This domain - Strong leaders, committed to achieving educational equity, are critical to the processes of approval, accreditation, accountability, and continuous improvement. Leaders, from school boards to superintendents, principals to teacher leaders, set a vision for achieving educational equity, offering students meaningful access to the educational resources they need at the right moment, at the right level, and with the right intensity to not only reach high expectations for learning, but also to discover and explore their passions and make meaningful connections within the context of their postsecondary interests, careers, and civic lives. Leaders must possess the knowledge, skills, and mindset to systematize equity.
Gibbon Public Schools utilizes a comprehensive and collaborative continuous improvement process that reflects a Multi-tiered System of Supports. The “planning process” emphasizes two broad areas of focus that includes an academic arm and a cultural arm of continuous improvement.
Board of Education
In February of 2017, the board of education participated in a strategic planning process that established a goal, objectives, and strategies around four broad areas. The four broad goals reflect areas of focus brought by the new superintendent. The board of education reviewed, analyzed and offered feedback on the progress of those goals during a special board meeting that occurred in March of 2022.
Membership on the board of education has changed during this time period. Greg Smyth and Alan Greene chose to end their tenure on the board of education. Jodi Bendfeldt and Michelle Eustler are recent additions to the board of education.
Current members of the board of education include:
Brian Kroll, President
Kim Wadkins, Vice President
Brandon Kee, Treasurer
Scott Baker, Secretary
Jodi Bendfeldt
Michelle Eutsler
School Improvement Team
The school improvement team moved from a focus on compliance to providing guidance and leadership focused on student achievement. This change in focus coincided with a move from AdvancED to Nebraska Frameworks. The school improvement team functions as a “steering committee” that has the primary responsibility for leading, coordinating, and monitoring our school improvement efforts. The school improvement team is the academic arm of continuous improvement.
The school improvement goal: Students will improve their academic skills in all content
areas.
The strategy/intervention: Strategies identified through teacher collaboration in
professional learning communities.
The composition of the school improvement team has evolved and changed during this time period. The original team included Troy Lurz (secondary principal), Vern Fisher (superintendent), Stacy Rockefeller (secondary math), Brett Kluever (fifth/sixth grade teacher), and Deb Larson (secondary media specialist). During this time period, the school improvement team added Bobby Kelley (secondary principal), Tina Godfrey, (elementary principal), Nesha Yockey (second grade teacher).
Current composition of the school improvement team include:
Nesha Yockey, Second Grade Teacher
Brett Kluever, Fifth/sixth grade teacher
Stacy Rockefeller, Secondary Math Teacher
Deb Larson, Secondary Media Specialist and DAC
Tina Godfrey, Elementary Principal
Bobby Kelley, Secondary Principal
Dr. Vern Fisher, Superintendent
The structure of the Thundering Herd reflects the behaviors of our school improvement team and is the cultural arm of school improvement. The Thundering Herd serves as the steering committee providing leadership, coordination and the monitoring of the improvement efforts of our four sub-teams.
Sub-Teams of the Thundering Herd
The sub-teams are structured around the four strategic goals of culture, college and career, academic achievement, and structures. The sub-teams work on key initiatives or areas of focus identified by the Thundering Herd, and improvement efforts are aligned to the district’s school improvement goal.
Key indicators of the Leadership Domain
The board of education - strategic goals, allocation of resources, monitors the district’s effort toward achieving goals.
The building level leadership - supports district goals, guides the implementation of key initiatives, provides instructional leadership.
The school improvement team - lead, coordinate, and monitor our academic school improvement efforts
The Thundering Herd - lead, coordinate, and monitor our cultural improvement efforts.
The Buffalo Council
Key Communicators