Leadership Practices Inventory - In 2019, I participated in a "Leadership Challenge" workshop series through the Kentucky Association of School Administrators (KASA). Throughout this workshop series, superintendents, central office administrators, and other school leaders focused on enhancing their leadership capabilities and reflecting on their current practices. Part of that reflection was surveying your staff and other leaders in the district to gauge what they felt were your leadership strengths and weaknesses. I am proud of my ratings on this assessment completed by district staff. Not only because they gave me high marks, but because they provided me with anonymous, open, and honest feedback on which I was able to reflect and improve over the last five years.
Tiger Trolley - Over the last few years, we have made a significant effort to increase the job training opportunities that we offer for our students with more severe disabilties. The majority of these offerings take place outside of the school building and get our students out into the community with the support of a training staff member who helps focus on job-related skills that have led to the employment of several students. The special transportation bus was historically the mode of transportation used to go between locations. Knowing that many students felt this form of transportation was a bit stigmatizing when it came to during-the-day job-related transportation, we were able to utilize some funding to purchase a van that has now become a staple in the community and is transportation that is requested to be used by many clubs, sports teams, etc, when available.
Exceptional Child Education Facebook Page - Throughout my years as the administrator of our special education department, I have learned how valuable relationships, transparency, and communication can be. It seemed to me that our parents of students with disabilties, especially those with more severe disabilties, craved to know what their students did during the day. Especially those in the younger grades. A great deal of our students have communication barriers, so they can't often communicate how their day was when they got home. I wanted to provide a way for parents to regularly see the amazing things our teachers and therapists were doing with their kids each and every day. Parents know that we are open, honest, and willing to give them a glance into their child's school world, which is not generally an easy view to get when your child has a disability.
Holiday and Special Events - It has always been important to me that the families I serve trust me. I have worked hard over the last ten years cultivating and caring for positive relationships with our families - those with and without students with disabilities. Around holidays, I would often hear parents discuss with teachers how they wish their children had better opportunities to participate in holiday events that were more considerate of their differences. I formed a team of teachers and therapists, and we discussed ways in which we could give parents and their children an opportunity to make memories in an environment that took into account their various sensory, communication, and behaviorally related needs. I have also included a couple of examples of fundraisers and special events we have done to benefit the WHAS Crusade for Children.
MTSS Meetings and Supports - Along with one of our school psychologists, I lead and conduct quarterly meetings focusing on district efforts to provide a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) system for our schools. Much of that work centers around reviewing positive behavior interventions and support (PBIS), mental health needs, student wellness survey data, and intervention and referral processes. These meetings have led to a true collaboration amongst building when it comes to reviewing, discussing, and planning for interventions with the data we gain through our various assessments taken by students.
BIMAS Screener - As a district, for the last four or five years, we have administered a student wellness and behavior assessment to students in grades K-12. This is administered at least twice per year so that we can take a beginning-of-the-year baseline and a closer to the end of the year follow-up. After reviewing baseline data from the first administration, my team and I work with schools to help identify appropriate interventions that target students' individual needs. After the second administration, we compare each student's responses to see if the interventions are effective. On these assessments, students in grades 7-12 self-report, and teachers complete questionnaires. For students in K-6, the teachers complete questionnaires that provide the behavioral data needed to make determinations about student behavior and well-being.
Day Treatment Program (ABLE Program) - Around four or five years ago, our district was struggling to meet the mental health needs of some of our most behaviorally challenging students. While we had in-school therapy as an option. That was not enough for some students. While the therapy would allow the needed outlet for emotional needs a time or two per week, students were still struggling outside of that. After hearing of a day treatment program in Northern Kentucky that was a partnership between a school district and a private behavioral health provider, I took a team to visit. From that visit, we knew that we wanted something similar for our population to help alleviate the burden of parents traveling out of town for similar treatment options. From that visit, one of our school-based partners and I collaborated on a plan to make a day treatment possible for Bardstown students. That program called the "Adaptive Behavioral Learning Environment (ABLE)" has been a true benefit to not just our district, but families in the community.
The Kindness Project - Coming out of the pandemic, transitioning back to school was difficult for both teachers and students. Students came back to school to a whole different type of learning environment than before the pandemic started. Teachers were forced to be not only educators but nurses, mental health experts, and many more things they only had to dabble in during pre-pandemic times. My team of school psychologists was searching for ways they could get more connected to the schools they serve and wanted to do something nice for the teachers, a way to lift their spirits. What started small with them having students write thank you notes to teachers has transitioned into so much more. We now have something in Bardstown City Schools that we call "The Kindness Project." Each week, my team pulls students from class and works intentionally to help them understand the importance of kindness. Students from elementary to high school have written kind notes to each other anonymously to ensure that every student has at least one positive thing said about them during the school year. Our preschool and primary-aged students can wear the "kindness cape" when caught doing something kind. Teachers are leaving notes and treats for fellow colleagues. We have even expanded the kindness beyond the halls of our district and have had students featured in magazines, like this one, for delivering kind notes to retirement homes, mother houses, first responders, and many more places where people need reminders that people care about them.
