Pasco School District: After a year focused on COVID, Pasco Schools embrace opportunity to refresh district’s strategic improvement plan

The last 12 months have been unlike any I have ever experienced in my 25 years of education. When Gov. Jay Inslee ordered all Washington schools to close on March 17, 2020, I really believed that we would see our students back in their classrooms at the end of that initial six-week closure. But as you know, six weeks turned into six months, and it was nearly eight months before we finally saw our elementary students return for a hybrid form of in-person learning.

Now, as we embark on our second year of managing our way through this COVID-19 pandemic, there are glimmers of hope that things are starting to return to normal. Pasco students in all grades, from pre-kindergarten through high school, are engaged in in-person instruction two days a week as part of our Blended Learning model.

Teachers and staff members are getting the opportunity to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Case rates are falling in our region and across the state. Students are participating in sports and activities again, and relaxed restrictions are now allowing more fans and family members to attend those competitions. 

While our attention this past year has been hyper-focused on our work to educate our students in a COVID-19 environment, it is refreshing to also begin thinking again about the district’s long-term goals and our Strategic Improvement Plan. That plan is driven by our five Outrageous Outcomes, that when combined, create a trajectory for student success. Every day, our work is focused on helping our students achieve these benchmarks:

▪  100% of all 3rd graders will read on grade level in their language of instruction.

▪  100% of students will pass algebra by the end of 9th grade.

▪  100% of 9th graders will end the school year on track for graduation.

▪  100% of students will graduate with a career path.

▪  100% of students will experience meaningful connections and hope for their future.

The fifth outcome listed above is the result of the work we began in 2019 to refresh our Strategic Improvement Plan and the district’s Outrageous Outcomes. This new goal ensures that the social-emotional needs of our students are also being met, alongside their academic needs, and transparently shows the district’s efforts to measure connection.

As part of this Strategic Improvement Plan refresh, we’re also working to narrow our focus to widen the impact on our students and the community. In 2019, our teachers, staff members, administrators and stakeholders identified five key priorities that will be the focus of our efforts moving forward. Those five priorities include:

▪  Engaging around multi-tiered systems of support for social emotional learning and behavior.

▪  High school and beyond planning that is robust, meaningful, and relevant to our students.

▪  Expansion of the AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) program that has produced sustained student success at several PSD schools.

▪  Evolution and expansion of the district’s Two-Way Dual Language program.

▪  Enhancing and supporting the efforts of our Professional Learning Communities. 

We are excited about the opportunity to engage our school principals and building-level leadership teams around these five priorities to determine where we want to focus and start our work. Our goal is to start that work in the fall of 2021 in preparation for a rollout of an updated Strategic Improvement Plan in the 2022-23 school year.

It is exciting work that is filled with hope and promise and will reinforce our promise to continue our commitment to breaking the cycle of circumstances that keep any of us from reaching our full potential; our commitment to change the future and to make the world better for the generations that come after us. 

Together, we are creating a solid foundation for our children, who will become our next generation of leaders. With gratitude, I am proud to say “We are Pasco.”

This story was originally published April 30, 2021 at 12:41 AM with the headline "Pasco School District: After a year focused on COVID, Pasco Schools embrace opportunity to refresh district’s strategic improvement plan."