OUR ONE THING:

CREATING AVENUES

FOR ALL KIDS

TO SUCCEED.

This opportunity to work with Dr. Stembridge connects to our equity goal because we’ve adhered to our commitment to implement M.T.S.S. and have designed a system we feel proud of, and that system continues to require our reflection and response. Moreover, students feel our commitment to equity in the classroom. M.T.S.S. alone is insufficient to provide enrichment to all of our students because, though it is a significant protective factor, it only buffers what transpires in the week’s other 30 periods. The majority of students’ time is spent in classrooms; without students’ comfort in these spaces and ability to draw on their cultures during engaging, rigorous experiences, we will fail to provide for all.

Readiness

Our staff demonstrates that readiness to provide for all, to tackle equity work as demonstrated by its engagement in our enhanced M.T.S.S. and enthusiasm toward current professional development efforts. Nearly half of our licensed faculty is targeting students during enrichment each week, a voluntary exercise requiring more instructional preparation and rigorous P.L.C. work.

Instructional Rounds

Our staff demonstrates eagerness to engage in professional learning through participation in voluntary educational opportunities such as in-building instructional rounds. Monthly, a small cohort of teachers takes time away from the classroom or office to visit peers. We have waitlisted many employees due to an overwhelmingly positive response to this learning experience. These responses are demonstrative of a teaching staff who wants to be great and is thirsty for more tools that will aid students’ success.

Shifts in Need

In addition to demonstrating enthusiasm for learning, our staff acknowledges a need for change due to shifts in population and student need. Traditionally recognized as a great school, we struggle to balance approaches that have proved successful with innovation, and this need for innovation grows as our student body changes. Once primarily populated by students in our district, nearly 40 percent of our learners open enroll. Our school benefits from a more culturally heterogeneous composition, yet many of our practitioners continue to rely on pedagogy successful prior to this shift not because they don’t want to do better, but rather because they don’t know how to.

Meeting Students' Needs

Further, we recognize academic learnings are no longer sufficient to meet student needs. Mental health may be our greatest equity issue. Our students’ coping mechanisms are woefully insufficient to help them navigate their academic and personal struggles, manifesting in loss of students which continues to bewilder and devastate our community.

Given the adverse experiences with which our children have dealt, we need to utilize trauma-informed care. We recognize emotional struggles transcend the school but are desperate for tools that may get us closer to cultivating that belonging which might help us manage risk factors for these students for whom we care deeply, knowing students who fit into a culture are more likely to trust the adults in it.