Strategic Planning Design Team: Community Report

Posted on January 17, 2020 by Joel Higdon

Dear Creswell Community,

This will be my final community report on the Strategic Planning Design Team work.

Prior to the winter break, the Strategic Planning Design Team met on December 4^th, to complete our work with Vision Creation Consultant, Mike Dugas, on developing the Strategic 5 Bold Steps to improving student achievement and success in the Creswell School District. Over the last three months, stakeholder representatives from all groups in Creswell and beyond have unselfishly devoted their time to this very important and critical work for the future of our district, community and most importantly, our kids.

In addition to the perspectives and voices of the Design Team members, input and feedback from the Community Forums and Community Surveys were also facilitated by the Design Team and included in the development of the 5 Bold Steps as well. After many nights and hours together, shared with laughter and tears, I am excited to present to you (our community) our collective draft vision developed from a comprehensive community-wide needs assessment.

Our Design Team Vision Themes:

Pathways with Purpose
CSD Exceeds All Student Needs
Community Involvement and Collaboration
Relevant Learning
Academic Achievement
Prepared for Life

Once we finalized the Vision Themes, we then worked in our groups on the 5 Bold Steps and what the outcomes for each step would look like. These 5 Bold Steps are really the actions we want to take to achieve our vision for Creswell School District. Each team then reported out to the whole group, then we all voted on which steps embodied our ideas of how to accomplish our vision for success.

The following Bold Steps received the most votes:

Add an additional academic counselor at the high school.
Develop “life” skills. Ex: Budgeting, parenting, building a resume, etc.
Develop a training program and continuing education for students around mental health and support for themselves and their peers.
Provide school staff the tools, resources, training, and support to inspire learning for ALL students with ALL needs, at ALL levels.
Attract and retain highly qualified staff.

As we move forward, the District Steering Committee will continue the work with Systems Development Consultant, Bill Kentta to formalize the district’s mission, vision and action plan drafts to present to the staff and community for final input and then to the School Board for approval. The final step in the process will be submitting the School Improvement Application with our vision and strategic plan to the Department of Education for approval to access the Student Success Act funding.

Thank you everyone for your participation in the Needs Assessment process! You have contributed to what will genuinely be the community’s vision for the future of our school district.

I would also like to acknowledge and extend a very special thank you with much appreciation, gratitude and affection to the Design Team members listed below.

Sincerely,

Mike Johnson, Superintendent

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Strategic Planning Design Team Members:

Amy Aguero, District Director of Special services, Creswell School District

Doug Allison, Parent, Creswell High School

Mike Anderson, Board Member, Creswell Board of Directors

Shirley Burrus, Principal, Creswell Middle School

Dawn Dean, Teacher (CES), President, Creswell Education Association

Patrick Doyle, Teacher, Creswell High School

Megan Foote, Parent, Creslane Elementary School

Deron Fort, Dean, HS Connections and Cooperative Education, Lane Community College

