Spring 2006 - Wyndmere Public School

Transcription

Minnesota
Elementary
School
Principals’
Association
Spring
2006
PRINCIPAL
Table
of
contents
P R I N C I PA L
MINNESOTA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
PRINCIPALS ' ASSOCIATION
V OLUME XLVIII
N UMBER 1
SPRING 2006
In this issue, we celebrate “Today’s Principalship: leading schools toward
excellence” by exploring successful leadership in schools.
REGULAR FEATURES
2
EXECUTIVE
DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE,
P. Fred Storti
3
PRESIDENT’S
MESSAGE,
Pat Murray
4
Legal &
Legislative
Roger Aronson
5
6
INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP
9
11
13
Looking for New Strategies While Building Professional Community:
Specialization and Integration, Rolf Carlsen, Oxbow Creek and
Parkview Schools, Anoka
Quality Instruction/Quality Compensation: TAP, Denise Wells,
Andersen Elementary School, Minneapolis
RESOURCE LEADERSHIP
15
NAESP REPORT,
Jean Clark
FEDERAL RELATIONS
COORDINATOR REPORT,
Celeste Carty
It’s About Team Work and Student Work, James Eaton, Monroe
Community School, St. Paul
Principal for a Day, Denise Wells, Andersen Elementary School,
Minneapolis
SCHOOL CULTURE LEADERSHIP
16
Response to Intervention: A Proactive Model, David Wangen,
Churchill Elementary, Cloquet
MESPA RECOGNIZES PROFESSIONAL
ACHIEVEMENTS
A BOUT THE C OVER
Photos from Winter
Institute 2006,
“Today’s Principalship:
leading schools toward
excellence”
Design and production
by
Jessen Press
Printed in MN
17
18
19
22
28
Champions for ChildrenTM Award
Minnesota National Distinguished Principal
MESPA Minnesota Schools of Excellence
MESPA Division Leadership Achievement Award
Science and Mathematics Elementary and Middle School Principal
of the Year
Champions for ChildrenTM is a registered trademark used with the permission of Banach, Banach & Cassidy.
SPRING 2006 • MESPA PRINCIPAL MAGAZINE •
1
Executive Director’s
Message
P. FRED STORTI
New Principals’ Academy
During the 2005 legislative session,
funds were appropriated to start a
Principals’ Academy with a grant from
the Minnesota Department of
Education to the University of
Minnesota.
During the past six
months, Commissioner Seagren has
brought a group of us together to
develop the concept of this new professional development opportunity
for our K-12 principals.
Many of us reflected on our past experiences in the Bush Principals’
Leadership Program and agreed that
it was among the most high quality
professional development in which we
participated. In my 27 years as principal, the Bush program provided me
invaluable insights and skills around
four frames:
structural– a pattern of well thought
out roles and relationships;
human resource– how characteristics
of organizations and people shape
what they do for one another;
political– the process of making decisions and allocating resources in a
context of scarcity and divergent
interests;
symbolic– how humans make sense
of the world through their meaning
and beliefs.
These four frames provided the fundamental structure of the Bush program and propelled us in our development of a new school improvement
project.
In searching for a framework for our
new principal academy we’ve been
impressed with the work of the
National Institute for School
Leadership (NISL). NISL provides
leadership training to school principals and other school and district
2 • MESPA P
RINCIPAL
leaders. The NISL program is based
on six years of research and design
related to the most effective executive
leadership programs worldwide in
business, the military and other enterprises, and on an exhaustive search of
the literature on instructional leadership in education. NISL uses the corporate, university and executive development model of leadership training.
NISL is designed to train the principals and other school leaders in an
entire district or state in cohorts, infusing that training with the particular
strategy and approaches that the state
or district is using to raise student performance.
The NISL “research base
and content is irrefutable.”
In the model, NISL facilitators train a
leadership team from the district or
state and then provide technical assistance to that leadership team as it subsequently trains cohorts of principals.
The curriculum, developed and fieldtested over a period of three and a half
years, is partly Web-based. Costing
$8.5 million to date to develop, the
program incorporates the kind of
highly interactive techniques shown to
be most effective in adult professional
development, including: computerassisted exercises and games, simulations, written cases, and video case
studies. Over 50 national and international experts on a wide variety of subjects appear on video in the curriculum. Each of the two major program
phases concludes with a computerassisted simulation that draws together
and helps integrate the major themes
of NISL. The program is roughly 65
percent face-to-face facilitation, 15 to 20
percent online experience, and the rest
individual preparation and reading.
