After each school leadership team reflected on its school culture, community, and the key contributing factors to student growth, they used this information to select the Strategic Plan Indicators that would have the greatest positive impact for their students.  Each school was directed to select two to six indicators on which to focus during the 2018-19 school year.  Certainly, we all know that if we focus narrowly and deeply, we are more likely to realize positive results.  The indicators that this school’s leadership team selected are noted below.

Throughout the next 3 years, schools will focus on their chosen Strategic Plan Indicators as the drivers to increase student engagement and achievement within their schools.  They will choose strategies to help them grow or increase within each indicator and will monitor and evaluate the student and school changes that take place along the journey.  Below you will see what this school imagines their students and school to look like in 2021 after having focused and worked on their chosen indicators for three years.

Shady Side Elementary will continue to foster a schoolwide culture of literacy.  Our teachers will view themselves as “experts”, and will continue to provide quality guided reading instruction along with other strategies and opportunities to help their students grow. Our students will see themselves as “readers”, will feel comfortable and successful reading, and will have specific reading goals that they are working towards. In addition, our students will understand the importance of literacy and lifelong learning, and will choose to read more frequently during their free time.  Lastly, adults will see students reading for pleasure and persevering through grade-level texts.  Adults will also see an increase in the percentage of students who read on or above grade level schoolwide. [Indicator 5]

Our students will continue to be engaged in authentic, relevant independent tasks related to whole-group and small-group instruction. Students performing below grade level expectations will have a variety of supports in place to facilitate their academic growth and achievement. Students will say that they feel confident and prepared for standardized assessments; and will persevere and feel successful when completing them. They will utilize the test taking strategies they have been practicing throughout the school year, and will select the strategies with which they feel the most comfortable. Students will take pride in their growth, their academic achievement, and their increasing district assessment and state assessment scores. Adults will also see an increase in the percentage of students across ALL student groups meeting or exceeding standards as indicated in district and PARCC assessment performance. [Indicator 6]