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District Goals

  • Goal 1: To improve the academic success of all students through data monitoring that empowers leadership and staff to make informed decisions regarding academic programming and support.

    • Academic expectations, goals, and achievement levels that will be used to monitor progress, which will be shared with faculty, administrative team, Board members, and the community.
    • Implementation of an Accelerate Block in our K-4 and 5/6 academic schedules.
    • Flex block in grades 7/8 will be data driven and prescriptive depending on student needs.
    • Teaching staff in grades K-8 will be using iReady as a diagnostic tool to monitor student progress.
    • Utilization of various intervention tools to improve student academic performance.
    • Continued emphasis on small group instruction that can be identified in daily lesson planning and classroom observations/walkthroughs.
    • Utilization of our Instructional coaches to help support this work.
    • The Director of Curriculum will present information regarding the progress made on this goal throughout the year to the Board of Education and community.

    Goal 2: Continue with the implementation of a Multi Tiered System of Support (MTSS) for all students that focuses on providing interventions and enrichment based on individual student needs.

    • Partnership with Magnolia Consulting Group who will be providing support to the administrative and teaching staff on the implementation of an effective MTSS. 
    • Implementation of benchmark assessments.
    • Continued utilization of the Flex period in grades 9-12. 
    • Report will be run every two weeks for any students below 70 in grades 7-12 to be identified for additional support.

    Goal 3: Professional Learning Communities focused on essential standards, formative assessment and data analysis.   

    • Each PLC will create norms to start the school year.
    • PLC meeting agendas will include information regarding academic performance data being used to inform decision-making processes for students.
    • Analyze formative assessment and personalized online programs to monitor student progress by skill, standard, and content area. 

    Goal 4: To build community and promote healthy relationships among educators and students to teach the social-emotional and conflict resolution skills necessary to reduce conflict.

    • District-wide committee to focus on the following for 2024-2025:
    • Expectations for what we would like to see in our students (Profile of an Eagle).
    • Examine current discipline practices
    • Examine restorative practices and their implementation K-12.
    • Develop a common language K-12 in reference to student expectations.
    • Recommendations from the committee to be implemented district-wide for the 2025-2026 school year.
    • Facilitation of a District Wellness Day for staff on the March Professional Development Day.

    Goal 5: Facility planning for the new 5-8 school as well as planning the future of the preschool program. 

    • Provide oversight of the building of the 5-8 school.
    • Continue staff planning for the new 5-8 school. 
    • Continue educational planning for the new 5-8 school.
    • Academic schedule for the new 5-8 building
    • Co-Curricular/Extra-Curricular activities for the 5-8 building
    • Present to the community and Board of Education facility options for universal preschool that include educational and fiscal impacts.
    • Conduct focus group sessions for community members in fall to collect feedback as to facility planning for universal preschool.
    • Provide the community feedback to the Board of Education for decision-making
  • Goal 1: Blended/Personalized Learning techniques will be utilized to meet the needs of diverse learners within all classrooms throughout the district.

    ● Instructional staff will unpack essential standards and identify key skills to develop rigorous learning objectives to increase student achievement.

    ● Teachers will focus on implementing core practice 3a (Small group instruction is differentiated based on student needs) in order to drive personalized instruction for all students through the use of data.

    ● Evidence of small group instruction will be identified in daily lesson planning and classroom observations/walkthroughs.

    ● Instructional coaches will be utilized to help support this work.

    Goal 2: Begin the development of a Multi Tiered System of Support (MTSS) for all students that focuses on providing interventions and enrichment based on individual student needs.

    ● Screening of all new students who enter the district.

    ● Ensure that all students have access to grade-level curriculum and standards.

    ● Common assessments (formative and summative).

    ● Implementation of benchmark assessments.

    ● Utilization of the Flex period in grades 7-12.

    ● Evaluate Standards with Support in grades K-8.

    ● Report will be run every two weeks for any students below 70 in grades 7-12 to be identified for additional support.

    Goal 3: Professional Learning Communities focused on essential standards, formative assessment and data analysis.

    ● The administration will maximize PLC time by utilizing after school faculty meeting time for PLC’s.

    ● Each PLC will create norms to start the school year.

    ● The focus for PLC work will be identifying essential standards for units being taught and creating formative assessments focused on the essential standards.

    ● Analyze formative assessment results to determine which students need interventions or enrichment.

    ● PLC template will be completed and submitted to building administration at the conclusion of each meeting.

    Goal 4: Identifying and removing institutional barriers, and creating access and opportunities to foster the success of our students. Ensure equity of educational opportunities and reduce the disparity of results between diverse groups of students.

    ● Administrative team will use district and individual school level data, disaggregated by race/ethnicity, national origin, language, special education, gender, socioeconomic status and mobility to inform district decision making.

    ● Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) team will provide resources to classroom teachers to help celebrate diversity using read alouds, student led presentations and guest speakers throughout the school year.

    ● Continue working on developing restorative practices to bias incidents and conflict when appropriate.

    ● Assembly Program for our 7th and 8th grade students focused on the Holocaust.

    ● Challenge Day Program for 8th and 9th graders focused on uniting our school community.

    ● Utilize Zones of Regulation PreK-6.

    ● Support DEI initiatives through recruitment and retention of staff.

    ● Review of our Gifted and Talented Program by an outside consultant.

    Goal 5: Continue with the transition for a new district configuration upon the completion of construction.

    ● Begin the construction of the new 5-8 building.

    ● Provide oversight of the renovation of the PreK-4 school.

    ● Continue staff planning for our new district configuration.

    ● Continue educational planning for the new district configuration.

    ○ Academic schedule for the renovated PreK-4 building.

    ○ Academic schedule for the new 5-8 building

    ○ Program expansion for the 9-12 building for the 2024-2025 school year and beyond.

    ● Develop a contingency plan for the 5-8 building not being ready for September 2024.

  • Goal 1: Blended/Personalized Learning techniques will be utilized to meet the needs of diverse learners within all classrooms throughout the district.

    ● Identify and develop a 2nd cohort of teachers from all three schools in the district to participate in training and coaching during the 2022-2023 school year.

    ○ Full day, six hour professional development session for Cohort II teachers and administrative team.

    ○ Classroom visits throughout the year to each cohort member which will include observations of lessons, personalized feedback, suggested resources and coaching plans.

    ○ Five two-hour professional development sessions throughout the school year after school.

    ● Cohort I teachers from the 2021-2022 school year as well as the district’s instructional coaches will support Cohort II teachers during the 2022-2023 school year.

    ● Collection of data from students/teachers through surveys and focus groups to measure the instructional impact in the classroom.

    Goal 2: Introduce Priority Practices to our teaching staff and utilize a self assessment tool to identify specific and targeted practices for educator professional development.

    ● Instructional staff will utilize the Core Practices Framework to develop their individual professional development plan at the start of the 2022-2023 school year.

    ● Instructional staff will use a Swivl camera to record a lesson while focusing on a specific area of practice.

    ● Instructional staff members will conduct peer observations.

    ● Collaboration with colleagues that focuses on sharing instructional strategies to be put into practice.

    ● Survey teachers to identify practices/areas they would be interested/feel confident in supporting colleagues to enhance their practice.

    ● Utilize our district instructional coaches to help support this work.

    Goal 3: Identifying and removing institutional barriers, and creating access and opportunities to foster the success of our students. Promote equality of educational opportunities and reduce the disparity of results between diverse groups of students.

    ● Administrative team will use district and individual school level data, disaggregated by race/ethnicity, national origin, language, special education, gender, socioeconomic status and mobility to inform district decision making.

    ● Implementation of a software program (Talking Points) that will allow educators to establish two-way communication via text message with Spanish speaking parents in their native language.

    ● Use of late buses so that transportation is not a barrier for students who would like to participate in after school extracurricular activities.

    ● Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) team will provide resources to classroom teachers to help celebrate diversity using read alouds, student led presentations and guest speakers throughout the school year.

    ● Review of our Special Education Program by an outside consultant.

    Goal 4: Continue to expand and refine Social Emotional strategies and programs through data driven practices to meet the specific needs of students, families, and staff.

    ● Train all staff in Youth Mental Health First Aid during the 2022-2023 school year.

    ● Partnership with First Children’s Service Provider to provide the district with a mental health clinician who will be a full-time mental health clinician to work with a caseload of students throughout the district. The clinician will be able to provide individual and family therapy, complete crisis assessments as well as act as a conduit to support and resources outside of the district.

    ● Administer social-emotional learning benchmark to students across the district to assess needs and interventions.

    ● Implementation of a district Therapy Dog Program with the goal of having one certified therapy dog in each of our school buildings on a daily basis.

    Goal 5: Begin the transition of preparing for a new district configuration during the 2024-2025 school year.

    ● Begin the construction of a new 5-8 building.

    ● Prepare for the renovation of the LPS school into a district PreK-4 school.

    ● Prepare for the transition to the St. John’s School for LPS students in the 2023-2024 school year.

    ● Begin staff planning for our new district configuration.

    ● Work on educational planning for the new district configuration.

    ○ Academic schedule for the renovated PreK-4 building.

    ○ Academic schedule for the new 5-8 building

    ○ Academic schedule for the 9-12 high school as well as program expansion for the 2024-2025 school year and beyond.

  • Goal 1: Blended/Personalized Learning techniques will be utilized to meet the needs of diverse learners within all classrooms throughout the district.