MAGAZINE • SPRING 2006
Vince Ferrandino, our NAESP executive director, served on the NISL
Advisory Board and has high regard
for this comprehensive, researchbased executive development program.
In
March,
I
contacted
my
Massachusetts counterpart Nadya
Higgins, where NISL is being used to
train 60 principals, and her words
were, “the research base and content
is irrefutable.”
The goal of our Minnesota Principals’
Academy is to develop a premier,
research-based, executive development program for school principals
that will build leadership capacity.
This capacity will lead to sustained
increases in student performance in
low performing schools and move
schools to become great. The details
of the intensive development experience are in process. The first cohort
will be a “train the trainer model” At
this writing, a final decision on the
framework model has not been determined. That is to say, the NISL model
is one option under consideration and
is a strong contendcer for the kind of
rigorous, premier principals’ academy
that we want for our school leaders.
Tom Peters said, “Management is
about
arranging
and
telling.
Leadership is about nurturing and
enhancing.” As I reflect back on the
Bush Program being my most capacity
building professional development
experience, my hope is that principals
in our new academy will experience
the same growth and that the experience will nurture them and make a
profound difference in enhancing
their capacity as school leaders. ■
President’s
Message
PAT MURRAY
Make Sure St. Paul Knows the Code
As president of MESPA, I have had
the opportunity to talk and meet
with elementary school principals
throughout the entire state. It is
amazing and wonderful to hear
that we all keep children and student learning as our major goal.
While retirement and negotiations
are high on our list of MESPA concerns, our day-to-day job finds us
spending most of our time with the
topics that our educational advisory committee discusses — finding
success for students.
would like our support, but it is
not critical.
Rural Minnesota - They have
something for us to do; we have
to do it and send it to them.
Rural Out-State Minnesota They are going to do something
to us; we are not going to like it
and they don’t care.
You may also find The Code
embedded in such items as
press releases, interviews, and
campaign speeches.
Working together with the
Minnesota
Department
of
Education (MDE), we are constantly made aware of the many things
we do that don’t seem to be connected to students. My good
friend, Dr. Del Stein, of Halverson
Elementary School in Albert Lea,
even has a way of distinguishing
between the euphemisms used by
our state officials.
Talk with Legislators
and Candidates!
As we look at our legislative goals
for MESPA and the students of
Minnesota, we need to stay in contact with our legislators and “St.
Paul” contacts. This is going to be
a critical year in the state
Legislature. Everyone is up for reelection, and major changes could
be the result. Whether you are a
Democrat or a Republican doesn’t
really matter. We need to be sure
that all of our children in the state
of Minnesota receive the best possible education they can get. It is not
up to just Urban, Suburban, or the
Greater Rural Out-State districts.
We all need to pull together to
make our educational system work
for our students.
The Code
Those who live outside the
“Cities” have long suspected the
people from St. Paul use some
sort of code to describe them. I
think Del has cracked it. It goes
like this:
When they address you as a
group and they refer to you as:
Greater Minnesota - We have
something they want and they
want it bad.
Out-State Minnesota - They
would like something and they
and letters letting them know we
are watching out for our school
kids. They need to know that
Minnesota students deserve the
very best - and that as candidates,
they are an important part of that.
My friend Bob Schmidt, the executive director of the Minnesota
Association of Secondary School
Principals (MASSP) stated that
“Even though 2006 is not a budget
setting year, it is important for public educators to continue conversations with legislators so they are
aware of your local district needs
and issues.” Even though this is
not a funding year, the officials that
we send to St. Paul are the ones
who will be setting those budgets in
2007-2008 - and that IS a budget
setting year.
My last article urged you to get
involved. Many of you did just that.
We had the largest winter Institute
crowd ever! Now we need to continue that synergy and move it to
our local elected officials. Get
involved, principals, and make sure
those “St. Paul” people know our
code - the need to make Minnesota
students our state’s top priority. ■
We need to spend time talking to
our local candidates to be sure they
understand our issues. Invite them
to your school.
Attend their
fundraising efforts. Write emails
3
Legal and Legislative
Counsel
Report
ROGER ARONSON
Speaking of Continuing Contracts and Tenure
The phrase “teacher tenure” is used
all of the time in Minnesota. Just
what
does
tenure
mean?
