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Seattle Schools Strategic Plan Motto
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Every Student.
Every Classroom.
Every Day.
Three Goals, 50,000 Journeys.
What do you think?
I'm good with this. I just would like to see the entire plan more streamlined and focused as the motto.
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Comments
Anonymous said…
I saw it on some printed SPS materials recently and I actually really like this. A lot. And agree with it too. It's about the journey, not the destination.
-katy.did
Jon said…
I like it too. Every child matters. The public in public education.
Anonymous said…
Looks like the Tacoma school district's with an extra two lines added.
-SWED
Anonymous said…
Hmm. Not sure how the district can support class size increases if this is the new motto. -Gretchen
Anonymous said…
Yes, it sounds nice. But what exactly are those three goals???
Huh? There aren't any verbs. What does this even mean? What goals? I kind of like 50,000 journeys, but the rest is completely free of content. It can mean whatever the reader wants it to mean.
Anonymous said…
Bravo, the reign of terror is officially over. We have just exited the worst 5 years in SPS history. The past administration set SPS on a negative course, there are still some bad performers (T and L), but nothing is worse than a supt. that hated teaching/teachers. Goodbye old motto!
Is there anything we could do to stop the individualization of programs? The good ole' days meant going to school with your neighbors. Let's return to neighborhood schools, even for the APP students. Smart is one thing, but gifted is another.
I think the best mission statement would be to have none. If you need to state the mission of your organization that means that people need a reference to know it, which means that it isn't really the mission of your organization. The mission of an organization should be unmistakable to any participant or observer.
I wonder how much Strategies360 got paid for that. I'm guessing $5K per word.
Anonymous said…
Once upon a time, I was sitting in a staff meeting with the rest of the teachers, listening to the "highly paid consultant" someone had hired to motivate us, when we heard the eight words that strike terror into the hearts of people everywhere:
"We need to look at your mission statement."
At the next break I went to my classroom, fired up my computer, and went to the Dilbert.com random mission statement generator.
I wrote down the output, replacing the word "business" with the word "education" and took it back to the whole staff.
They loved it so much that after some minor wordsmithing, it's what they eventually adopted.
The big joke was that I was the only one in the building who knew the truth that in the tradition of Jerry Seinfeld, it was "a mission statement about nothing".
The moral of the story:
Don't confuse a mission statement with hard work or productivity. Our staff was extraordinarily hard working and productive and our students learned a tremendous amount while in our care. The change from the old mission statement to the new mission statement had zero effect on that level of effort or that level of productivity.
Neither will this mission statement at the district level
The speaker list is up for the Board meeting tomorrow; not as packed as I thought with just four people on the waitlist. The majority of the speakers are speaking on high school boundaries (with several wanting to talk about Ballard High). There are only three of us speaking about the Green Dot resolution asking the City to not grant the zoning departures that Green Dot has requested. It's me, long-time watchdog, Chris Jackins, and the head of the Washington State Charter Schools Association, Patrick D'Amelio. (I knew Mr. D'Amelio when he headed the Alliance for Education and Big Brothers and Big Sisters; he's a stand-up guy.)
Why You Should Care Mr. Crabill has found quite the acolyte in Director Chandra Hampson. In the course of discussions over SOFG, she says his name over and over, "A.J .says we...." Now that's not too surprising given the direction the district is heading and that it is Mr. Crabill's work with the Council of Great City Schools is how we got here. But it appears that Mr. Crabill is working very closely with Hampson and we know she wields some amount of power over the majority of the Board. Mr. Crabill is going to continue to work with the Board as SOFG is instituted in SPS. In fact, his role may become more public as it did at one SPS Board meeting in the spring where he was on the phone during the meeting and suggested the Board stop the meeting to "self-reflect." I also noticed that in a district in South Carolina, when things weren't going to plan, he blamed the Board for not following SOFG to the letter. Look for that to happen here if Board members w
This may only be a partial list of reasons; please, add anything else in the comments. The deadline to file to run for the Board is May 19th. Entire Board Majority NOT vetting the Superintendent in any way, shape or form. Even the Seattle Times thought that was wrong. It was just absolute hubris and it was wrong. For the second time in just over a year , board members voted to negotiate a superintendent contract during a special meeting with no opportunity for public comment. This time, they showed an even deeper disregard for their responsibilities as public servants: Aborting a national search for a new superintendent and denying Interim Superintendent Brent Jones a chance to show students, parents and taxpayers that, indeed, he is the best person for the job. Government bodies can’t fast-forward through transparent processes just because they think they know the right answer. One other odd thing about the hiring of Brent Jones - most permanent SPS superintendent contracts ar
Comments
-katy.did
-SWED
-Gretchen
HIMSmom
It sounds like merely an attendance mandate. I'd like to see sort of goal(s) attached:
"every inspiration" or
"every inquiry" or
"every dream"
That one always gave me the picture of a minder with a whip thrashing the minions of students and staff alike.
There was also the problem that not all students were achieving and not all staff was accountable.
Onward.
DistrictWatcher
reader
Is there anything we could do to stop the individualization of programs? The good ole' days meant going to school with your neighbors. Let's return to neighborhood schools, even for the APP students. Smart is one thing, but gifted is another.
Teacher
"We need to look at your mission statement."
At the next break I went to my classroom, fired up my computer, and went to the Dilbert.com random mission statement generator.
I wrote down the output, replacing the word "business" with the word "education" and took it back to the whole staff.
They loved it so much that after some minor wordsmithing, it's what they eventually adopted.
The big joke was that I was the only one in the building who knew the truth that in the tradition of Jerry Seinfeld, it was "a mission statement about nothing".
The moral of the story:
Don't confuse a mission statement with hard work or productivity. Our staff was extraordinarily hard working and productive and our students learned a tremendous amount while in our care. The change from the old mission statement to the new mission statement had zero effect on that level of effort or that level of productivity.
Neither will this mission statement at the district level
Ex-SPS
"Let's return to neighborhood schools, even for the APP students."
Okay, teacher, explain to us how ALL students, even APP students, will be served at their neighborhood schools.
S parent
My entry would be:
Students, staff and teachers
Working as one to create a better world
For the whole world