    Oversight Committee: Curriculum and Technology

    ● Full day, six hour professional development session for Cohort One teachers and administrative team.

    ● Classroom visits throughout the year to each cohort member which will include observations of lessons, personalized feedback, suggested resources and coaching plans.

    ● Five two-hour professional development sessions throughout the school year after school.

    ● Codification of “Promising Practices” that emerge throughout the year which can be used district-wide as examples to support implementation of BPL and other district initiatives

    Goal 2: Extend and expand strategies used to differentiate for all students’ cultural backgrounds with a focus on Resources (perspectives/diversity), Culturally Responsive Planning and Culturally Responsive Instruction.

    Oversight Committee: Curriculum and Technology

    ● Continued curricular review to ensure reflection of our diverse population of students and adjust as needed (e.g. identify specific discussion starters/essential questions/resources that explicitly reach multiple perspectives.

    ● Continue culturally responsive teacher training for staff.

    ● Role-specific review of practices/procedures followed by staff members who are not classroom teachers (e.g. counselors, librarians, nurses, coaches, support staff) when working with students/families and adjust to be culturally responsive.

    ● Examine placement criteria used for honors and AP classes.

    Goal 3: Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) - Develop an understanding of

    Professional Learning Communities and begin to establish structures that allow PLCs to be implemented.

    Oversight Committee: Curriculum and Technology

    ● Training of the administrative team.

    ● Training of staff in how to establish and utilize effective PLC’s.

    ● Provide time for teachers to meet for PLC’s.

    ● Each PLC will create norms for the year.

    ● Each PLC will establish SMART goals for the year related to student achievement.

    ● PLC’s will collect data related to SMART goals.

    Goal 4: Continue to expand and refine Social Emotional strategies and programs through data driven practices to meet the specific needs of students, families, and staff.

    Oversight Committee: Personnel and Curriculum/Technology

    ● Support staff members in training experiences within and outside of the district that focus in the area of SEL.

    ● Programs to inform and support student and staff SEL (e.g. Mind of a Student).

    ● Announce activities/events/sessions to parents and other community members (including leaders and senior citizens within the community) throughout the school year as they present themselves (in person and/or virtual).

    ● Conduct developmentally appropriate surveys to gather objective data to be used to drive programming decisions.

    ● Investigate Attitudes in Reverse Program to help support student mental health, specifically the therapy dog program.

    ● Launch of the HC Safe Schools app that allows students to make anonymous reports about concerns of safety or student wellness. The app is a student-focused tool for alerting caring adults about students who need help. This app is a great addition to our continuous effort to increase student safety and provide students with a safe, completely anonymous, outlet to share concerns.

    ● Implementation of an Employee Assistance Program for staff.

    ● Continue working with Care Plus NJ to provide mentalhealth workshops throughout the school year for parents.

    Goal 5: Continued work on district safety, security and facilities.

    Oversight Committee: Budget/Finance and School/Community (Full Board)

    ● The district safety committee will continue to work on developing a Comprehensive District Safety Plan to harden our facilities.

    ● Superintendent review of District Safety and Security.

    ○ District Safety and Security Program Review Timeline 2021-2022

    Month

    Activity

    Participants

    Facilitators

    Status

    October 6, 2021

    Focus groups of staff 

    LPS, WAS, MS/HS

    Tony Suozzo

    Outside Facilitator

    Completed

    October 26, 2021

    Meet with students in the Social Justice class 

    Students in Social Justice class


     

    Tony Suozzo

    Outside Facilitator

    Completed

    November 18, 2021

    Focus groups open to all students

    HS/MS 

    Tony Suozzo

    Outside Facilitator

    Completed

    November 22, 2021

    Focus groups with 5th and 6th grade students

    LPS/WAS

    Tony Suozzo

    Outside Facilitator

    Completed

    December 16, 2021

    Focus groups with  students of color

    HS/MS students of color

    Tony Suozzo

    Outside Facilitator

    Completed

    December 20, 2021

    Safety and Security Walk-Through

    NJDOE

    Building Principals

    N/A

    Completed

    January 19, 2022

    Focus group with community members of the Latinx community

    All three communities

    Tony Suozzo

    Outside Facilitator

    Completed

    January 27, 2022

    Open forum with community members 

    Open to community members

    Tony Suozzo

    Outside Facilitator

    Completed

    February 28, 2022

    Make recommendation to the board

    Tony Suozzo


    ● Conduct a school safety audit for each school in the district using the REMS Site Assessment tool.

    ● Student Discipline - Explore Restorative Justice Practices that include an educational component.

    ● Continue district-wide assessment committee to begin examining equity among grading practices (use of the zero, below 50, what is mastery, second chance learning).

    ● Conduct parent/guardian sessions that inform/educate regarding culturally responsive teaching practices (in person and/or virtual).

    ● Review of our ESL Program by an outside consultant