Interestingly enough, Minnesota
teachers do not enjoy the “academic
freedom” that comes with tenure at
the post secondary level. Instead, in
Minnesota, the phrase tenure refers
to discharge rights rather than educational issues. The tenure acts provide for seniority and discharge-forcause issues, not academic freedom.
These statutes govern probationary
and tenured teachers. The first three
consecutive years of teaching in a
single Minnesota school district is
deemed to be a probationary period. Thereafter, in any other district
the period is one year. One exception is contained in the cities of the
first class statute. A teacher moving
into Minneapolis, St. Paul, or Duluth
would have to serve an additional
three-year probationary period.
Unlike in colleges, public school
teachers automatically achieve
tenure after completion of the requisite probationary period. College
positions may or may not be “tenure
track” positions. In fact, the number
of “tenured” positions has slowly
been reduced in the higher education system. Tenure at the college
level vests the teacher with the right
to speak freely on academic issues.
Public school teachers are to teach
in accordance with the direction of
the school board. These are very different categories.
Anywhere the word
“teacher” appears in the
statutes, you can substitute
“principal.”
Minnesota has two statutes governing teacher tenure. One statute governs cities of the first class and the
other governs all other school districts. No policy reason exists for having different statutes. It simply arose
that the cities of the first class had
employment protections before
other districts in Minnesota. In fact,
the statewide provisions are much
clearer and more detailed than the
cities of the first class provisions.
And, the statutes contain some very
different provisions.
4 • MESPA P
RINCIPAL
It is important to note that the
statute does not define what constitutes a school year. The courts have
suggested that any part of a year
constitutes a school year. Therefore,
attention must be given to teachers
who are hired late in the school
year.
The statute provides that probationary teachers can be non-renewed for
any reason. However, this must be
accomplished before July 1. If nonrenewal does not occur before that
date, the teacher automatically is
renewed for another year. This is different from the first class statute that
allows dismissal of probationary
teachers on 30 days notice.
Both statutes require evaluation of
probationary teachers. Both statutes
require three annual evaluations of
probationary teachers. It is an open
question what the penalty is for failing to do the evaluations.
Minnesota courts have held that
failure to do the evaluations was of
no consequence where probationary teachers were terminated for
financial reasons.
Also teachers individually may agree
to serve an additional probationary
period. The courts have found that
teachers may waive tenure rights
under the statute but that such
waivers must be knowing and intentional. A voluntary waiver and
agreement to serve an additional
year of probation is something that
is negotiated from time to time.
A point of interest is that the definitional sections of both statutes
include “principal” in the definition
of “teacher.” Anywhere the word
“teacher” appears in the statutes,
you can substitute “principal.”
When superintendents lost tenure
in the late 1980s, the word “superintendent” was deleted from the definitions section in the statute.
One of the interesting trivia points
is that the word “tenure” does not
appear in the text of either of the
Minnesota
tenure
statutes.
Minnesota Statutes 122A.40 and
122A.41 both speak of “continuing
contracts.” These two statutes have
been in effect for several decades
and have worked quite well. It will
be interesting to see if any tampering happens in the upcoming
years. ■
NAESP
Report
JEAN CLARK
Cast Your Ballots for NAESP President-Elect
The National Association of
Elementary School Principals
(NAESP) convention in San
Antonio was tremendous as
Minnesota hosted the Zone 7
breakfast this year. NAESP Zone 7
includes:
Minnesota, Alaska,
Colorado, Montana, Nebraska,
North Dakota, South Dakota, and
Wyoming.
We showed how
Minnesotans can “take the reins of
leadership” and host a spectacular
event for eight states! And a deep
thanks to our business partners
who helped sponsor the event:
John Lindeman of AIG VALIC and
Ken Janke representing Kathryn
Beich Fundraising.
With elections for NAESP president-elect just around the corner, I
am delighted to share information
about Mary Kay Sommers, the candidate MESPA endorsed during
our 2006 MESPA Institute. Mary
Kay is the principal at Shepardson
Elementary in Fort Collins,
Colorado. She has a Ph.D. from
Purdue University, a M.S. from
Indiana University and a B.S. from
Indiana State University.
Mary
Kay
Sommers has
been
very
involved in
the National
Association
of Elementary School
Principals
since 1979.
She
has
served
us
well as the
Zone
7
Director for the past three years
and has been on the NAESP Board
of Directors since 2003.
