Allegheny Valley School District is painting a 'Portrait of a Dynamo'; community's feedback wanted

Allegheny Valley School District officials want to know what qualities the community thinks district graduates should possess.

The district is in the process of establishing what it’s calling “Portrait of a Dynamo,” which aims to represent the district’s vision for 21st century skills, character traits and social-emotional competencies that students should acquire to be successful adults.

“It’s an encompassing district and community vision for the attributes and qualities students should learn to become productive citizens,” said Jen Vecchio, the district’s coordinator of curriculum and instruction.

“Our mission is to prepare our children to be successful adults and bring it back to the community.

“We’re asking our community, what is it that we need to do?”

A survey seeking feedback will become available in the district’s summer newsletter, which is scheduled to come out in mid-August, district spokeswoman Jan Zastawniak said.

Some questions ask the strengths and weaknesses of the district, and what qualities students should learn while in school so they can be prepared post-graduation, be it for college, the military, the workforce or a trade school.

As technology and society advances, district officials heard from students and prospective employers that the district could do more to help prepare students for the adult world, Vecchio said.

The district rolled out some interviews with alumni, local business leaders, district staff, parents, students, board members and community members.

Already, some answers include the ability to communicate, take and follow directions, accept constructive criticism, maintain a life-work balance, work ethic, taking accountability and getting along with others, Vecchio said.

“We need your input,” Vecchio said. “We want to do better for everyone, and we need their input and support.”

Once the responses are collected, district officials will review the feedback and figure out how to best implement those skills in the classroom.

The full process could take about a year to 18 months, Vecchio said.

“We’re not retooling education,” Vecchio said. “We’re trying to embed it with what we’re doing.”

The district was awarded a $22,500 grant to undergo the program and contracted with McKeesport-based Consortium for Public Education to assist the process. While many other districts have similar “Portrait of a Graduate” type programs, Allegheny Valley’s program will be different because it will take into account input from the local community, Zastawniak said.

“The district formulated goals with what we want to do, and the Consortium for Public Education understands what our goals are,” Zastawniak said.

Vecchio said working with the third-party consortium is helping the district to get more honest answers on how it can improve. The consortium is helping the district with the interview process.

“You want the honest truth,” she said. “You might not always want to hear it, but it is useful. … Having the third party gives us the checks and balances.”

Said Zastawniak: “We really want this to be the community voice. What does the community believe are the attributes necessary for our students?”