FEO Documents

Date: Sunday, December 10, 2006
Source: The Sun Chronicle     (See PDF version of this document) (http://www.foxboroeducation.org/2006/PDF/06_12_10_TSC_vision.pdf)

My vision for a great school system;
New chief says city can make the leap from good to great
By: Pia Durkin

Five months ago, I began the work as your superintendent for Attleboro Public Schools. As the holiday season reconnects us with family and friends, it is also time for an update on our schools.

My first impressions, formed, in July, have grown into a district plan with many parts ñ connected under the scope of teaching and learning. My core values of ongoing communication, trust, transparency, and fairness have not changed since arriving. I have since shared several reports reflecting overall flat achievement scores and gaps in learning for many of our students.

We know that strong communities have strong schools built on strong relationships. Often, we focus on the relationships between the kids which make schools safe and orderly. However, we know that the relationships between the adults are equally, if not more important in getting the work done that separates "great" organisations from merely "good" ones.

I have set an ambitious three-year agenda that will affect our achievement targets, support services, expanded programs, and engaging the public with our schools. Our journey toward excellence for all schools - involves relationships inside and outside Attleboro Public Schools.

Inside Attleboro public schools
Within Attleboro public schools, we know we need to be vigilant in what we need to teach, how we ensure that every student is learning, and how we use effective interventions for those who are not. Results are not the product of serendipity or luck; they happen when a staff, as a team, focuses on goals that matter and believe that day-to-day efforts make a difference. Each school is now in the process of forming a leadership team - teachers from each grade level with their principal - to ensure that what we are teaching is indeed essential, that we are spending our time on the right things, and that we are checking student progress along the way. Five schools did not meet adequate yearly progress this year, largely due to our not meeting the needs of subgroups of students - low-income students, students with disabilities, and English language learners. In the nearly 150 classrooms, I have visited thus far, teachers have shared that small group instruction is difficult to balance and we must invest in quality programs and materials that will not only fill learning gaps, but accelerate those students furthest behind. These relationships and discussions in each school will develop between schools and between levels so that we develop consistent best practices and clear expectations from preschool through Grade 12.

We know that Attleboro High School's challenges are similar to other high schools across the country. We are in the midst of designing a facilities plan that will propose its future. However, experience and research shows that building changes, alone, do not make an exemplary high school: one where students feel engaged and connected, where the content is rigorous and demanding in every classroom - not just in Honors or Advanced Placement classes, where our class of 2010 (our current freshmen) will have every opportunity to reach the new MCAS score of 240 to graduate with a diploma, and where every student has true aspirations. I am deeply affirmed by parents, who are AHS graduates, who tell me they want more opportunities for their children than they had. At AHS, we will be resurrecting previous redesign work that was forged by teachers on how best to meet the needs of our AHS students and, in the coming weeks, I will be having lunch with small groups of students to ensure that their voice is part of those plans.

On the managerial side of this work, I am approaching the budget process with the commitment to review how each and every dollar is expended. I will continue to gather information and, regardless of past history, will keep the substantive needs of our schools at the center of the conversation. I will continue to frame the tough questions that will result in a transparent school budget, marked by candor and honest communication.

Outside Attleboro public schools
Schools can not do this work alone. The amount of parent involvement in our schools and the eagerness to make our schools better is inspiring. But, we need to do more in working with our parents, so that they can feel more confident in helping their child at home. Each school will be embarking on ways to better engage our parents to become true partners in their child's learning and we will be gathering information from parents and others on the value of homework and its connection to student achievement. With our community partners, I continue to have the benefit of working side-by-side with colleagues in our museums, library, hospital, agencies, businesses and our YMCA. Mayor Dumas and I confer on a regular basis and have in-depth meetings where the needs of the schools are discussed openly. I consider a major part of my job as superintendent to articulate the important issues facing our schools and proposing new ideas and solutions to meet those needs.

As a school system, we know there are no quick fixes and I appreciate the support of the School Committee, on behalf of the community, in tackling these issues. We know that Attleboro is not alone in this work. As Jim Collins states in Good to Great, "greatness is not a function of circumstance...greatness is a matter of conscious choice and discipline." Our journey toward excellence will be marked by the choices we make and the discipline we exert in making the leap from being satisfied with a good school system to becoming a truly great school system.

Happy Holidays!

PIA DURKIN is superintendent of Attleboro public schools.