Mary Kay has received numerous
professional honors including the
Purdue University Outstanding
Dissertation Award, the Indiana
Winner of Alliance for Arts
Education,
the
Mary
Hull
Collaborative
Award
for
Outstanding Service to Students
with Special Needs, the Colorado
continue on page 6
5
MESPA STAFF
continued from page 5
P. Fred Storti
Executive Director
John Irvin Award for School of
Excellence, and the National
Distinguished Principal Award.
Roger Aronson
Legal & Legislative Counsel
Olivia Gault
Communications & Professional
Development Director
Rosie Mitchell
Membership Associate
Judy Bolduc
Communications Associate
Joan Kapaun
Communications Associate
MESPA membership in the active category includes a $10.00 subscription to
the MESPA PRINCIPA L. Advertising
rates are furnished on request.
Affiliated with the National Association
of Elementary School Principals.
MESPA PRINCIPAL
(USPS 4557)
Official Publication of
Minnesota Elementary School
Principals’ Association
Published once a year:
Spring
Circulation 2,000
MESPA COMMUNICATIONS
COMMITTEE CHAIR:
Kathryn House
Sunny Hollow Elementary School
8808 Medicine Lake Road
New Hope, MN 55427
PUBLISHER: MESPA
1667 North Snelling Ave., C101
St. Paul, MN 55108
[email protected]
PUBLISHING INFORMATION FOR WRITERS
The MESPA PRINCIPA L is published once
each Spring by the staff at MESPA. Best
practice artivcles are written and solicited by
the MESPA Communications Committee.
Unsolicited manuscripts should be e-mailed
or mailed to the address above with a
stamped, self-addressed envelope. Articles
that are current, timely and pertain to education are reviewed and may be selected by
the MESPA Communications Committee.
Photos accompanying articles are requested.
The opinions presented in the MESPA
PRINCIPA L do not necessarily reflect
positions of the Minnesota Elementary
School Principals’ Association, but are provided to give a diverse view of principal concerns in Minnesota.
6 • MESPA P
RINCIPAL
The variety of professional affiliations and the positions Mary Kay
has held demonstrate her commitment and dedication to serving
principals across our country.
Mary Kay has held local positions
within the Colorado Association of
Elementary School Principals
(CAES) and NAESP as well as making a presentation at an international conference. It is clear that
Mary Kay is committed to working
with children with diverse needs
and helping them succeed just as
she is equally as committed to
NAESP in helping all principals be
successful.
Here is what Mary Kay has to say:
“Children are my passion for I
believe that each child, regardless
of background or needs, has the
right to believe in a successful
future. As your president-elect, I
pledge to be a strong and passionate advocate for children!
Increased pressure from legislators
and society challenges us to ensure
higher levels of student performance within a climate of inadequate funding and high accountability. NAESP needs our input to
influence
effectively
policies
impacting education. Principals
need easy access to valid information and the means to share issues
and strategies. I pledge to ensure
that NAESP continues to be
responsive to our varied needs
ranging from instruction to political influence.
As we anticipate the growing
impact of an interdependent
world, the challenges we face today
require collaboration with others
to inclusively and proactively seek
new solutions. I pledge to be a
strong, supportive voice for the
critical role of the principal while
encouraging each of us to advocate boldly for a quality education
for every child.
I sincerely appreciate your support
and vote. It would be my honor to
serve you as your president-elect. In
spite of the challenges we face
today, I am inspired by your relentless dedication and commitment to
serve the children in your schools,
your community and your state.
Principals are my heroes!”
We couldn’t find a better candidate
for president-elect than Mary Kay
Sommers!
For information on other candidates for president elect and Zone
7 director visit the MESPA Web site
at www.mespa.net; click on MESPA
News. The duties of NAESP president-elect include: serving as an
ex-officio voting member of the
Board of Directors and voting delegate to the Delegate Assembly; acting for the president when the president is unable to perform the
duties of this office; performing
other duties as directed by the president or the Board of Directors.
Watch your mailboxes for your ballots. They will be arriving soon.
Bragging
Rights Facts
“Teachers in Minnesota’s
public schools are more
likely to teach the core
subjects for which they
are prepared than
teachers in any other
state. (No Small Change,
Targeting Money Toward
Student Performance,
Quality Counts, 2005)”
For more facts on Minnesota
education, please visit the
MESPA Web site
(http://www.mespa.net) Click
on the Educational Resources,
Champions for Children link.
