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During the past few weeks, we experienced the spirit of competition at its best.

We watched the Olympics - held our breath when a mere hundredth of a second made a difference for a swimmer, grew respect for a game we play barefoot on the beach, and gasped when a baton fell between runners.

Michael Phelps' mom has talked candidly about one of her son's teachers who labeled him unfocused and uninterested in learning. But his mother saw how he would sit patiently for hours at swim meets waiting for a five-minute race. She was dumbfounded when, at a very young age, he was able to watch videotapes and verbalize what he was doing wrong and then, with practice after practice, correct it and see how it made a difference in his performance.

As we start the new school year, these images send us messages that matter - messages we give our children as they load up the backpack, wave goodbye, and enter a new classroom eager to learn.

Attleboro's public schools are ready to continue their Journey Toward Excellence for every child every day in every classroom in every school. But in a world where terms lose their meaning because of their redundancy, what does "excellence" really look like?

Many people define excellence as being smart.

But as one second grader boldly told me, "I am getting smarter because I am working hard."

Absolutely correct!

Research shows that young children believe success comes from effort but as they get older, they attribute success more to innate ability drawing the conclusion that "the reason why I cannot do something well is that I am just not smart." That begins a dangerous cycle where students struggle and quit trying, leading to even lower performance.

Those of us who work in Attleboro's schools are committed to sending the right message that effort makes a difference and all students can make the connection between effort and success.

Those connections happen through powerful learning - not just when students are asked to list facts but are able to compare and contrast those facts, take notes, weed out the most relevant details, and summarize what is important and why.

Why focus on powerful learning? Yes, our state educational standards have increased but a broader reason lies in giving our students the tools to be competitive in a world that is constantly changing.

With those tools, our expectations must rise so that what we once believed was "good enough" becomes the demand for excellence. It is only then that our students will be able to navigate a world where problem solving and critical thinking are not only necessary to graduate high school and college, but necessary to enter and succeed in the work world. And that cannot happen without a passion for life-long learning which begins when our children beam at reading their first book or when the student who claimed "she was not good in math" works toward a B in calculus.

As Attleboro's principals, teachers, and support staff welcome you and your child to our schools' doors, we ask that you work with us to send the message that effort matters and that deeper and more useful learning only happens with hard work. We can send the same strong messages that were shared with our athletes as they persisted toward perfection. Together we can demand excellence at every juncture with every opportunity.

With that commitment, we will not only have a terrific school year but be ready to win the gold for every Attleboro student! Welcome back! We will see you in the schools!

Pia Durkin is superintendent of Attleboro's public schools.