From preschool to high school, officials in Naperville School District 203 have unveiled updates to specific school improvement plans for each of the nearly two-dozen educational buildings that serve students of all ages and skill levels.
The Naperville 203 board of education has in place a policy that requires administrators report on school-specific improvement plans annually. Each school’s specific goals are encapsulated in a document available on Board Docs, the portal the district uses to upload board of education meeting materials.
The Naperville 203 board had a preliminary discussion of the school improvement plans at its Monday, Sept. 22 meeting, and adoption of the documents is scheduled at the Monday, Oct. 6 meeting.
School improvement plans are District 203’s ‘north star’
Patrick Nolten, Naperville 203’s superintendent for assessment and accountability, and Jayne Willard, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, gave a presentation of the plan development process at the Sept. 22 meeting.
“School improvement really is our north star,” Nolten said. “That’s why we’re here; that’s what we do. It’s a serious, important process.”
Superintendent Dan Bridges said there are a number of factors that play into each of Naperville 203’s specific school improvement plans. State standards are one of multiple components.
“Our district follows Illinois State Board of Education guidance, recognizing our autonomy and the continuous improvement process, including effective evidence-based and data-informed practices,” Bridges said.
While Naperville 203’s school improvement plans are presented each fall for adoption, Nolten said the principles of each are reviewed and analyzed throughout the course of the school year.
“We are constantly looking at how we are doing,” Nolten said. “The instructional practices that are in place, the adjustments, modifications, identifying student needs — this is an involved process that goes on throughout the year.”
Each school’s improvement plan is tailored to reflect the historical performance within the building, according to district officials, and is intended to create a roadmap for current and future goal-setting.
The school improvement plans detail specific benchmarks in such core curricular areas as math, literacy and English language arts. The documents also outline each school’s efforts to build on the overall environment within the building by detailing new strides toward fostering a sense of belonging among the entire student body.
Plan development not done in a vacuum, officials say
While Nolten and Willard presented the school improvement plans at the recent board meeting, both emphasized input from building principals went into assembling each school’s benchmarks for the current school year.
“Patrick and I lead this process with our principals,” Willard said. “We meet with all our principals.”
Once the plans are in place each fall, following board action, Nolten said school staff takes an all-hands-on-deck approach to working toward the goals outlined.
“There’s not one school in this district … that doesn’t work hard on this year-round,” Nolten said. “It involves a lot of different people. There’s a lot of engagement at all levels.”
Nolten added, “It’s a big operation. The work is really going on, year-round. The district strives to continuously get better.”
Board supports plans, but makes additional requests
During the preliminary discussion of this year’s school improvement plans, several board members inquired about tracking progress within each school’s improvement plans, which typically run on a three-year cycle, but are refreshed annually.
“It would help me review the results a lot better, I think, if I was able to see what the benchmark was for each of the three years, as well as what they were able to actually achieve, even if there’s any changes,” board member Marc Willensky said.
If original benchmarks do have to be modified, Willensky said he desires clarity in the shift.
“If they start missing it in year one, they’re more than likely going to miss years two and three,” Willensky said. “I think it would be best if we could get a summary of sorts.”
Board member Joseph Kozminski made a similar request when he weighed in on the overall process at the recent board meeting.
“I think it would be helpful if we kept that running total, if they put the targets in every year and, at the end of the year, a record of where those benchmarks land,” Kozminski said.
If you have a story idea, we want to hear from you!