As we wind out the year, we want to hear more from you and how we can improve. We will be holding listening sessions at each school during lunch in April-a school schedule will be sent out soon. At these sessions, we would love to hear your ideas for making your school, or the district in general, better. What resources do you need? What different structures should we consider? How might we communicate more effectively? In addition, please continue to use the Kaizen form at this link to help us improve. Your ideas are tremendously beneficial and we are acting on them. Over the last year, here are actions we have taken in response to the ideas you have submitted through the Kaizen form and we are working on more.
- Changed calendar to 169 student days
- Added Early Release time/ PLC’s
- Added two parent/ teacher conference days in the calendar
- Made the PD/ Planning Days 50%/50%
- Created a district-wide behavior matrix
- Implemented listening sessions
- Used additional strategies to recruit subs
- Increased sub pay
- Added reading and math interventionists
- Added intervention resources
- Added behavior interventionists
- All schools have a full-time counselor
- Increased STEM programming at elementary with more to come
- Recruited more paras
- Lower class sizes, including at K, 1, 4 and 5
- Increased pay
- Added recruiting and retention bonuses
- Provided consistent curriculum and resources so teachers aren’t creating everything
- Training for leaders on NMSE
- Professional development on DEIB, cultural differences
- Increased positive news and stories in the media (we have had 70+ positive Herald stories since last spring)
- Began curriculum mapping for science and social studies
- Increased parent volunteers and tutoring assistance
- After-school programming at all elementary schools
- Increased clubs and sports for students
- Implemented a consistent data platform (Abre) that also houses student plans and RTI/ MTSS documentation
- Streamlined the MTSS/ RTI process
- Added Super Subs
- Implemented a more efficient work order and facility rental system
- More support for instructional technology
- Additional social-emotional supports and tools
- Increased student capacity at The Hub
- Moving preschool to a Monday through Friday program
- Redesigning the district website to be more user-friendly (coming this summer)
- Emphasizing Monday Memo as the one-stop email communication system
- Building more inclusion models for students with disabilities (including co-teaching)
- Creating a continuum of supports for students with disabilities
- Building school garden programming
- Instructional coaches for every school, expanding the coach role
As you can see, your ideas and suggestions matter! This is how we create a better district for our students , our families, and most definitely our employees. Please keep the suggestions coming! Thank you.
Sincerely,
Karen