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Pike County District Strategic Plan 2018-20

7/1/2018 - 6/30/2019

Map View

Who are we?

Where are we now?

Where do we want to go?

How will we know when we have arrived?

How do we plan to get there?

Vision

Creating schools that students love.

Many of you have probably read a vision statement or been on a team establishing a vision for your business or church. Often times, vision statements are a vague attempt at inspiration and do little to guide the culture or work of the organization. Envision your perfect vacation. Can you see it? What do you hear? As Dwayne Johnson (A.K.A The Rock) says, “Can you smell it?” How does it make you feel? The vision should transport you to a different place and describe where you want to go- a road map for a journey. So what does a school do to deeply engage children who don't like school? Let us tell you a little story.

Our journey begins and ends in the classroom and the dynamic interaction between the teacher and student. As I write this my mind keeps taking me back to Disney’s Epcot and the Tomorrow Land attraction, where a computer allows you to look into the future. Let us take a look at what future schooling will look like in Pike County.

As I enter the school, my attention is drawn to three students walking down the hall to the Media Center. They are so engrossed in their conversation I have to step aside to avoid them. I turn and follow. They quickly dump their book bags at a work station, revealing tablet computers, which they quickly activate and navigate to the school’s Wi-Fi. The computer screens are filled with text, images, video and applications. The students inquire if the conference room is available; they have a SKYPE session scheduled with a group of students from Miami. They mumble something about pythons.

My curiosity is peeked, so I follow them to the conference room and peer into the window as three smiling faces appear on the monitor, alternating between boardroom seriousness and silliness. They all start to talk at once, and then laugh at the garbled mess they created. Next, an agenda and a flow chart appear in an adjacent window on the monitor. The students alternate speaking, addressing topics such as progress updates, timelines, references, drafts and deadlines. Another group of students enter the Media Center, so I take my cue to stop my surveillance and ask the Media Specialist to direct me to the students' classroom.

Walking through the hallways, I am struck by the hum of activity I see in each classroom. Teachers and students deeply engaged with one another- whole group, small group, and individually. I reach my destination and knock on the door. The teacher greets me warmly and welcomes me to the room. After a few moments of conferencing with a small group of students, the teacher comes along side me as I listen to students discussing the dietary habits of the armadillo.

“What are they working on”, I ask.

“They are investigating the rate of geographical expansion of the armadillo and its impact on local agriculture and native species”, shares the Teacher.

I learn the students are building on the knowledge they gained from the teacher’s lessons to develop a model to predict the future impact of uninhibited expansion of the armadillo’s habitat and possible solutions to curb the pace of habitat expansion. Once completed, the students will present their findings to the local farmer’s association.

“A team is down the hall on a conference call with a biologist from Texas A&M”, says the Teacher.

“Wow!” I exclaim. “They must be having a blast.”

“They are, but the key is using the information we teach them as a vehicle to enhance skills such as critical thinking, creativity, communication, collaboration, and digital literacy. Of course, this type of learning requires a great deal of personal responsibility in order to self-monitor and reflect on learning goals. But, perhaps the key ingredient is a clear understanding of what we are trying to accomplish with specific feedback for improvement every step of the way”, the Teacher added.

I approached a group of students in the corner who were drawing a graph on a large Post-It? easel pad. I asked them what they thought about the school. A young man wearing a lime green graphic tee-shirt bellows from the back, “It’s not all about the stupid test. I feel like we’re doing something really important.”

“You are”, the Teacher responded. “You are learning how to learn and so are your teachers”.

I wanted a little more clarification on this thought of teachers as learners, so I dropped by the principal’s office on my way out. After hearing a recap of my visit, the Principal smiled and said, “Learning for All: That’s what we are about! If we aspire to be a learning organization, learners must be teachers and teachers must be learners. We must encourage a culture that rewards trial and error, a place where every student and employee feels welcome, valued, loved, and successful."

As I started my car to leave, I couldn’t help but think the armadillo didn't stand a chance.

