When the first bell of the new school year rang Tuesday morning in Charleston County, the district’s education superintendent was among the tens of thousands of students back in the classroom.

Twenty-three schools were on Dr. Nancy McGinley’s “First Day Tour,” a time for her to encourage students to do their best in school, check in with the district’s new principals and say hello to unsuspecting teachers.

"It symbolizes our firm belief that victory's in the classroom. That my job and everyone else's job is to support teachers to make our teachers successful," stated McGinley.

North Charleston was one of the schools to receive a visit from the district superintendent. Dr. Fred Moore is the school’s new principal. McGinley believes he will bring leadership and stability to the school after recent years of administrative changes.

"He wants to be here a long time and we want him here a long time because the principal's leadership is key to the success of the school."

Along with supporting each school’s administration and teaching force, one of McGinley’s missions is to combat absenteeism, which is an issue at North Charleston High and other county schools. 

"From what I hear from the principal, we still have somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 students who did not attend or came in late on the first day, and we have to do better than that,” urged McGinley. When students come in late “It takes up so much valuable teacher time and it’s unfair to the students.”

The school district is getting help from the local police department to get all students in the classroom.

Despite the absenteeism concern, McGinley has high hopes for the 2008-09 school year. 

“With our teacher hirings increased and student enrollment, we think it’s a tremendous indicator that people are feeling confident in Charleston County schools,” exclaimed McGinley.

Tuesday’s “first day tour” of North Charleston High and other facilities is just the beginning of McGinley’s presence in Charleston County schools. 

"I want to see our teachers on a regular basis. I don't just visit classrooms on the first day. I visit classrooms every week," she said.

McGinley hopes that kind of classroom presence will lead to long-lasting excellence in all Charleston County Schools.