Dr. David Hopson
As I reflect on the many workshops, discussions and presentations that I attended at the recent Association of School Business Officials (ASBO) national conference, I am struck by a quote by George Edward Moore, “A man travels the world in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.” Listening and participating in these activities—representing the best ideas and policy implementation in schools today—showed me that Gateway is right on target in so many areas, and ahead of the curve in many more.
Gateway staff continue to share district happenings with many people and through a wide variety of means yet Gateway’s successes seem to be overlooked by our own constituencies. I’m not saying that the district doesn’t have areas that need improvement, and even in the areas for which we’re positively recognized across the Commonwealth (i.e., our technology infrastructure and safety planning) we can’t rest on our laurels. For every specific concern from individuals I hear related to a particular student or incident, I hear at least 2 or 3 positives from others. The problem is that, just as in much of the media, bad news is interesting and sells, good news often goes underreported and shared, so the negatives often make the rounds while good news elicits few responses.
While space is limited, let me share a few of the positives that are evident to some people and where we’re held in high regard outside of the district. I would say that we’re moving in positive directions in these areas because of specific staff members who go above and beyond their already difficult jobs to ensure that certain areas move forward—and this in itself is a very positive aspect of the district. Starting with academics, we have a district that’s kept its focus on educating the whole child, yet is improving standardized scores and positioning itself for even better achievement through staff efforts to rewrite curriculum to incorporate national core standards. Additionally we’ve provided access at the individual teacher level to student data across a wide spectrum of indicators, have teachers piloting a new mathematics program, focusing on ensuring that our investment in the writing program yields results (knowing full well that this will take a number of years), and have teachers piloting electronic texts, blended learning, and various means of communicating with parents. We have a great group of students working on improving school climate and educating younger students on effective bystander interventions and positive behavior; these students are also working with the parents’ advisory group on school climate. Both of these groups were initiated to deal with the new bullying law yet have morphed into becoming a positive tool for overall school climate and participation in school activities by students and parents. As mentioned earlier, our technology and safety programs are renown far beyond our borders where we’re asked to help other districts set up similar programs as well as present our programs in various venues. If one takes a look at our behavioral interventions, our student discussion groups, our student assistance centers, our work with students on the autism spectrum, and our efforts at helping students with college and career choices, you’ll see great results from a group of dedicated guidance and adjustment counselors, paraprofessionals, teachers and administrators working collaboratively in the best interest of students.
Even in the area of finance and budgeting, our efforts at being transparent, of providing detailed information that’s available to everyone and of our willingness to work with individuals and groups seems to exceed the ‘model’ programs shared at the national business managers’ conference. Coupled with our positive annual audits, our written protocols, and the efficient processing of various functions it’s easy to see how well our back-office staff manage the district’s financial affairs and are doing all of this in a positive and friendly manner.
All in all I believe our staff have done an outstanding job of completing all of the myriad, and often tedious, detail preparation essential to success. This exemplifies a Robert Schuller quote, “Spectacular achievement is always preceded by unspectacular preparation.” I’m confident that our employees throughout the district are preparing for measurable increases in achievement.