Financial Data

Having endured one of the steepest economic nosedives in recent memory, the financial status of Pike County Schools is on the rebound. We’ve experienced three fiscal years of refreshed State revenues, salary furloughs are in our rear view mirror and many of the underfunded areas of our budget are receiving a much needed infusion of funding attention. For the past three budget cycles, our community embraced the necessity of increased local funding via property tax; thus recognizing, at least in part, the “new normal” in the state / local educational funding partnership.

However, the economic trough was steep and the price paid during those years was a heavy one. The District’s fund reserves, the “rainy day” fund used to weather the Great Recession, remains seriously depleted. The goal of a 10% fund reserve is still in allusive. The fund reserve is currently at 2% of operating budget. Various aspects of the District’s building, roads and technology infrastructure remains in need of refresh and repair.

There is progress being made despite the constraints posed by being a small town school district heavily reliant on property taxes. This is especially difficult in a time when property values have increased dramatically but county reevaluations remain years and years behind. Despite the struggles, employees have received three years of salary increases to help balance off the six years of frozen wages, and SY20 marks a significant increase in certified employee compensation with the help of the State. Exciting, challenging instructional initiatives are underway; many bearing the fresh fruit of student achievement. Innovative instructional training continues to prepare our professional staff for new levels of rigor and relevance across the entire PK-12 spectrum. All buildings have undergone renovation to lighting and HVAC. Our collective desire to foster creative problem solvers challenged by a world class educational and extracurricular environment remains unabated.

Financially, many challenges remain for Pike County Schools. We are embracing the difficulties and celebrating the successes with equal vigor. We are confident the Pike community will continue to support us as we demonstrate resolve, innovation and ingenuity in the face of an inequitable State funding system.

Links:

Georgia Department of Education

Department of Audits and Accounts

GaDoE Financial Review??

Performance Objectives, Measure and Targets

- Objective 1-Improve Curriculum Mastery
- Objective 2-Increase Student Success
- Objective 3-Improve Professional Learning
- Objective 1-Stakeholder Perceptions of Quality of Instruction
- Objective 1-Effective Financial Processes
- Objective 2-Effective Operational Processes
- Objective 3-Effective Personnel Processes
- Objective 4-Governance

Initiatives, Action Steps

- - - Action Step 1-Content PCLs will use the District Unit Planning Tool
    - Action Step 2-Content PLCs will construct a content acquisition assessment utilizing the balanced assessment tool and an end-of-unit performance task that scores a 3-3-3 on the AIW Framework
    - Action Step 3-Cornerstone POG Alignment
    - Action Step 4-Content PLCs will evaluate assessment data and determine standards which need to be retaught or looped.
- - - Action Step 1-Professional Development on Close Reading Strategies and Writing
    - Action Step 2-District and School-level leaders will provide Literacy Coaching
  - Standard 2-Student Advocacy
- - Standard 1-Project Based Learning
- - - Action Step 1-Schools will plan and execute Showcase and Exhibitions of student work and performances related to the PoG
    - Action Step 2-Schools will provide short teacher shot videos of students demonstrating the 4Cs.
- - Standard 1-Fund Reserve
  - Standard 2-Finance: Electronic Personnel Actions
- - Standard 1-Transportation: Preventive Maintenance and Inspections
  - Standard 2-Facilities: Maintenance and Repairs
  - Standard 3-Pupil Services: Attendance
  - Standard 4-School Nutrition Participation
  - Standard 5-Technology: Work order Resolution and Communication
- - Standard 1-Human Resources: Minority Teacher Recruitment
- Objective 4-Governance

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Pike County District Strategic Plan 2018-20

Map View

Who are we?

Where are we now?

Where do we want to go?

How will we know when we have arrived?

How do we plan to get there?

Beliefs

All students deserve a rigorous learning environment.

Mission

Developing creative problem-solvers ready for college and career.

Vision

Creating schools that students love.

Performance Data

Financial Data

StakeHolder Input

SWOT

Strategic Goals, Strategic Priority

Performance Objectives, Measure and Targets

Initiatives, Action Steps

Creating schools that students love.

All students deserve a rigorous learning environment.

Stronger security is required

SCHEDULED DOWNTIME