Report on the MRHS Mission Review

1. Report on the MRHS Mission Review 5/6/09

2. Beginnings • Monadnock Regional High School strives to engage all students in a quality education that enables them to develop and meet their individual goals and prepares them to lead satisfying, productive lives as global citizens.

3. Beginnings • Monadnock Regional High School strives to engage all students in a quality education that enables them to develop and meet their individual goals and prepares them to lead satisfying, productive lives as global citizens.

4. Beginnings • Monadnock Regional High School will engage all students in a quality education that enables them to develop and meet their individual goals and prepares them to lead satisfying, productive lives as global citizens.

5. Beginnings • Monadnock Regional High School willprovide all students the opportunity to obtainin a quality education that enables them to develop and meet their individual goals and prepares them to lead successfulsatisfying, productive lives as globalproductive citizens.

6. Team Members • Jerry Kuhn – Faculty, Chair • Mike Brown – Faculty • Krystal Smith – Faculty • Joanne Stroshine– Faculty • Rob Skrocki– Students • Jon Hanninen– Students • Brian Pickering - Administration • Ken Dassau- Administration • Jane Fortson – School Board • Peter Hughes – Community Member • Wes Vaughn – Community Member

7. Initial Meeting February 10 • Chalk-Talk protocol • Allowed everyone to participate simultaneously without any one individual dominating the conversation • Engage • Provide • Successful • Quality education • Guarantee • Responsibility • Definition/Measurability* • Quality education • Success • Competencies • Responsibility • Engage • Purpose • Opportunity • Ownership • Who do we mean? • To what level? • Who is/are MRHS? The faculty and staff? (Is it a job description for the faculty/staff, or a statement for the broader community?)

8. Meeting 2 February 18 • Rick Dufour article: “Make the Words of Mission Statements Come to Life,” • …shared educational purpose… • …establish high standards of learning… • …address the different abilities of students… • …ensuring their growth… • …high levels of achievement. • Do we necessarily agree with Dufour in our practice? • Life-long learners was an important idea • Mrs. Stroshine’s List

9. Meeting 3 March 4 WARM REACTIONS • “individual goals”—every student can learn • “quality education”—high standards • “productive citizens”—purpose of education • “opportunity”—responsibility on the student • “successful”—purpose of education • “will”—ownership on staff • “all”—entire population COOL REACTIONS • “meet/exceed”—set higher standards • “opportunity”—weak statement, sounds as though we give students the right to fail • “life-long learning” or “self-directed learner”—missing this concept • “motivating students to reach their potential”—missing this concept • “all”—“each”? • “ever-changing world”—missing concept • “The ending needs a poetic tweak.”—The rhythm is incomplete. • “Is one sentence enough?”—Could we add another sentence to embrace some of the missing concepts?

10. Meeting 3 March 4 What if we scrap the whole thing and start from a basic, bare-bones statement? MRHS will provide a quality education for each student. Time to consult

11. Meeting 4 March 18 • Short version v. a new Modified Long version • “MRHS will provide all students the opportunity to obtain a quality education and to develop life-long learning skills that will enable them to meet their individual goals and prepare them to lead succesful lives as productive citizens in an ever-changing world.” What if we use the short form as a nugget of information, let’s look at what pieces we would take from the longer proposal to add to it, and what these additions might inherently add to or detract from the meaning we were seeking to convey.

12. Meeting 4 March 18 • Then, from the students: “MRHS is a community of life-long learners dedicated to academic, social and personal excellence.” Based on one of the missions on Mrs. Stroshine’s earlier lists. • It is a shorter statement • It is easier to remember and reflect on • It references the goals of the education we are imparting • It removes the debate concerning “will” and “strive” • It resolves the concern over “quality” vs.“excellent” • BUT: is it plagiarism? Time to consult again

13. Meeting 5 April 1 • Reports on discussions • Rob’s report from the students • How do we create a fundamental statement that is noticeably different from a similar statement? • Maybe we can rebuild a more concise statement from the original mission? • Are we jumping too far? How will the faculty react to this?

14. Meeting 6 April 15 • Time to push on • (Anonymous donation: “At MRHS we learn stuff”) • Two Questions • Should the object of the mission be curriculum or students? • Student-centered • Does the mission statement describe what we do or what we aspire to? • “….our reach should exceed our grasp….”

15. Meeting 6 April 15 The community of Monadnock Regional High School is dedicated to engaging all students in personal, civic, and academic growth.