Entry Plan

PRIORITY  Creating a safe and supportive environment for students and staff is vital for their success. To ensure this, I will lead an intentional and collaborative approach towards creating a safe environment for adults and students alike. I will engage key stakeholders to build a safety net for students and staff to learn and grow. 

I am committed to offering our students access to healthy, meaningful activities that cultivate positive mindsets. I strongly believe that this approach will allow our students to realize their full potential, thus empowering them to become productive citizens.

ACTION STEPS  
1.1 Review the structures in place to convene key district and community leaders around issues of chronic absenteeism, homelessness, emergency supports, and out-of-school time.
1.2 Assess possibilities to expand summer, after-school, and co-curricular programming activities in collaboration with community agencies, and key stakeholders.
1.3 Review how we receive feedback and respond to feedback from students, staff, parents, and community members regarding school climate and school safety issues.
1.4 Review and assess our school/district suspension and expulsion data, with a particular focus on violent offenses within and around our schools.
1.5 Review individual school climate data.
1.6 Review our approach to student and staff mental health support and determine whether we are appropriately investing in coordinated mental health supports and services for students and staff.
1.7 Assess the investments that have been made to restorative practices and positive behavior, intervention, and support programs.

PRIORITY  To foster a healthy and productive learning environment, we must begin by actively listening to one another. As partners in the shared mission of promoting student success, it's essential that we work together in an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect. We need to be mindful of the hopes and aspirations of our community – from students and families to staff, township and state leaders, unions, universities, activists, and business leaders. Furthermore, we must develop robust communication frameworks to ensure that we are communicating effectively with one another, both internally and externally.

ACTION STEPS  
2.1 Launch a listening and learning tour to understand the exact priorities and needs of the district and community.
2.2 Meet with key leaders in consultation with the Board of Education President and Vice President, Mayor, City Council, state officials and legislative delegation, faith-based community, business leaders, and community members.
2.3 Host town hall sessions in-person and via Zoom meetings with students, parents, teachers, administrators, support staff, other school-based staff, and district office employees to understand what is working and what are areas of growth.
2.4 Initiate discussions and communicate with our union partners to establish a culture of respect and trust.
2.5 Evaluate internal communication protocols, including social media strategy, to determine how system-wide messages are understood by board members, principals, instructional staff, non-instructional staff, and district office staff.
2.6 Schedule Board of Education retreats/work sessions to review communication protocols, year 1 priorities, and the superintendent evaluation process.
2.7 Assess the current state of the district’s external communication and engagement efforts, as well as evaluate the quality of the district and schools’ websites.

PRIORITY  We beleive in “Excellence Without Exception”. Toward that end, high-quality teaching and learning that results in improved academic achievement is our goal. Unfortunately, the Covid-19 crisis caused significant disruption to student learning. As a result, our instructional program requires greater coherence to provide teachers and schools with the necessary resources to prioritize educational excellence. Preparing students for high school success is a shared responsibility among all district staff, partners, and volunteers at Zion Elementary School District 6.

ACTION STEPS  
3.1 Develop a process for frequent and structured school visits to observe and support school improvement efforts.
3.2 Assess the current process of school improvement planning (including School Improvement Plans) and ensure that schools have a clear multi-tiered system of support for students.
3.3 Assess current professional development efforts to support administrative, instructional, and non-instructional staff and how the budget emphasizes an investment in staff development.
3.4 Assess the coherence of the district’s academic frameworks.
3.5 Focus on areas of academic under-performance and ensure strategies are in place to address root causes of student achievement trends.
3.6 Determine how comprehensive and research-based the current curricula are and to what degree they are aligned to standards and allow for student achievement/growth.
3.7 Assess student and staff attendance rates, and other metrics to support progress toward identified goals.

PRIORITY  It is essential for Zion Elementary School District  6 to have a high-performing, collaborative, and results-oriented culture. To make sure that we operate as a highly effective team with a professional culture, we will be intentional about assessing and building the capacity of our leadership to achieve established goals. As author Jim Collins states, "We will ensure that we have the right people on the bus and in the right seats." We will not get to excellence by accident. It will be by design.

ACTION STEPS  
4.1 Conduct one-on-one meetings with all direct reports.
4.2 Administer leadership assessment inventories to get to know executive leadership better.
4.3 Conduct a retreat with senior staff to review the district’s priorities, most recent achievement data, review current and anticipated vacancies, and discuss leadership team structures and practices.
4.4 Review current office structure, alignment, and capacity to achieve established goals.
4.5 Assess the autonomy and authority of school leaders (Principals/APs) in the current organizational structure.

PRIORITY  To meet the needs of all students in the Zion Elementary School District, it is critical that operations and finance align with Board policy, and represent excellence and transparency. Each department will be appraised to determine how they maximize support and services to schools using a continuous improvement model. Additionally, we will assess the quality of facilities and related plans.

ACTION STEPS  
5.1 Conduct one-on-one meetings with direct reports on operations, human resources, and budget, including use of ESSR funds and how local, state, and federal grants are being utilized and evaluated.
5.2 Review the district’s fund balance, financial projections, resource allocation and budgeting processes; assess how the district’s budget and budget process are aligned to support student achievement.
5.3 Conduct with the district’s legal team to review any recent/current legal proceedings or outstanding judgments against the district and to provide a briefing on state education code with attention to statutes currently impacting or likely to impact the district.
5.4 Review the assessments of the District’s facilities conditions and actions to determine alignment with improving student achievement guided by the Goals and Guardrails and the facilities planning process.
5.5 Review key district financial materials, budget, most recent audit, grants, and any other reports and audits.
5.6 Review current labor contracts and schedules.