MONROE - Tarica Jackson wanted to be at the forefront in helping create future goals the Monroe school district will implement to measure the success of her seventh-grade daughter and future students.
She was one of 52 community members, teachers and administrators divided into eight groups for the second and final community forum Wednesday at the Monroe High School LMC to help the district develop goals for the next five to seven years.
"This really was an opportunity to have a say on what the goals of the district should be," Jackson said. "I feel very fortunate to be a part of this. I think it will turn into something great for our students. I think it will be great for the future students of Monroe. The mix of the parents, community members, teachers and administrators was great with the creation of ideas."
The participants reviewed the five most common themes they developed during the first forum Nov. 8: Developing school and community partnerships, wellness and life skills, academic success, recruiting and retaining staff and modernizing infrastructure.
In small groups, the participants revised value statements written by Heather Fish, the director of school improvement for Cooperative Educational Service Agency 5 in Portage, and then developed two to five goals for each of the five themes. Fish served as the facilitator for the forums.
"You have several similar data points you would like to see for the future of the district," Fish said.
District administrators in conjunction with Fish will review the common goals. Administrators will develop a draft proposal of goals the district can measure, which the Monroe school board will then review at meetings in January and February. The board will have to give final approval to the targeted goals.
"We will have the data on the goals most identified and list the other goals that were mentioned as important, but not identified as much," said Rick Waski, Monroe District Administrator. "We very much value the feedback we were given. I can promise you that we will look at the recommendations that came from this community forum."
Some of the most common goals cited during the meeting were exploring and creating a wellness center and child care center for district teachers and staff.
Another goal was establishing a task force or committee to develop more reciprocal community work and business partnerships and internships and making district teachers aware of the types of jobs available and needed in Green County.
"There are a lot of times where we want our students to be aware of what jobs there are, and I don't know if all of the teachers are aware of what jobs are out there," Monroe Business Administrator Ron Olson said.
Some academic goals shared by the groups were developing and integrating a curriculum that caters to the interests of students and requires problem-solving, while considering the academic, social and emotional needs of students. Another common goal was allowing the district to explore innovative teaching practices and scheduling - whether class schedules or looking at year-round school.
Olson said his group said it's important to survey the students' interests to see what they would like out of school offerings and allow students' interests to determine which courses are offered.
"It's not just creating the class offerings and saying take it or leave it," he said.
Monroe High School Assistant Principal Jeriamy Jackson said his group wants an innovative curriculum that allows students to take risks, fail but persist.
To recruit and retain staff, common goals were to use competitive pay, health benefits and help provide more rental housing in Monroe for new staff members and provide teachers with short physical and emotional breaks.
In the theme of modernizing infrastructure, the goals shared by several groups included providing a safe and secure learning environment that is well lit. The district is in the process of having a facility study completed.
Waski said after the facility study, the board will get a report on what school buildings have problems that need to be fixed and then will get a financial report on the costs to make the upgrades.
Dan Bartholf, who is a community and school board member, sees the two-day community forum as a great way to gather feedback from other community members.
"I'm definitely encouraged," Bartholf said. "It will help us as a district and board. It was really neat to see how most of the groups had similar ideas and goals. I think it will make our job as a district and board easier."
She was one of 52 community members, teachers and administrators divided into eight groups for the second and final community forum Wednesday at the Monroe High School LMC to help the district develop goals for the next five to seven years.
"This really was an opportunity to have a say on what the goals of the district should be," Jackson said. "I feel very fortunate to be a part of this. I think it will turn into something great for our students. I think it will be great for the future students of Monroe. The mix of the parents, community members, teachers and administrators was great with the creation of ideas."
The participants reviewed the five most common themes they developed during the first forum Nov. 8: Developing school and community partnerships, wellness and life skills, academic success, recruiting and retaining staff and modernizing infrastructure.
In small groups, the participants revised value statements written by Heather Fish, the director of school improvement for Cooperative Educational Service Agency 5 in Portage, and then developed two to five goals for each of the five themes. Fish served as the facilitator for the forums.
"You have several similar data points you would like to see for the future of the district," Fish said.
District administrators in conjunction with Fish will review the common goals. Administrators will develop a draft proposal of goals the district can measure, which the Monroe school board will then review at meetings in January and February. The board will have to give final approval to the targeted goals.
"We will have the data on the goals most identified and list the other goals that were mentioned as important, but not identified as much," said Rick Waski, Monroe District Administrator. "We very much value the feedback we were given. I can promise you that we will look at the recommendations that came from this community forum."
Some of the most common goals cited during the meeting were exploring and creating a wellness center and child care center for district teachers and staff.
Another goal was establishing a task force or committee to develop more reciprocal community work and business partnerships and internships and making district teachers aware of the types of jobs available and needed in Green County.
"There are a lot of times where we want our students to be aware of what jobs there are, and I don't know if all of the teachers are aware of what jobs are out there," Monroe Business Administrator Ron Olson said.
Some academic goals shared by the groups were developing and integrating a curriculum that caters to the interests of students and requires problem-solving, while considering the academic, social and emotional needs of students. Another common goal was allowing the district to explore innovative teaching practices and scheduling - whether class schedules or looking at year-round school.
Olson said his group said it's important to survey the students' interests to see what they would like out of school offerings and allow students' interests to determine which courses are offered.
"It's not just creating the class offerings and saying take it or leave it," he said.
Monroe High School Assistant Principal Jeriamy Jackson said his group wants an innovative curriculum that allows students to take risks, fail but persist.
To recruit and retain staff, common goals were to use competitive pay, health benefits and help provide more rental housing in Monroe for new staff members and provide teachers with short physical and emotional breaks.
In the theme of modernizing infrastructure, the goals shared by several groups included providing a safe and secure learning environment that is well lit. The district is in the process of having a facility study completed.
Waski said after the facility study, the board will get a report on what school buildings have problems that need to be fixed and then will get a financial report on the costs to make the upgrades.
Dan Bartholf, who is a community and school board member, sees the two-day community forum as a great way to gather feedback from other community members.
"I'm definitely encouraged," Bartholf said. "It will help us as a district and board. It was really neat to see how most of the groups had similar ideas and goals. I think it will make our job as a district and board easier."