Plymouth Public Schools Strategic Plan Update

Goal 1: “The Whole Child” Objective 1.1: Enhance student social and emotional growth, health and welfare, and demonstration of civic responsibility

Subcommittee Work So Far: Took inventory of district initiatives and programs related to “The Whole Child” (limited list due to small number of and experiences of subcommittee members) Discussed “wish list” (How could PPS have the greatest impact on students? What would this look like?) Discussed consistency across district regarding what is currently in place

What Needs To Be Done: Inventory what we are doing as a district (eliminate redundancy; improve consistency) Improve communication district-wide (what programs, practices are effective; who is doing what?) Increase emphasis on Health and Wellness (curriculum, PE, after-school programs; setting as a priority) Identify external (human service) resources available to PPS students and families (“new” PYDC)

Goal 2: Increase Family and Community Engagement Objective 2.1: Strengthen family participation in schools and in student learning and development. Objective 2.2: Enhance communication between school and home, as well as with the community at large.

Key Message It is the view of the Plymouth Public Schools that educating children takes effort and support from all stakeholders. Students, parents, teachers, administrators, support personnel, and the greater community need to be in constant communication to maximize collaboration.

How Do We Communicate? School Newsletters Parent Surveys Friday Notes All-Call Automated Messages District websites Parent Conferences Local Paper Accessibility of School Staff New Website EDTV

Engaging the Community PTA Open Houses Information Nights College Fair Tech Expo Concerts Art Exhibits Career Days Community Service Learning Sporting Events EDTV Honors Breakfasts

Moving Forward Expanding the use of Aspen Plymouth Voyager: Quarterly Magazine Parent Fun Nights Use of EDTV PTA collaboration Feedback from parents Hosting parent involvement workshops

GOAL 3: Enhance Academic Achievement Of All Students Student Achievement Four-year graduation rates and post-secondary statistics Performance on national, state, and local assessments Special Education student performance Best practices (curriculum & instruction) Using student data to drive instruction Professional Development Service Learning

Internal Communication: Within School Stakeholders Department and Faculty Meetings Embedded Professional Development In-services Administrative Meetings (PCD, CCC, etc.) Collaborative Planning Time Data Teams/Literacy Teams Newsletters (departmental, memos, e-mails) Instructional Videos

External Communication: Parents, Students, And The Community District’s Website (upgrading 7/12) Friday Notes Parent Information Nights/Celebrations Classroom Websites/Teacher Newsletters School Monthly Newsletters Open Houses PTA Newsletters/ Websites EDTV Aspen

Analyzing and Communicating Student Achievement Data Analyzing Data District Data Team Building Data Teams Use of Aspen/TestWiz Parent Conferences School/Department/Grade Level Meetings Child Study Teams Communicating to Parents Report Cards Progress Reports Parent Conferences Parent Portal

Professional Development Inservice (8 two-hour sessions a year) Faculty, Department, Grade-level meetings Job-embedded opportunities (workshops, demonstration lessons, modeling, etc.) Graduate courses/In-district offerings (PAC) School-based action teams (literacy, data) Self-directed study groups

Recommendations Continued use of PCD time to focus on academic goals District messages to staff that report progress toward academic achievement goals Increased use of technology to share ideas and demonstrate strategies Continue to utilize tools (TestWiz, Aspen, etc.) to analyze data and make recommendations to improve teaching and learning Expand ways in which academic progress and performance is reported and explained to parents

Objective 3.1: Expand student access and exposure to current technology and real world applications.

Student Access And Exposure Where we are currently: Access through labs, carts, classroom stations Access to online file sharing (Google Docs, Edmodo), Aspen, presentation and office programs, online databases, online text High school technology courses What we need to continue progress: Allow more mobile devices into the schools for educational use Continue to evolve and update software, online textbooks Middle school technology courses that integrate technology in all areas

Educators Where we are currently: What we need to continue progress: Our educators are increasingly more receptive to using technology Teachers are comfortable with a selection of software What we need to continue progress: Survey staff on what support they need to progress Continue professional development Continue to upgrade hardware and software

Tech Support Continue to support educators in the classroom with technology integration Model uses of new hardware and software Continue to upgrade the wireless networks to support the integration of mobile devices

Communicating With Families Provide parents with technology overview of software and hardware used by students while in school Family Technology Nights for students to showcase their work and provide parents with software support Key Message: Technology and technology literacy are 21st Century skills that must be integrated into curriculum and instruction

Community Awareness Communicate our goal and promote technology usage through the newspaper, website and EDTV Create short public service announcements showing students using technology Invite the community into the schools for technology showcases during the evening Key Message: Technology integration in our schools is a necessity, not a luxury