Federal Relations
Coordinator
Report
CELESTE CARTY
I represent MESPA serving as
Minnesota’s state federal relations
coordinator for the National
Association of Elementary School
Principals, a 30,000-member association of elementary and middle
school principals established in
1921, headquartered in the
Washington, D.C. metropolitan
area.
Recently I joined school principals
from throughout the United States
to attend the Federal Relations
Conference sponsored by NAESP
in Washington, D.C. This annual
event focuses on grassroots participation by school administrators
who bring their views to the U.S.
Congress. Citing proposed cuts in
federal education funding, costly
demands of No Child Left Behind
(NCLB), and depleted state budgets, we urged members of the
109th Congress to put the educational needs of America’s youngest
citizens first and to make it a
national priority to invest effectively in public schools.
Fully Fund Public Schools—
Eliminate Vouchers
As a group, the principals discussed
the President’s proposed FY07 budget, which cuts overall federal education funding, freezes the funding
levels of many programs, and eliminates 42 programs altogether,
including School Leadership, the
Elementary/Secondary
School
Counseling Act, and Safe and
Drug-Free Schools state grants. We
urged Congress to: increase Title I
funding to $14 billion in FY07, in
order to allow the program to serve
more students in need; increase
funding for the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
to $16.9 billion, to ensure sufficient
funding by 2011; provide $16 million for the School Leadership
Program; and maintain funding for
Element-ary/ Secondary School
Counseling and Safe and DrugFree Schools state grants.
tives; the second focused on the
president’s budget proposal and Erate and included staffers for senators and representatives who are
active on education issues but are
not on the education committee.
We visited Capitol Hill on Tuesday,
beginning with a breakfast featuring remarks by Representative Judy
Biggert (R-IL), who serves on the
House Committee on Education
and the Workforce. ■
We also recommended that
Congress reject the $100 million
voucher proposal that would allocate public funds to private schools.
This proposal is particularly objectionable in light of the funding cuts
and proposed program eliminations.
Vincent Ferrandino, NAESP’s executive director, spoke with us concerning NAESP’s priorities and the
need for strong grassroots action
on behalf of education. Sally
McConnell, NAESP’s associate
executive director for government
relations, facilitated the conference
along with Advocacy Specialist,
Abbie Evans, and briefed the group
on NAESP’s message to Congress.
Christopher Kush, president of
Soapbox Consulting, Inc., provided
an interactive grassroots activism
training session.
There also were two sessions that
featured panel discussions—the
first focused on how to work with
moderate senators and representa-
7
2005–2006 MESPA LEADERSHIP
ELECTED STATE OFFICERS
President.................................................Patrick Murray, Blaine
President-Elect ............................. Richard Oscarson, Lakeville
Secretary/Treasurer ................ Donald Lenzen, Pequot Lakes
Past President...........................Susan Abrahamson, Woodbury
NAESP State Rep................................ Jean Clark, Sauk Rapids
Executive Director................................................ P. Fred Storti
2005–06 DIVISION PRESIDENTS
(*PRESIDENTS-ELECT)
Central ............................................... Wendie Anderson, Mora
............................................................ *Karen Coblentz, Dassel
East Suburban .................... Susan Donovan, White Bear Lake
............................................ *Barbara Kearn, White Bear Lake
Minneapolis ................................ Marilyn Levine, Minneapolis
....................................................... *Denise Wells, Minneapolis
North Suburban.......................... Nathan Swenson, St. Francis
........................................................... *Rolf Carlsen, Champlin
Northeast........................................ Jolene Landwer, Coleraine
........................................................... *David Wangen, Cloquet
Northern ................................. Mitchell Peterson, Park Rapids
.............................. *Sharon Schultz, Greenbush-Middle River
Saint Paul ................................... Elizabeth Heffernan, St. Paul
................................................................ *James Eaton, St. Paul
South Suburban ............................. Douglas Schleif, Shakopee
