By Becky Salato, Superintendent, Konocti Unified School District
One of the best ways to get better at getting better is to take the time to reflect on what’s working and what isn’t. With that in mind, I recently asked principals and district leaders to consider the year as a whole and share successes and challenges. Some wonderful trends emerged.
Several comments from all over the district addressed the growing camaraderie of teachers and staff. Improving work culture is a worthwhile goal, but it takes time. Hearing that school leaders are seeing evidence of a shift means that the seeds we planted years ago and have been tending since I arrived are starting to bear fruit.
Here were some of the quotes I received about school and district culture.
We have really shifted the culture of the school. We are making it a place where students feel safe and excited to be at school. They are also engaging in the daily lessons, which in turn will increase learning and test scores.
This year was full of adventures, but as a whole, I am incredibly proud of my team for coming together to support students the best they can. We have room to grow, but watching my team come together for our students has been a joy.
I am proud of the culture that has been built out here for our students and their families. Our new counseling room has been a place of comfort and safety for our students when they are struggling both academically and socially. I don't think we have had a parent complaint all year and our parents seem to be happy with their students' progress.
One win is having a team that pulls together and gets the job done, while the department is extremely short-handed more often than not.
We've been able to do more staff get-togethers to build our community. This included a Christmas party, ceramic night, a paint/pass/sip night, and Blue Zones moai groups such as walking and Zumba.
I’ve had a lot of coaches, teachers and students talk about how the vibe is different this year, more school spirit.
I think that we have done a really good job building positive relationships with our families and the community. Our parents are learning to work together with the school.
The Special Education Department values the development of its staff and has strived to provide meaningful and evidence-based training to support staff in their quest to support students.
Another area of success was the adoption of new curriculums and student learning. Here’s what our education leaders said.
I feel like we have a very solid foundation for English Language Arts response to intervention for students in Grades 3-6. All students are receiving 50 minutes of direct instruction at their level for reading on a daily basis.
83% of our students made a 150-point growth in Lexile (reading)!
Another win is the staff's capacity to instruct foundational reading skills effectively. UFLI (our phonics program) has been amazing to witness. The students are growing and I’m positive we will see the positive effects for years.
We expanded our Career-Technical Education Program in general, and added the Emergency Medical Technician Pathway at Lower Lake High School.
Our graduation rate increased by 5.7%, our chronic absenteeism decreased by 6.9%, and our English Learner progress increased by 8%.
A third area of success was a focus on wellness. As we embark on becoming a Blue Zones Certified Workplace, employees all over the district are thinking differently about their health. Here’s a quote from one long-time principal.
For next year, I will work on implementing Blue Zones Core 9 into my life to lead by example.
A fourth area of success was our ability to responsibly steward finances and invest in our facilities and technology. According to our chief business officer, we were able to increase unrestricted reserves through the utilization of restricted funds that helped facilitate additional infrastructure projects while simultaneously increasing our credit ratings for bond or financing opportunities. Here are some examples.
We built the child development center and had it up and running before the school year started
We installed hardware and software in buses and vans for the student management systems, and we have begun training and merging information from Aeries (our student database).
The district is completely up-to-date technology-wise and has ample backups to sustain itself for the next two budget years.
We finished laying the groundwork for the internet infrastructure move at Lower Lake High School before the summer deadline. We completed network upgrades at Lower Lake Elementary School in Rooms 7-13. And, we implemented network monitoring tools to strengthen Wifi bandwidth.
We improved landscaping throughout the district, including new sod at Lower Lake High School and Burns Valley Elementary.
We painted Lower Lake High School and Obsidian Middle School before the start of the school year, and are currently painting Lower Lake Elementary and Burns Valley Elementary.
Like all school districts, we continue to face challenges, but as we look back on the year, we have a lot to be proud of. I hope everyone has a great summer and we look forward to seeing students on August 7, 2024!