After each school leadership team reflected on its school culture, community, and the key contributing factors to student growth, they used this information to select the Strategic Plan Indicators that would have the greatest positive impact for their students.  Each school was directed to select two to six indicators on which to focus during the 2018-19 school year.  Certainly, we all know that if we focus narrowly and deeply, we are more likely to realize positive results.  The indicators that this school’s leadership team selected are noted below.

Throughout the next 3 years, schools will focus on their chosen Strategic Plan Indicators as the drivers to increase student engagement and achievement within their schools.  They will choose strategies to help them grow or increase within each indicator and will monitor and evaluate the student and school changes that take place along the journey.  Below you will see what this school imagines their students and school to look like in 2021 after having focused and worked on their chosen indicators for three years.

Looking forward, our long-range plan for GBPE includes building upon our students’ social and emotional skill set, enabling them to become effective problem solvers, both academically and socially.  We are steadily increasing our technological capabilities through purchasing additional hardware (computers, Chromebooks, iPads, etc.), so our students can employ innovative strategies for inquiry and research as well as communicate their learning.  Through delving deeper into data and building relationships with students and their families, we strive to truly understand the unique needs and learning styles of each child and seek methods to help them reach their greatest potential.

By 2020, our goal is to empower teacher leaders, thus providing more voice in school endeavors. Our School Improvement team is at the helm of monitoring and fostering action steps to improve outcomes. From there, the format is centered on three main committees, PBIS, Equity, and Safety, with branches leading from each. This enables teachers to bring a lens to various school practices such as incentives (student and staff), behavior goals, inclusion, equitable practices, professional development, parent and community events, school safety plans, etc. 

We will also have parental input, as well as 5th grade student involvement on teams (as appropriate), to bring in an additional and vital lens. Day to day, students will participate in Second Step. This social/emotional skill building curriculum will help our students become better problem solvers and help them better understand themselves and their emotions. Students will use mindfulness techniques, along with Second Step, and demonstrate positive behaviors and interactions with each other and with adults. Our overarching goal is to create a culture of kindness that transcends the schoolhouse.