............................................................. *Pamela Becker, Savage
Southeast...................................... James Borgschatz, Chatfield
.......................................................*David Nystuen, Stewartville
Southwest................................................... Rick Herman, Wells
.................................................... *Mari Lu Martens, Arlington
West Suburban .......................................... Joey Page, Richfield
........................................................... *Gail Swor, Bloomington
Western .............................................. RaNae Nelson, Wheaton
................................................... *Donald Schill, Breckenridge
MESPA STANDING COMMITTEES
EDUCATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Mary Hanson, Madelia, Chair
Jean Weis-Clough, Avon
Max DeRaad, White Bear Lake
Susan Craig, Minneapolis
Charlene DeLawyer, Deer River
Melinda Jezierski, Deerwood
Nancy Stachel, St. Paul
Elizabeth Bergen, Shakopee
Eldon Anderson, Stewartville
Bernice Amberg, St. Louis Park
Mary Jo Schmid, Moorhead
LEGISLATION/RESOLUTIONS COMMITTEE
Celeste Carty, St. Paul, Chair
Paul Weinzierl, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle
Teresa Dahlem, Hugo
Karen Wells, Minneapolis
Katherine Page, Columbia Heights
Jon Larson, Proctor
Steven Lundberg, Brainerd
John Garcia, St. Paul
Patrick Pribyl, New Prague
Annette Freiheit, Hayfield
Sharon Schindle, Lake Crystal
Connie Hytjan, Eden Prairie
Kevin Kopperud, Moorhead
8 • MESPA P
RINCIPAL
MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE
Joan Franks, Minneapolis, Chair
Rochelle Wagner, Rockville
Michael Conway, Wyoming
Mary Syfax Noble, Minneapolis
Bonnie Johnson, Blaine
Sam Wilkes, Aurora
Jeff DeVaney, Brainerd
James Litwin, St. Paul
Tim Bell, Prior Lake
Joyce Dammer, Rochester
Nancy Kluck, St. Peter
Connic Fladeland, Long Lake
Jerry Hanson, Detroit Lakes
NEGOTIATIONS COMMITTEE
Emily Acosta Thompson, Brooklyn Park, Chair
Gregg Zender, Litchfield
Sheila Eller, Stillwater
David Branch, Minneapolis
Mark French, Maple Grove
Kathleen Antilla, Hibbing
Tom Kusler, Bemidji
Gloria Kumagai, St. Paul
Ben Januschka, Farmington
Todd Kieffer, Pine Island
James Davison, Fairmont
Thomas Lee, Bloomington
Wayne LePard, Hawley
COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
Kathryn House, New Hope, Chair
*Committee comprised of Division Presidents-Elect
RETIREMENT COMMITTEE
William Book, New Brighton, Chair
Greg Seawell, Melrose
Jack Dzubnar, White Bear Lake
Gertrude Barwick, Minneapolis
Claudia Hagberg, Spring Lake Park
Terry Cottingham, Duluth
Victor Rinke, Pine River
Darrel Rivard, St. Paul
Ronald Cin, Savage
Del Stein, Albert Lea
Greg Stoffel, Mankato
Gary Chesner, Brooklyn Center
Jon Harris, Fergus Falls
SCHOOL OF EXCELLENCE REVIEW COMMITTEE
Jon Millerhagen, Chair
Jean Clark, Sauk Rapids
Neal Fox, Forest Lake
Rosalind Robbins, Minneapolis
Judy Marn, Maple Grove
Matthew Dorschner, Moose Lake
Cathy Engler, Brainerd
Zelma Wiley, St. Paul
Cynthia Solberg, Prior Lake
Mary Baier, Owatonna
Nancy Antoine, Worthington
Karla Thompson, Plymouth
Anne Moyano, Moorhead
PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP FOR
PROFESSIONAL LEADERS
Instructional Leadership:
It’s About Team Work and Student Wo r k
James Eaton, principal
Monroe Community School, St. Paul
The principal’s primary
job is to lead
the change
necessary to
establish the
use of high
q u a l i t y
instructional
practices in
every classroom.
The
job would be
James Eaton
a dream if
one only needed to make a mandate and the expected change
would blossom forth, but that
would be like thinking that to teach
is to tell. Any effective leader
knows leading change is much
more than mandating. Leading
change is not a solo act, but a team
effort. The principal needs to
assemble the right team for the job
and then focus the team’s efforts
on the right work, and the right
work is examining student work.
“By focusing on our
students’ work, we keep
our professional development plans grounded
in our students’
s t rengths and needs.”
The group meets weekly for one
hour and the principal sets the
agenda. As a team, we spend 50
percent of our time examining student work. We combine our various backgrounds to determine
what instruction is needed to move
our students’ work to standard.
From these discussions, we determine the type of professional development required to support teachers in providing that quality instruction. By focusing on our students’
work, we keep our professional
development plans grounded in
our students’ strengths and needs.
