Swallow School District
Strategic Plan

Developed during the 2010-11 school year in order to create the best future for our students.

 
Our Mission

The Swallow School District, with families and community, will inspire every child to achieve maximum potential for future success as a self-directed, problem-solving, responsible, life-long learner.

The Planning Team

Lisa Davis, Teacher

Michelle Ferris, Principal

Stephanie Gilmore, Teacher

Kim Hofkamp, Parent

Charisse Hoffman, Teacher

Craig Jefson, Superintendent for the Arrowhead Union High School District

Jeffrey Klaisner, Superintendent

Mike Lescohier, Teacher

Kerry Mallow, Teacher

Pat Nolan, Teacher

Paula Quinn, Parent

Bob Rosch, Board Member – Arrowhead Union High School District

John Siepman, Parent

Briana Stover, Teacher

Larry Stover, Community Member

Karen Trimble, Board Member

Connie Van Gilder, Parent

Stephanie Wartman, Board Member

Lynn Welscher, Teacher

Shelly Wertschnig, Teacher

Facilitator: Dr. Keith Marty, Superintendent for the School District of Menomonee Falls

The Process

As a part of their goal development process for the 2010-11 school year, the Board of Education established a goal that the District would create a Strategic Plan to become a guiding force in the future direction of the school district. Keith Marty agreed to facilitate the process and work began on organizing the Planning Team participants who would develop the foundation of the plan through a process facilitated by Dr. Marty. The planning team was formulated and represented teachers, parents, community members, administrators and Board members. The Team met five times from the end of September through the middle of November. The goal of the process was to develop the following:

Mission Statement – A clear declaration of the purpose and function of the District.

Strategies – The targeted tasks that are the foundational outcomes that focus the work of the District to meet the stated mission.

Objectives – What we want students to be able to do as a result of their learning experiences in the District.

Belief Statements – A representation of what is critically important to the District as we work to achieve our mission.

The Team worked through a series of activities that helped identify where the Team wanted the District to be in the next three to five years. This was referred to as “Our Preferred Future”. Once this was established, the Team conducted a thorough analysis of what is taking place in the present in order to determine our “Current Status”. The final focus of this initial phase of developing the Strategic Plan was to clearly define the critical strategies that would take the District from its “Current Status” to its “Preferred Future”. These findings are presented in the remaining pages of this document.

Mission Statement

The Swallow School District, with families and community, will inspire every child to achieve maximum potential for future success as a self-directed, problem-solving, responsible, life-long learner.

Strategies

We will establish a culture of individuals with good character so that students, teachers, parents,   and community members will live and work in an emotionally and physically safe environment with key components of integrity, caring, compassion, honesty, empathy, nurturing, and respect for self and others.

We will generate a new way of thinking about schedules, the use of space, flexibility, and the capacity of teachers to collaborate and lead so they can deliver dynamic instruction.

We will design and deliver curriculum and instruction based on a review of student data and ongoing assessment that reflects current research and best practice in order to meet the needs of ALL students.

We will develop a financial model of revenues and expenses that defines the best-case and worst-case conditions, and will then use that model to develop other strategies in an attempt to benefit the District’s long-term financial stability.

Objectives

• Adopt a spiraling character education curriculum
• Create a set of school-wide behavioral expectations
• Develop strategies for innovative and creative scheduling
• Integrate instructional technology into the teaching and learning process
• Expand course options by exploring STEM, on-line learning and other opportunities that will enhance student learning
• Explore the creative use of instructional spaces and flexible blocks of time to establish more fluid learning with smaller groups of learners
• Promote dynamic instruction through the teaming of teacher experts and the use of differentiation, technology, 21st Century Learning techniques, and instructional best practices

 Belief Statements

The Swallow School District believes:

♦ all students learn in different ways and can achieve their maximum potential.
♦ in an emotionally and physically safe environment for all.
♦ in the value of open, honest communication and collaboration with all members of the community.
♦ families, community members and the school play a vital role in the education of our children.
♦ future success depends on developing the academic skills and work ethic required for high performance in our rapidly-changing, global society.
♦ the diverse opinions, beliefs, and cultures of others should be respected.
♦ our responsibility is to ensure learning for every student through the use of instructional best practices.
♦ in the development of responsible, self-directed, life-long learners throughout the entire Swallow community.
♦ the mastery of core subjects is the foundation of a high-quality education.
♦ the Common Core Standards are fundamental to the creation of an effective curriculum that meets the needs of ALL learners.

What is next?

The next phase of the development of the Strategic Plan is to form Action Teams that will clearly identify what must take place in order to achieve the four strategies identified by the Planning Team as the critical factors that must be addressed to take the District to the “next level”. The Action Teams will be formulated this upcoming spring and will be comprised of some members of the Planning Team as well as new members to the process. The action planning process should be completed in time for the Board to take official action to adopt the Strategic Plan at the regular meeting of the Board of Education in May 2011.