2023-2024 District Goal and Action Items:
District Goal
Community: Building a community of reflective learners, empowered educators, and engaged parents; all focused on making Putnam Valley a stronger school community.
Action Items:
As a District we will:
- Create new opportunities to hear directly from students
- Expand our Parent Learning Series
- Offer professional learning sessions based on teacher needs and feedback
- Continue effective communication practices (text messages, newsletters) and expand Spanish translation services
- Engage community through forums such as listening hours, featuring different members of the leadership team.
- Share accomplishments and successes as the occur, taking an active role in controlling our own narrative
- Keep the student at the center of our work and be guided by our CORE Values
- Empower community members to participate in discussion regarding future facility needs.
- Engage the school community by inviting input during annual budget meetings
In the High School we will:
- Create student leadership teams:
- Ensure positive school culture and climate through student voice and advocacy
- Work with student run organizations to enhance student connections especially students transferring to PVHS from other districts and countries
- Identify individual and global concerns and problem solving
- Focus on youth mental health; peer mediation
- Create Parent Leadership Teams
- Bi-monthly meetings aimed at understanding educational issues facing children from the parental perspective.
- Principal Listening Hours
- Staff engagement – Gather feedback from all staff regarding educational issues impacting students while building a stronger school community.
- Provide professional learning through the text Grading for Equity – Using the concept of grading to develop collaborative conversations about grades, equity, bias, and students.
- Improve communication for multilingual families within our student information system (Home language); inputting student data as it relates to ENL services and clinical support (dropdown case managers and psychologists); update and improve attendance reports to better communicate with families
In the Middle School we will:
- Mentor our newest teachers, ensuring they are all embraced within the building’s culture and are successful in their instructional delivery.
- Facilitate implementation of curriculum and instructional practices aligned to (IB MYP, Guided Reading, iReady Instruction – monitoring data)
- Engage parents and embrace difficult conversations while demonstrating a willingness to listen.
- Encourage parental involvement in Building Steering, Student of the Month Breakfast, and Parent/Teacher Conferences.
- Incorporate effective student discipline practices through the lens of our multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS).
In the Elementary School we will:
- Create additional opportunities for parents to ask questions and share ideas, continuing our Parent Curriculum Nights, holding Principal Coffees, holding regular meetings with our PTA and PVEF, and continuing with Parent Input Surveys where needed
- Increase opportunities for teacher-led professional development and observing fellow colleagues. Maximize our learning potential when designing and planning our monthly PD Hours, Grade Level Curriculum work, and Classroom Walk-throughs.
- Continue focusing on guided reading in all classrooms on all grade levels by creating a stronger community of professional learning teams and collaboration school-wide.
- Build a community of collaboration through open and structured RTI discussion and Students of Concern Meetings, always aiming to bring our students to their highest potential.
- Explore new and innovative ideas for bringing our community together with special events, PTA collaboration, and communication. These will include and expand on First Responder Read Aloud, PVVFD Safety Day, Community Read Day, and high school collaboration events, such as the Cap & Gown Walk.
- Complete and finalize our continued Building Steering Committee work, to welcome families to the community and provide helpful information to all.
- Celebrate our strengths and share our successes, with our faculty, our students, and our community.