There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.
~Colin Powell
Over the course of the year, the district has engaged parents, teachers, students, and community members in a process to create a plan that will move our district from great to greater. The product of this hard work is our Strategic Blueprint. This plan is comprised of three goal areas:
- Building Learning Capacity
- Building Learning Environments
- Building Human Capital
This week I would like to dig into our third goal area, Building Human Capital. The goal statement for Building Human Capital reads We will ensure that Pleasantdale is recruiting, hiring, and retaining high-level professionals that engage in collaborative professional development and are committed to learning and implementing innovative strategies focused on improved student learning.
The focus of this goal area is to ensure that we hire the best new teachers and support the wonderful teachers already in our schools. When we think about building human capital, we consider things like professional development for teachers, parent learning opportunities, how to best recruit new staff, how to best on-board new hires, creating and selling our “brand,” internal communication, teacher evaluation systems, student discipline programs, and student/staff recognition programs, just to name a few.
At our winter institute day, the staff took the Future Planning Committee’s vision for this goal area and drafted action steps to make it a reality. The focus for the first year is to lay a groundwork on which we can build robust hiring, retention, and professional development programs. As you can see from the action steps below, we are surely headed in the right direction.
| Develop a robust professional development system that is relevant, timely, pertinent, and personalized for every staff member and enhances teaching and learning through collaboration |
| Build a comprehensive mentoring program for all staff members (teachers, support staff, instructional aides, substitutes, and administrators) |
| Explore building and district schedules that allow staff time to have the greatest impact on teaching and learning |
| Review and align current HR practices for hiring to our new mission, beliefs, and Portrait of a Graduate |
| Continue collaboration toward improved evaluation system |
| In collaboration with TAP (Teachers Association of Pleasantdale), investigate various methods/models for collective bargaining |
Hiring and retention of teachers has a meaningful impact on our students and our staff and helps to build strong schools. In the coming year, I am excited about digging deep into this goal area and ensuring we have the best of the best to teach in our schools.
Wow, great progress! Thanks!