MASA Feature Port Huron Schools Launches a “Blueprint” Plan for Change www.gomasa.org 25 By Keely Baribeau In his first year as superintendent of Port Huron Schools, James Cain feels the district is poised for a significant turnaround. “Change is imperative and urgent,” he said. After assembling a leadership team, performing a personnel audit, and having a frank analysis of the district status and conditions, Cain recognized the crucial need for improved communication district wide and with the Board of Education. Cain’s first steps were to work with the Port Huron Schools’ (called Port Huron Area School District prior to a January 2015 rebranding) Board of Education on developing a mission and vision that would establish the priorities and themes for change. “This helped both the day-to-day operations managers in my team and the governance leaders on the board to create a common, shared direction of where we need to go as a district,” Cain said. “Not everyone embraces change, so it’s important that when new leadership sets the course, it’s done with clear expecta-tions and a common purpose.” Introducing a Blueprint At the first school board meeting of 2015, Port Huron Schools’ leadership introduced an educational “Blueprint,” a series of strategies related to the district’s Board of Education Goals. These strate-gies are designed to align with the vision and mission of the district. The goals are to: 1. Increase student academic achieve-ment through the implementation of an aligned K-12 curriculum and high-quality, focused instruction on a daily basis; 2. Personalize learning for each student through the use of 21st century tech-nologies and differentiated instruction; 3. Create an organizational culture of excellence with clear expectations, a focus on exemplary customer service, and an urgency to meet the needs of each student and family every day; and 4. Prioritize financial resources with an unwavering focus on student learning and achievement. The Blueprint contains more than 50 items or strategies that will be addressed while working toward achieving each of the four goals. Superintendent Cain, along with the leadership team of Executive Director of Employee and Student Services Tracie Eschenburg, Executive Director of Achievement and Innovation Theo Kerhoulas, and Executive Director of Business Services Kate Peternel were the primary architects of the Blueprint. Leadership was then assigned for each of the strategies listed under the four goals. Progress will be tracked using action plans for reporting and monitoring.
MASA Leader - Spring 2015
To see the actual publication please follow the link above