If you cannot redirect the wind - then adjust your wings and… DARE TO SOAR!”

1. In Pursuit of Excellence If you cannot redirect the wind - then adjust your wings and… DARE TO SOAR!”

2. MISSION STATEMENT The mission of IWCS is to provide rigorous, academic programs in a safe school environment that fosters high levels of student achievement. The division is committed to offering educational programs characterized by high academic standards that prepare students to exceed state and national accreditation standards. The curriculum will prepare students to be lifelong learners for the ever changing global community.

3. How Do We Prepare for the Mission?

4. The BEST for ALL… The Best Educational System The Best Educational Program and Practices The Best and Most Effective Personnel (ALL) Set the Expectation That FAILURE is NOT an OPTION

5. Good-To-Excellence Agenda • Failure is NOT an Option and Ensure the BEST for ALL • Create Collaborative opportunities • Establish Effective Relationship and Communication channels with stakeholders • Ensure Fiscal Responsibility • Establish non- negotiable as Pillars of Progress

6. How to Ensure Access to the BEST Educational Systems: Rigorous and Relevant Curriculum Be committed to ensuring that ALL students have access to the best education available… make certain that students are exposed to a rigorous and relevant 21st Century curriculum that prepares them to be college- and career-ready. Rapid and Responsive Monitoring Our monitoring systems of student progress and interventions will be both rapid and responsive to individual student needs and implemented by educators who understand the importance of meaningful relationships and their implications on student learning.

7. How to Ensure Access to the BEST Educational Programs & Practices Data Driven Decision-making and Research based Practices To ensure that all students have access to the best educational programs and best practices, decisions must be data driven (qualitative and quantitative), must be based on best practices research, must be implemented with fidelity, and must be measurable. Without adherence to this philosophy we simply have opinions and will not make adequate progress. This philosophy of focusing on results (“END IN MIND”) has enabled teams to close achievement gaps, increase student success, and to remove the options of failure.

8. Ensure Access to the Best and Most Effective Personnel: Recruit, retain, recognize, and reward highly effective principals Recruit, retain, recognize, and reward highly effective teachers Improve the relationship with the local universities/colleges and and provide aspiring educators with practical opportunities in IWCS Provide job-embedded, on-going staff development, and support the development of teacher leaders

9. Set the Expectation Failure Is NOT an Option • Response is DIRECT - Students are not invited to seek additional help the plan REQUIRES students to receive additional assistance. • Base our response on PROACTIVE INTERVENTIONS rather than remediation. Take action before they fail. • Response is SYSTEMATIC - school-wide rather than according to discretion of individual teachers. • Response is TIMELY& TARGETED - before it is too late. Quickly identify students who need additional time and support. Address individual needs of each student.

10. Where Are We?

11. Elementary Schools

12. Middle Schools

13. High Schools

14. How Do We Sustain Success & Continue to Improve ?

15. Analyze the Data • Obtain testing data (SOL/District/Quarterly Assessments ) • Discuss results with content administration & dept. chairperson/ grade level chairs • Identify strands/areas to improve upon • Develop a Plan of Action (POA)- school/ indiv teacher & dept./grade level • Develop benchmark assessment periods • Review AYP/NCLB information frequently • Identify Special Ed. students and review accommodations method

16. Teacher Work Week • Identify the IWCS mission and FIND your schools NICHE • Identify ways your school can LIVE that mission • Identify ways your school can COACH and help others • Discuss New Changes to SOL/ District/AYP/NCLB

17. Teacher Work Week • Review/tweak Blue Prints, Pacing Guides & topics • Review teacher pass/fail/adv. pass rates • Discuss POA for 1st nine weeks • Align goals with school-wide (SIP), individual, and department/level objectives(POA) • Develop comprehensive Pre-Test & set testing date...include SpEd

18. First Nine Weeks • Hold department/grade level meetings to discuss pacing of team members and assess POA - develop a timeline for review • Discuss teaching strategies, resources, lesson plans components, etc… • Develop/identify interim and grading period assessment dates • Develop remediation options for your department & begin after 1st interim (4.5)

19. Principal & StudentsI have come to a frightening conclusion. I am the decisive element in my building. It is my personal approach that creates the climate, the culture, and the learning community. It is my daily foresight that makes dreams a reality. As the leader, I possess tremendous power to make a students educational journey miserable or engaging. I can be a tool of lost learning opportunities or an instrument of great teaching & learning. I can humiliate or honor, hurt or close achievement gaps. In all situations it is my instructional and servant leadership abilities that will determine whether a student will be a statistic or prepared for the 21st Century. --Derived from an original poem – “Teacher & Child” by H. Ginott

20. Prepare To...

21. Begin With The End in Mind… Student Achievement Communication College & Career Readiness Safe & Secure Environment Effective Teachers & Principals

22. Establish Good-To-Excellence Goals

23. Pursue Excellence…and Soar To Phenomenal Heights - Where Failure Is NOT an OPTION