• The mission of ÀÏ˾»ú¸£ÀûÉç is to foster a culture of excellence that instills a passion for a lifetime of achievement in every student. The districtwide strategic plan, Aspire 2022, was developed to serve as a roadmap for continuous improvement that leads to the creation of a rigorous, relevant, personalized, and dynamic learning community that prepares EMS ÀÏ˾»ú¸£ÀûÉç students to be college, career, and life ready.

    This 10-year plan impacts every aspect of EMS ÀÏ˾»ú¸£ÀûÉç – from instruction and technology to facilities and operations – through three objectives and six specific strategies. More than 100 stakeholders, including parents, students, teachers, community members, staff, and administrators, were involved in the design of the plan, which provides the vision and direction for EMS ÀÏ˾»ú¸£ÀûÉç through the year 2022. Implementation began in May 2012 with a focus on establishing a strong foundation for the work to come. Key components of the plan include:

    • Personalized education plans for students,
    • Relevant and resourceful technology to expand student resources,
    • Transition from a teaching platform to a collaborative instructional learning platform,
    • Creation of a motivational culture that inspires students to reach their full potential,
    • Development of common assessments and benchmarks for increased accountability, and
    • Implementation of an innovative recruiting, onboarding, and retention program designed to employ only the top educators.
     
    The six strategies included in the plan have established a foundation on which we have begun building a culture of excellence. Much has been accomplished during the first four years of the plan. A few highlights achieved during 2012-2016 include:
     
    • Beginning in the fall of 2012, wireless networks were installed at all district campuses, which supported the implementation of a cloud file sharing system, virtual desktop technology, and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) initiatives providing greater accessibility for all district stakeholders.
    • In the fall of 2012, the Positive Behavior Interventions and Support system (PBIS) was integrated into classrooms across the district to help students recognize expectations, set appropriate goals, and reinforce positive behaviors. PBIS has helped students to develop intrinsic motivational techniques and engage their emotions through the establishment of daily routines, movement, and celebrations.
    • At the start of the 2012-2013 school year, district and campus leaders were trained in the professional learning community (PLC) collaboration protocol and time was carved out of the school day each week to allow educators to engage in professional collaboration to better facilitate and model innovative instructional delivery. An online database was also created as a repository for greater accessibility of instructional practices and resources shared during PLCs.
    • In the spring of 2013, the EMS instructional technology team, in conjunction with district curriculum coordinators, created an online catalog of interactive and comprehensive professional development opportunities through online systems such as PD 24/7, Eduphoria, and Canvas that align with the district's mission and goals.
    • During the 2013-2014 school year, professional development opportunities offering in-depth S.M.A.R.T. Goal training for all district leadership members as well as campus administrators and instructional staff was rolled out. The training allowed EMS ÀÏ˾»ú¸£ÀûÉç employees to learn how to read, interpret, and use performance data to set effective performance goals for themselves and apply these newly acquired skills to assist students with the educational goal setting process.
    • In 2013, training requirements and expectations were clearly outlined for each district position and timelines were established to guide these requirements. In 2014, supervisors began monitoring the implementation of the skills acquired through training to ensure professional growth in all positions across the district.
    • At the start of the 2014 school year, Career Cruising was introduced in grades 9-12 at all district high schools. The Career Cruising program allowed high school students to work with their counselors to create personalized education plans that would help them identify how they could better prepare for college and career and then monitored their progress toward achieving the goals set forth in the PEPs. 
     
    In February 2016, the original Aspire 2022 planning committee, along with new district personnel, came together to review the progress and remaining targets, and adjust as needed to continue to bring these strategies to life. Based on the work of this group, we will focus on achieving the following goals in 2016-2022:
     
    • Personal education plans will be extended to include middle school campuses and school counselors will focus on greater differentiation in PEPs across grade levels (i.e. offering courses appropriate for each student's interests and academic development).
    • Rather than simply listing available technology resources online and posting sample lesson plans for teachers to better integrate technology in the classroom, members of the instructional technology and curriculum teams will work together to embed lessons incorporating innovative technology applications into the scope and sequence of subjects across all grade levels.
    • Now that all campuses in the district have access to wireless internet, there is a continuing need for proactive system updates to support the ever-changing needs of all EMS students and staff. Therefore, both wired and wireless internet will be monitored and ongoing updates will be performed as needed.
    • The beginning phases of the plan's implementation focused on the creation of common assessments across all subject areas. Now that these shared assessments exist and are regularly being used to gauge student progress across the district, there will be an increased focus on using the data collected from the use of common assessments to measure the effectiveness of the learning occurring on campuses. 
    • To continue challenging students at all grade levels and increase both rigor and relevance in the classroom in a unified and consistent way, the Rigor/Relevance/Engagement (R/R/E) framework will be used across the district. This model encourages students to explore alternative solutions and develop out-of-the-box alternatives that develop critical thinking skills, thus better preparing EMS students for the jobs and responsibilities of the future.
    • During the 2015-2016 school year, all district and campus leaders were trained on the new TTESS and TPESS teacher and principal evaluation and support systems. These new state-mandated appraisal systems will allow campus and district leadership to better evaluate professional growth, provide appropriate feedback, and ensure accountability to continually improve the quality of the educational experience provided to students and their families.
    • Historically, the assessment of teaching practices has been conducted solely by campus leadership. Moving forward, the district will integrate student feedback in the form of online surveys to assess the effectiveness of teaching practices provided.
     
    Exciting progress is being made on the Aspire 2022 Strategic Plan! Please visit this website regularly for future updates.