Seeing Is Believing in Leadership and Learning

Welcome to the launch of the 2019-20 school year! It's been a great start with the Welcome Back, New Teacher Trainings,  Professional Learning, and the Grand Island Senior High Academies-setting the stage for what is to be an amazing year in Grand Island Public Schools!  I can't help but keep thinking about this student and how he represents our moral imperative to ensure "Every Student, Every Day, a Success!"   This will take a collective effort from all of us and I'm excited about the chance to join you all and make a difference.

As you know, there is a ton of work and planning that goes into preparing for the new school year.  Data is analyzed, priorities established, professional learning takes place, and teams are meeting throughout the summer to support continuous school/district improvement and progress towards our strategic plan Key Results!  I want to share some quick blurbs to summarize key work that occurred over the summer.

May 31 Academic Summit: Campus Leaders and School Improvement Team members from each campus analyzed the 2018-19 continuous school improvement goals, data, and actions and designed the next steps for the 2019-20 school year. It was a great opportunity to dig into the data and begin to transition to the new year.

June 4th & 5th campus leaders engaged in leadership development throughout a 2-day Leadership Institute. According to research and studies by John Hattie, "instructional leadership not only matters: it is second only to teaching among school-related factors in its impact on student learning".  Throughout our two days, we studied the "Opportunity Myth", engaged in role-play, reflected on the impact of leadership actions, and dove into effective leadership practices.  Our principals are committed to setting the instructional vision and developing others through a system of support, professional learning, feedback, and coaching.  This year, you will notice your principal intentionally planning and protecting more time to conduct low-key observations and provide coaching/feedback to improve student learning-- the goal is to dedicate 50% of their time to this work. This may take some redesign of the organizational structures and systems of support through distributed leadership and maximizing the strengths of all staff.  It might feel a little "clunky" at first, so I encourage open conversations, reflection, and problem-solving together. Finding ways to balance operational management and instructional leadership responsibilities will take teamwork!  The ultimate mission is "Every Student, Every Day, A Success"!

July 22nd-23rd district and school leaders engaged in a book study, "The Culture Code" by Daniel Coyle during our two-day retreat. This book refers to some of the most successful organizations and highlights what makes them tick.  In the introduction, Coyle describes culture as a "set of living relationships working toward a shared goal. It's not something you are, It's something you do".  The three skills he defines as the roadmap to building a culture where expectations are exceeded include: build safety, be vulnerable, and establish a purpose. You may have picked up on how this book study is impacting the beginning of the year meetings.  Creating a feeling of belonging in your building and classrooms is clearly one of the most important factors of a positive culture.  Key actions include: overcommunicate your listening, be open about weaknesses, embrace the messenger, consider future connections, overdo thank yous, create collision-rich spaces, ensure all have a voice, model, provide specific feedback and of course, have fun.  These actions also have a direct connection to the classroom culture as you establish routines, expectations, and focus on pre-teaching and practicing skills with students.  More to come regarding skills 2 and 3 in future blogs!

During the months of June and July, a combined 302 teachers and instructional coaches spent approximately 4,212 hours engaged in curriculum writing.  The purpose of this work is to design curriculum and assessment guides for each course and grade level.  The work this summer encompassed revising assessments, research, review, the recommendation of resources and guidance for instructional pacing as well as professional learning for curriculum implementation.  The commitment and dedication to the work are extremely valuable and the teams are great resources and support at the building level. Thank you to all of our Task Force Members!  You make a difference!!


There were other happenings beyond this with building-level professional development, school leadership team meetings, etc...  Oh, I can't forget the Summer Institute (wow!  great response from the feedback)!  Thank you to L4L team for coordinating, organizing and leading the day!  We had amazing presenters-many of our own GIPS staff and over 350 attendees!

Whew!  I'm so thankful for the many opportunities that we have to grow professionally and I look forward to "Seeing" your learning implemented in the classroom-impacting our students and bringing joy to your teaching and their learning.  #GIPSSeeingisbelieving

Have an amazing 2019-20 school year!

2018-19 Top 10 List

It's been a GRAND year in Grand Island Public Schools and this is the week where there are all kinds of celebrations and reflections are occurring in classrooms and in your end of the year meetings.

In my own reflection, I came up with my Top 10 highlights of the 2018-19 school year and thought I would share them with you! Please note that they are not necessarily in the order of importance.






#10  The first day of school! Oh, how I love the excitement of the beginning of a new year!

#9 Our amazing administrators growing professionally, collaborating and networking around data, professional learning communities, and standards-based planning.  I'm so blessed to have the opportunity to serve, support, and EMPOWER our campus leaders.

#8 Our Fine Arts-I attended the musical, several performances, and was able to see the work of our talented artists and musicians!  Our students are being recognized beyond the state lines of Nebraska! So much to be proud of!


#7 So proud of our Teachers and their growth in transforming to student-centered instruction -Our Thursday walk data and overall trend walk data reveals how professional learning was implemented throughout the district.

               



#6 The Launch of our Freshman Academy

#5  Opportunities for professional learning-Side by Side Coaching, 3 district days focusing on transforming instruction to student-centered with rigor and of course our partnership with LSI-Demonstration Schools for Rigor.



                           
#4 I'm so appreciative of our School Board and their support of our strategic plan implementation and constant advocacy student-focused decisions!

                                             
#3  Dr. Grover, Cabinet, and the Kneale team for ensuring that our
strategic plan is moving forward and the collaboration and support of all departments along the way! This includes our food service and building and grounds teams as well!

#2 The L4L Team's dedication and commitment to building the capacity of educators and providing technical and adaptive support.

#1 Our Students! Their achievements academically, athletically, and within the community!