Zero the Hero - The 100th day of school has always been a big celebration at Bardstown Primary School (BPS). Kids dress up in 100th-day shirts, make pictures, play games, and celebrate their love of learning. Another BPS tradition is something that has taken place for at least 15 years. That tradition is a visit from "Zero the Hero." Zero comes to school only on the hundredth day, and it is something students always look forward to. He hands out zero-shaped candy, talks about what other superheroes are up to, tells jokes to the kids, and doesn't mind making himself act a bit silly to make the visit a memorable time for the kids. At the same time my oldest daughter, Morgan, was in kindergarten, the school found itself needing a new Zero. While I was hesitant to play the part when first asked, I have been coming back for at least the last seven years. Great news: the tights still fit! You can view a video of Zero arriving a couple of years ago by clicking here or here.
Playground Additions/ Expansions - Knowing that play and recreation are a huge part of meeting the needs of our students, especially those with disabilties, I have submitted several grant applications to the WHAS Crusade for Children over the last ten years that have led to the addition of two special needs playgrounds in our district and additions to another two playgrounds by adding equipment specifically tailored to the needs and interests of students with exceptionalities. This effort has led to more play opportunities for students and has, with equal importance, provided families with somewhere to spend time together when school is not in session.
Snoezelen (Sensory) Rooms - In my current district, we have a significant number of students with autism and other developmental delays that impact the sensory system and emotional regulation abilities. We have a much larger population when compared to most districts due to the fact that we have over 150 families that send students with disabilties to our schools that do not reside within the district's boundaries. Not all of these students have significant disabilties, but several of them do. Another use of grant funding has been to equip each one of our schools, other than the building of our alternative program, with what are called "snoezelen" rooms, more commonly thought of as sensory rooms. These spaces have allowed for a place of rest, rejuvenation, and regulation for our students who require the most significant assistance when it comes to behavior and sensory needs.
Indoor Playground Project - While we have two playgrounds at our early childhood center, we lacked meaningful play opportunities inside that would assist with the gross motor development of our youngest students. While there is a multi-purpose room, it is somewhat limited and not a first choice for students when it comes time for their daily gross motor activities. With grant funding, I was able to have an indoor play structure installed, similar to what families are used to seeing at Chic-fil-A or other restaurants. This has been an amazing place for students and also aided as a recruitment tool for new families.
District Safety Council Meeting Agendas SY 23-24 - Examples of agendas I have made for use when the district safety council meets to address areas relating to crisis preparedness and response and school safety concerns.
Communication Matrix - To help school leaders understand how the flow of communication would go for various types of crisis events, the director of communications and I collaborated on this document. This has helped our district communicate more clearly and effectively during emergency situations.
Crisis Communication Templates - In the event of a crisis, we wanted our school leaders to be able to communicate effectively and efficiently. The director of communications and I collaborated to create a folder of templates that could be used by school or district leadership to send out accurate messaging without the need to think of the right thing to say during a challenging time.
Crisis Response Resources - Over the summer of 2023, I hosted a PREPaRE training training for in-district and out-of-district school leaders, counselors, school psychologists, and social workers. From that, we created binders and electronic folders of crisis response materials that schools could use as needed.
School Emergency Guide (English) - In an effort to help staff, students, and families better understand the terminology the district would use during an emergency event, we created this document and shared it with our community. This outlines the steps for each type of emergency and lets families know when and how to expect communication during an emergency.
School Emergency Guide (Spanish) - Same as the above, only in Spanish.
Incident Command Structure - District Example - I wanted the district and our schools to have a very clear structure for who would do what in the event of an emergency. Each school was given a template to use to divide which staff member(s) would play which role during an emergency. Some school staff also took part in online training through FEMA, which explained the ins and outs of each role.
Reunification Site Agreements - I worked with local churches and businesses to get reunification agreements to ensure that students and staff had a place to go should they ever need to leave their respective schools' premises.
Threat Assessment Information - I worked with the Kentucky Center for School Safety to host threat assessment training for school administrators, psychologists, counselors, and social workers. This led to the creation of shared and common resources for our schools to ensure consistent practice when conducting threat assessments or responding to mental health emergencies.
SRO Need to Talk Poster - The SRO and I continually work together to ensure he is available to respond to events when they happen and be proactive in making sure students know he is someone they can trust and confide in. We created this poster and have it displayed in locations around our campuses.
BCS Volunteer Handbook - This has not yet been rolled out. However, the intent is to work with the human resources department and schools to ensure that we provide proper onboarding and training to volunteers before allowing them in our schools.
Bardstown City Schools Law Enforcement Services Proposal - This proposal was presented to the board of education when the superintendent and I decided to explore creating our own district-operated police department.
Presentation to the Board of Education - I gave this presentation and outlined the expected costs and benefits of having our own police department.
Application Packet for Department Formation - This application packet shows part of what we had to submit to the state to request approval for department formation.
ORI Request Form - This form was used to request an ORI # from the Kentucky State Police to allow our department to interact on the same radio frequencies as other first responders, run names, license plates, search for warrants, etc.
Mission and Vision Statement - This is the mission and vision statement that we developed for our department.
SRO Oath of Office - Oath of Office signed by Officer and Board Chair.
BCS Law Enforcement Services Policy Procedure Manual - With the creation of our own law enforcement entity, we had to come up with and get approval for our own operating policies and procedures.
Badge Design - A picture of the bade we designed for our department.
Cruiser - With student feedback being given, we designed what our cruisers would look like.