By Tom Ganser
Correspondent
Leadership teams from Lakeview Elementary, LINCS Charter School, Washington Elementary, Whitewater Middle School and Whitewater High School joined with district leaders for the annual Leadership Data Retreat Aug. 22 at the Whitewater University Technology Park Innovation Center.
The purpose of the retreat is “to engage the building leadership teams in creating building goals for based on the district’s strategic vision and priorities.”
After welcoming remarks and an opportunity for each of the 33 teachers, principals and other Whitewater Unified School District leaders present to introduce themselves, District Administrator Eric Runez provided an overview of the new strategic plan for WUSD that recently finalized after more than a year of work.
Runez shared that the vision of WUSD is “Every graduate an engaged lifelong learner” and the mission is that “Whitewater Unified School District, in collaboration with families and community, inspires students to achieve excellence in an innovative educational environment.”
Runez reviewed the seven Core Values for the district: (1) Students as our number one priority, (2) High expectations for student achievement, (3) Respect for and appreciation of human diversity, (4) Excellence in teaching, leadership and service, (5) School, community and family partnerships, (6) Responsible planning and management of resources and (7) Education as the foundation of a strong community.
Runez concluded his presentation by outlining strategic directives for five priorities that form the basis for action plans for the next five years: Learning, Teaching, Respect, Accountability and Sustainability.
Kelly Seichter, Director of Instruction, provided the leadership teams with their first look at the School Report Card for the district based on the most recent administration of the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examinations (WKCE). The School Report Card will be available for review by the public on Sep. 17.
Seichter provided contextual information about the demographics of the children enrolled in Whitewater schools and very detailed information about the performance of WUSD students on the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP).
Lanora Heim, Director of Pupil Services, brought the leadership teams up to date with ACCESS data for WUSD’s English language learners (ELL) students.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, ACCESS (Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State for English Language Learners) is designed to measure English language proficiency based on standards that form the core of Wisconsin’s approach to instructing and testing English language learners.
The last set of data presented to the leadership teams focused on the performance of Whitewater High School students on the ACT.
In sharing information covering the past five years, WHS principal Doug Parker said he was pleased to announce that in the most recent administration of the ACT, the average composite score for WHS students who took the ACT was greater than the average composite score for the state of Wisconsin.
The principals of each school presented building goals from last year and the progress that has been made in reaching those goals.
Following Runez’s overview of District Action Plans based on the Strategic Plan, each school’s leadership team created SMART goals aligned with WUSD’s vision, mission and district action plans.
A SMART goal is defined as one that is specific, measureable, achievable, results-focused and time-bound.
