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PREPARING STUDENTS FOR LIFE
Strategic priorities provide
framework for district action plan
Making improvements in a school system with over
50 sites and over 7000 staff places a high value on
planning and coordination. The Anoka-Hennepin
school board uses a continuous improvement cycle
and an annual Strategic Priorities framework as a
system to bring necessary resources to schools and
evaluate and monitor programming for effectiveness.
Strategic Priorities for the 2020-21 school year were
approved in January, culminating months of review
and consideration. The continuous improvement
cycle places a value on time and is based on key
dates for decision making to allow staff members
time to implement new initiatives.
The school board has established three broad
strategic priorities regarding improving academic
performance, maintaining safe and welcoming
schools, and ensuring effective operations along with
a three-step process to guide priority items effectively
through the process. Anoka-Hennepin’s data-rich
scorecard is used as a tool for the School Board to
monitor performance across the district.
Strategic priorities are established and reviewed
in alignment with School Board budgetary and
operations calendars, ensuring focused energy on the
task and assurance that the district has the necessary
resources to achieve, sustain and monitor priorities.
With the approval of strategic priorities in January,
Anoka-Hennepin is able to align budgetary, staffing
and professional development to match timelines
for implementation when the school year begins.
Work will continue on the Anoka-Hennepin Equity
Achievement Plan which aims to increase academic
achievement for all students while reducing and
eliminating predictable and persistent achievement
gaps between student groups. Key items for
implementation include:
Increased academic achievement
A multi-year effort to improve Special Education
programming will continue in 2020-21. New math
curriculum and instruction will be introduced in
secondary schools while standards based grading
practices move to full implementation. At the
elementary level, talent development programming
will be enhanced while Evergreen Park Elementary
will become a STEM magnet school.
Safe and welcoming environments
Health and safety of students is a high priority for
Anoka-Hennepin. Strategic priorities include physical
improvements to construction in schools for safety
and security along with systems changes to bolster
efforts to manage disruptive student behavior and
support students in crisis.
Effective organizational support
Ensuring schools and the system have the resources
to effectively support strategic decisions is a priority
category. Anoka-Hennepin is working to continue
improvement in the recruitment and retention of
employees. n
Superintendent column
cont. from page 1
In April, the school district conducted
surveys of parents/guardians of secondary and
elementary students. The results showed high
satisfaction with distance learning. About 70%
of the 3,400 respondents in the secondary
survey said that they were satisfied with
distance learning, and 60% of nearly 5,000
respondents in the elementary survey were
either satisfied or extremely satisfied. In both
surveys, 80% of respondents were satisfied or
extremely satisfied with communication overall
and with that received from their students’
teachers.
Tracking such data enables the district
to adjust operations in order to meet the
expectations for parents and guardians.
Similar feedback has been collected from
students and teachers during the distance
learning time. This feedback is important for
the district as it determines ways to improve
the delivery of education whether it is through
digital learning, or using technology to
supplement direct instruction.
During this time of forced innovation,
when so many are impacted by a sense
of loss, an energy and focus on what can
be done is alive and well in our schools.
Motivated staff and students are finding new
ways to get the job done. While classrooms
have been temporarily replaced by kitchen
tables, the effort and drive of students to
succeed perseveres. Personal connection
and interaction between teacher and student
has changed, but should not be lost during
distance learning.
Whether providing childcare, meals, clean
buildings, instruction, or any of the functions
behind the scenes that support this work, our
employees are making a difference. Looking
ahead, there are many decisions to be
made about summer and fall programming.
Whatever is possible, we will strive to make it
excellent.
This year’s seniors have sacrificed significantly
over the past three months. The rites of
passage that culminate 13 years of public
education are filled with excitement, emotion,
and tradition. I am sorry that these students
were deprived of these things. I hope that
we don’t have this happen again for other
classes, and I hope that this class of students
experiences unexpected good times in the
future to balance out this experience. n
School Board invests to support student behavior
and math adoption
The School Board approved a plan to support
schools through investments in additional
student behavior staffing and teacher support
with a new math curriculum with approval of
strategic investments for the 2020-21 school
year.
Strategic investments are one-time
expenditures that introduce an item into the
system and allow for evaluation and budget
planning to determine the need for continuation.
When making the investments, the School Board
strives to maintain a minimum of a 10 percent
general fund balance to ensure stability and
sustainability to district operations.
The $2 million in strategic investments include
the following items:
Elementary student behavior support:
$400,000 per year for two years. The addition
of one paraeducator at each elementary school
to support teachers and students in addressing
classroom disruption and return of students to
classroom environments to support learning
for all.
Elementary administrative student support:
$350,000 per year for two years. The elementary
school administrative model would replace seven
interns with assistant principal positions. The goal
is to provide stability for students that leads to
better learning environments for all.
Secondary Math Adoption teacher support:
$250,000 per year for two years. Anoka-Hennepin
high school and middle school math will transition
to CPM math starting in the fall of 2020, a move
which requires support for math teachers for every
student grades 6-12 in making the change. n