Early-level literacy, student engagement, work-based learning experiences and student mental health could be Greensburg Salem’s primary focuses for the next three years.
The school board will vote next week on whether to release a proposed comprehensive plan — a guide for district operations — for a monthlong review by parents and community members.
District administrators used data such as teacher observations, diagnostic screening results and state test scores to direct the plan, Superintendent Ken Bissell said.
Literacy, career prep among goals
Improving early-level literacy rates, boosting engagement among the district’s third to eighth grade students, increasing work-based learning experiences and bolstering student mental health are the primary goals listed in the proposed plan.
Board member Kacey Byrne-Houser, who served on the board’s comprehensive plan committee, is pleased with the goals set in the proposal.
“I do think it’s a strong foundation to start on,” she said.
Byrne-Houser attended one of the focus group meetings, where she discussed the comprehensive plan with administrators and district parents.
“It was insightful, helpful, and, at the end of the day, it’s encouraging, because (the parents) had ideas we wouldn’t have thought of,” she said.
The district aims to ensure 80% of its students are proficient in reading and math comprehension by the end of the third grade, Bissell said. Students’ literacy rates would be assessed by diagnostic screenings that are already administered by the district.
The goal came about after looking at the literacy levels of the district’s middle school students, Bissell said.
“That data isn’t a problem just because of middle school. It starts if the children aren’t getting the early-level literacy skills,” he said.
“This isn’t to say that we’re not focused on this or haven’t been. A lot of work has been done in this area, but we really want to make it a big emphasis right now, that we are going to be focused on that early-level literacy.”
More than 75% of the district’s Hutchinson Elementary students do not attend preschool before enrolling in kindergarten, Bissell said.
“That sets them up well behind in literacy moving forward,” he said. “We know, by third grade, if they’re not at that benchmark, they will struggle the rest of the way in their academic career.”
More than 200 people responded to a district survey regarding priorities for the district, Superintendent Ken Bissell said, and about 40 people participated in at least one of three focus group meetings — held in September, October and February.
The state Department of Education requires all 500 public school districts to submit a new comprehensive plan every three years. Greensburg Salem aims to approve and submit its plan — which would be valid through 2029 — to the state by April, Bissell said.
He said the district began drafting its comprehensive plan in August, reaching out to community members to gather input.
Plan could be open for review next week
The district also wants to provide students with more opportunities to earn credits toward professional certifications while in high school, Bissell said.
One existing example is the high school’s early childhood education program, which became certified by the state last year. Upon graduation, students could enter the workforce on a higher pay and management scale than if they had not been enrolled in the program in high school.
Supporting students’ mental health is another component of the proposed plan.
The district in recent years has offered a mental fitness and resiliency program to its staff. Dozens of Greensburg Salem teachers and administrators have participated in weeklong retreats at Outdoor Odyssey. At the Jenner, Somerset County camp, attendees are taught how to identify stressors, take note of their physical impact on the body and address them.
The comprehensive plan is meant to guide all of the district’s decisions, Bissell told the school board Wednesday night.
“Even when we think about budgets and we think about teaching and learning resources, they should fit within those four (goals) over the next three years.”
The board will vote on the matter at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the auditorium of Greensburg Salem High School, at 65 Mennel Drive in Greensburg.