I have been empowered to be a better leader this year, observed personalized approaches to meet student needs, increased understanding of how to use data to drive decisions and expanded partnership to grow and expand opportunities for our students. I'm looking forward to 2019-20 with the launching of our Academies and year three progress on our Strategic Plan Goals!! Thank you for making this such a GRAND year and have a relaxing and enjoyable summer!

You are Appreciated!!

Happy Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week!

Thank you to all of our teachers for the dedication and commitment to our students every day!  You make a difference by inspiring our students to be life-long learners and fostering success through high expectations and positive relationships.  Although you may never know how you impacted the life of a child, you have to know the power you have to change lives and to prepare them to "Thrive in an ever-changing world"!  There is no more important profession!  Check out this short video to remember your why and celebrate you all!

If you are interested in a little history, I found some information on how Teacher Appreciation Week Originated?  Check out this LSI Blog that describes how it all began.


Without our GIPS Employees, we could not accomplish the vision and goals that we have for our students!  Thank you to our school support teams, secretaries, nutrition services, buildings and grounds crews, district office teams, paraprofessionals, mentors, coaches, and specialists! Although some members of our team do not directly impact students,  resources, space and opportunities for access to a high quality educational environment! Our "why" is in the pictures!  What we do every day influences, inspires and ignites!

Every Student, Every Day, A Success! In educating students we teacher hearts as well as minds!

 

"Student prepared to make positive contributions and thrive in an ever changing world."

...because of you!

Thank you to our Nurses!

Please join me in celebrating our School Nurses this week along with our teachers and staff!  Along with tending to illnesses of physical nature, they also tend to the social-emotional needs of our students.  They inspire, innovate their care and positively influence our students so they can engage in school! Our children are safer, loved, and cared for in such kind and professional ways.  Our nurses MAKE a DIFFERENCE!

Thank You Administrative Professionals!

It is so hard to describe the value of our Administrative Professionals across the district.  They are the first in line to all with all of our stakeholders!  I'm so thankful for you!  Please know that you Make a Difference!  

Our District Resource Management System-Your Diligence Equals Student Benefit! How you can help!

It's year 2 of implementation of Resource Manager (RM) barcoding of textbooks and resources.  This process is making a difference and providing opportunities for more dollars to be allocated to purchase additional resources and/or professional learning/growth opportunities for our educators.  

What is it?

An online Pk-12 resource management inventory process that ensures we only buy what we need, share what we have and repurpose what remains.  The Resource manager makes it easy to track and manage our school and district resources with an overview of our investments.

Benefits of Resource Management System:

• Effectively and efficiently manage resources
• Efficiently assign and deploy resources to teachers
• Have a more accurate assessment of the value of our assets
• Reduce losses to our district
• Make informed decisions from the data
• Books/resources can be transferred from one school to the other so we are not ordering new.  (accountability and availability)

Example of Impact prior to adopting the Resource Management System in 2016-17:

• L4L spent $300,000.00 for more resources for Reading Wonders K-5.  

Example of Impact after adopting the Resource Management System in June 2017

• L4L has only spent $10,000.00 on new resources for Reading Wonders.

That’s a HUGE savings!!

The money saved is now available to support the following: (Examples)

• Academy curriculum resources
• Professional learning to support curriculum resource adoptions
• Replenish Materials/supplies for Science/Math
• ACT prep
• Book Studies
• Empower hour materials
• Task force work
• Pilots
• Other requests to support district priorities and curriculum implementation
• Respond to an increase in enrollment

We need your help to maximize the benefits!

How do we improve the process?

• Tech Assistants have been very diligent in barcoding and checking books out to teachers and transferring books as needed.
• Once a book is checked out to a teacher, that book or resources should be accounted for by teachers at the end of the year inventory.
• Teachers return resources no longer utilized to the tech assistants at any time throughout the year. Tech Assistants will send discarded barcoded curriculum to the warehouse using the “Warehouse Return Form”  It is important to clearly label boxes.
• At GISH, there are 5 scanners in the building for department heads/Academy Lead Teachers to use to check out books to teachers.  

END of the Year Reminders:

• All resources will need to be checked in, transferred and/or accounted for by June 3rd.  
• Barb will need to have principals ensure a completed inventory of books and resources are updated by the end of this school year.

If you have any questions, please contact L4L's Barb Hardwick or enter question through "Let's Talk-gips helpdesk"! She is an amazing resource!

National Assistant Principal's Week

April 8th-12th is National Assistant Principal's Week!  The role of our assistant principals is critical to our school community. They are truly valued members of our administrative teams. The Wallace Foundation has identified five key practices of school leadership: "shaping the vision of academic success for All students, creating a positive and healthy school climate, cultivating leadership in others, improving instruction, and managing people, data, processes".  The job is demanding, yet rewarding!  Please meet and help me celebrate our GIPS admin team that are in the trenches making a difference, every day!

Middle School Assistant Principals

Melissa Beberniss-Barr MS

Melanie Smith-Barr MS

Calvin Hubbard-Walnut MS

Selena Wardyn-Walnut MS

Kayla Wichman-Westridge MS

Shelli Pfeifer-Westridge MS

   

 Grand Island Senior High Team

Greg Morrow-Assistant Principal-Student Services

Dan Phillips-Academy of Technical Sciences

Dr. Maggie Mintken-Freshman Academy of Exploration

Fawn Gernstein-Academy of Business and Communication

Greg Schlegel-Academy of Medical Sciences

Matt Wichman-Academy of Engineering and Tech

Ron Hester-Academy of Ed, Law, and Pubic Safety

Cindy Wells-Activities Director

Academy Partner Liason

Elementary Assistant Principals

Teri Ruybalid-Engleman

Angie Eberle-Dodge 

Thank you team for "Being Grand" so our students can "Thrive in an Ever-Changing World"!