007-2008 school year.  We will have four School Improvement Plan Meetings this year.  The dates of these meetings will be listed on my weekly Blue Note newsletter.  I hope to see you at our School Improvement Plan meetings and to hear feedback from you about our plan.  I know we will have a great school year.  Together, we make a difference!