Kristina Gonda, Student (12^th grade), Creswell High School

Michaela Gross, Student (10^th grade) Creswell High School

Kyle Guthrie, Student (10^th grade), Creswell High School

Amy Halley, Principal, Creslane Elementary School

Sarah Hanson, Transportation Director, Creswell School District

Joel Higdon, Facilities/Technology Director, Creswell School District

Sherry Duerst-Higgins, Board Member, Lane Education Service District

Rob Jerome, Teacher, Creswell Middle School

James Johnson, President Oregon School Employees Association

Mike Johnson, Superintendent, Creswell School District

Amy Knudsen, President, Creswell City Council

Carter Kruger, Student (10^th grade), Creswell High School

Kim Kuhnhausen, Teacher, Creswell Middle School

Debbie Larson, Teacher, Creslane Elementary School

Skye Leach, Student (12^th Grade), Creswell High School

Noel Nash, Owner, Creswell Chronicle Newspaper

Lacey Nendel, Technology Specialist, Creswell School District

Amanda O’Reilly, Student (11^th grade), Creswell High School

Mark Parker, Board Member, Creswell Board of Directors

Crystal Perdue, Student/Family Services Coordinator, Creswell School District

Devin Pixton, Assistant Principal, Creslane Elementary School

Brian Popp, Deputy, Lane County Sheriff’s Department

Paul Randall, Principal (retired), Creswell Community Member

Lacey Risdal, Board Member, Creswell Board of Directors

Tony Scurto, Superintendent, Lane Education Service District

Natalie Smathers, Parent, K-12

Bill Spencer, Owner, Point S Tires

Brandon Standridge, Athletic Director, Creswell High School

Kathy Thompson, Creswell District Employee (Retired), Community Representative

Kim Varo, Education Assistant, Creslane Elementary

Cayle Walker, Student (10th grade), Creswell High School

Sierra Walter, Student (9^th grade), Creswell High School

Adam Watkins, Principal, Creswell High School

Stay Informed, Enroll in our FlashAlert Notification System

Posted on January 14, 2020 by Joel Higdon

Stay informed by subscribing to our FlashAlert Notification System.

When Creswell School District notifies the system that the school is closed or the “snow/ice bus routes” are in effect, FlashAlert will send you an alert via an email and/or a text message.

With the FlashAlert service you can receive notifications anywhere text messages or emails can be received. Click here to subscribe to FlashAlert

wintry-mix Winter Weather can be tricky.

When winter weather arrives and affects travel conditions, we are often asked, “Is Creswell School District operating on a regular schedule?”

School closure or delayed start decisions will typically be made by 6:00 AM. School closure or delay start information will be:

Announced on local radio and television stations,
Posted on FlashAlert.net, the District website, and Facebook, and
Broadcast by FlashAlert Messenger to subscribers via email and push notifications through the FA Messenger app for iOS and Android. We encourage you to subscribe to FlashAlert today.

We encourage families to make transportation and attendance decisions for their child(ren) based on their own assessment of travel conditions at their location. Safety is always paramount.

Information regarding the Oregon Statewide Assessment System (OSAS)

Posted on January 14, 2020 by Joel Higdon

Dear Parents and Guardians,

In the very near future, you will be receiving information from the district regarding the Oregon Statewide Assessment System (OSAS). We will be administering the assessments for Language Arts, Science and Math. The OSAS assessment provides critical information about your student’s academic progress and how well our curriculum is addressing the Common Core Standards that prepare students for the rigors of high school and graduation, college, careers, citizenship and other post-high school opportunities and experiences.

As educators, teachers and administrators use state tests, work samples, and other forms of assessments to measure how well our students are learning and determine how best to support them moving forward.

Each student’s performance on the OSAS assessment in literacy provides information on Reading, Writing, Listening, Speaking, and Research and Inquiry. With this information, we have the ability to determine:

Which students are below grade level reading and in need of: reading intervention, writing skills development, improvements on speaking, listening, and research and inquiry.
How many students need intervention, so we can assess our programs for adequate supports and opportunities.
Who and how many would need accelerated courses or coursework and how many accelerated courses to provide in our master schedules for the coming year.

The math results provide information on student’s performance in Concepts and Procedures, Problem Solving, Data Analysis, and Communicating Reasoning:

We look to the results as indicators for math level placement for each student.
We can determine from the results which students and how many will need extra math support, and which students will need accelerated math courses or coursework.
We can forecast the appropriate number of accelerated classes and support classes that we will need to accommodate the number of students at the various math levels.

The science results will provide information on student’s proficiency in 3D Physical Science, 3D Life Science, and 3D Earth Science.

Students and their parents use the results to check mastery of key learning targets.
Teachers use formative assessment practices and interim/benchmark assessments in the classroom to identify gaps in student learning and adjust instruction.
Teachers and administrators use summative assessment results to review learning patterns annually, to determine systems-level changes that might be required from year-to-year.

The results also inform our curriculum design:

We use the results from the OSAS assessments to inform us about how well we are teaching towards the Common Core Standards and where we can make improvements, adjustments or modifications with curriculum or provide supplemental curriculum materials.

In addition to assessing our student’s current academic levels of proficiency and our curriculum, the assessment provides students experience with the types of tasks, writing assessment and level of rigor that they will experience with the ACT and SAT assessments in the 11^th grade as they prepare for college admissions.

I appreciate that parents have the opportunity to opt their students out of participation in the OSAS assessment, but I would ask that you please consider that the information from the assessment provides valuable educational information for parents, students, schools and the district to make accurate and appropriate decisions for each student and for our K-12 educational program and budget.

Sincerely,

Mike Johnson

Superintendent Creswell School District