The Triad Board of Education is working on a vision for students that will guide their strategic planning in the coming years.
The vision, “Portrait of a Graduate,” is essentially a set of skills and characteristics administrators at the school hope students will develop by the time they graduate. Activities and lessons that fortify these traits will be integrated into the elementary, middle and high school’s curriculum.
Morgan Fagnani, Director of Curriculum and Instruction at Triad Local Schools, said this set of goals would encourage staff to extend curriculum beyond just academics.
“Who do we want our students to be when they leave Triad?” she said. “If we make sure our kids have these skills, they’ll be successful in life.”
Fagnani said the Portrait of a Graduate is especially important in light of a changing career field. She said the characteristics that could be included, such as communicating and problem solving, will apply to any career.
Superintendent Vickie Hoffman said Triad Local Schools has been working on their Portrait of a Graduate since the 2017-2018 academic year.
Between 2017 and 2019, the district worked with Battelle for Kids, a nonprofit that partners with schools to develop curriculum based on 21st century skills.
However, Hoffman said the district is now working independently from Battelle for Kids. She said the district has expanded a five-person team to a group of 20 that includes local business leaders and others outside of school administration.
Beyond the team, she said developing the portrait would be a collaborative effort.
She said administrators from the school have been reaching out to community members, local business owners, students, parents and staff to see what characteristics they feel students should have.
“This isn’t something we just sit in a room and write,” Hoffman said.
Through engaging the community, Hoffman said she hopes the Portrait of a Graduate unifies the district.
Ultimately, she said the objective is to create measurable goals that are consistent from elementary school to high school.
“This isn’t only about seniors, this is about preschool on up,” Hoffman said.
Once the portrait is complete, Fagnani said it would be used to develop strategic planning and discuss how the characteristics can be taught at each grade level.
The Portrait of a Graduate team will be developing the vision over the next year. Their timeline includes gathering and analyzing data until February 2020 and unveiling the portrait to staff in May 2020.
The team will be present at the Board of Education meeting in October to share updates.
In other business:
– Treasurer Connie Cohn said the district has received new digital radios, including handheld ones and radios for school buses. The district is also set to receive the bus it purchased within the next 30 days.
She said the district is also selling its school bus with the smallest capacity, 55 students. The sale will be posted on the public surplus website.
– Hoffman said 182 people were served food during the Cool Tools 4 School event, which was sponsored by local churches. She said students who attended were able to receive a free backpack and school supplies, haircuts and immunizations.
“To see the people that stepped up to meet those kids’ needs—it was just heartwarming,” Cohn said.