At Monroe Achievement Plus
Community School, a kindergarten
through eighth grade school located in St. Paul, we established a leadership team to guide the improvement of instruction. The team’s
sole function is to support the
school’s staff in the implementation of a quality instructional program. The work of the team is
based on test data, student work,
and teacher experience.
Standards in Practice (SIP)
For the process, we follow a six-step
process based on SIP or Standards
in Practice. The process appears
on
the
EdTrust
Website:
http://www2.edtrust.org/EdTrust
/SIP+Professional+Development,
and was summarized into a onepage protocol by our school staff
developer. We’ve noticed that the
more closely we adhere to the protocol, the richer and more meaningful the discussion. If we skip
steps, we often find ourselves
repeating old conversations that
tend to be judgmental or steeped
in unfounded conclusions.
A team is only as effective as the
people on it and the work they do.
The principal’s job is to select the
right people and keep them
focused on the right work.
Monroe’s team has eight members.
Each is a respected member of the
staff and brings an incredible
knowledge of their content area to
the table. As important, each works
with students every day which helps
ground our work in the reality of
our building.
The process begins with the careful
selection of student work. This year
our leadership team decided to
examine the work of two Southeast
Asian students. They are part of a
subgroup whose overall performance has been flat for the last few
years. We are at risk of not making
AYP in this area, and the choice
seemed logical. We were careful to
choose students who had been at
our school for several consecutive
years.
We begin with everyone attempting
the assignment. This is a critical
step that should not be skipped. A
list of the skills a student would
need to complete the work is generated and we then determine what
standard or standards are being
taught in the lesson. It is easy to
assume that the work is related to
standard, but by finding the standard and writing it down, we confirm the connection between
instruction and standards.
The next step has produced rich
discussions. It involves the use of a
rubric to look at student work. If a
rubric for the work is not available,
the group must develop one. This
discussion takes place before we
have even looked at the student
work. Creating the rubric forces us
to clarify in detail the elements of
the assignment necessary for a student to produce a quality piece of
work.
At this point, we are ready to read,
rate, and discuss the work. Our discussion revolves around three questions: 1) If the assignment was
unclear, poorly targeted or not
challenging enough, how can it be
redesigned? 2) Or, should it be
abandoned and replaced? 3) If it
was a sound assignment, yet the student scores were low, then what are
the next instructional steps? If the
student work demonstrated mastery, what should be taught next?
As a leadership team, we then look
for areas that may require additional professional development.
Like all strategies, examining student work is not a magic bullet.
Yet, it is a great technique that
keeps the team focused on standard-based student work. It calls
on each member to bring their
background knowledge and experience to the table. Each step holds
the possibility of a rich discussion,
yet it also holds the possibility of
redundant, overly critical, and negative discussion.
The principal’s role is to: choose
9
the best people for the team; be an
active participant in the examination of student work; keep the discussion focused on student work
and how to build on students’
strengths as well as identify weaknesses; assure the protocol is
adhered to; and monitor the implementation of the professional
development that the team
identifies. Providing this level of
instructional leadership will help to
establish the use of high quality
instructional practices in every
classroom. ■
Bragging
Rights Facts
“It would be wonderful
to have more teachers
and computers—but
would you want them at
the expense of school
counselors, nurses,
librarians, or diesel fuel
for your buses?”
(Education Vital Signs, 2006 –
regarding the 65 percent solution
or 70 percent solution that has
been proposed for Minnesota by
Governor Pawlenty)
For more facts on
Minnesota education,
please visit the MESPA
Web site
(http://www.mespa.net)
Click on Educational
Resources section, then
click on the Champions
for Children link.
10 • MESPA P
RINCIPAL
Looking For New Strategies While
Building Professional Community
Rolf Carlsen, principal
Oxbow Creek and Parkview Schools,
Anoka
“Too much to
do, too little
time.” “I feel
over whelmed
already, and
they keeping
adding things
to our plate.
Nothing
is
ever
taken
off!” “There
are just so
many hours
Rolf Carlsen
in a day, and
days in a year. I can’t get it all
done!”
Ever heard those words uttered in
your school? Those are common
sentiments among elementar y
teachers in our district. Everyone
is looking for solutions, but they
seem to be awfully hard to come
by. Who is ready to say it is okay
not to teach health this year? Or
that social studies and science
can be taught if or when you have
time? The level of accountability
is rising, the content expectations
are growing, and our teachers’
level of stress is getting higher all
the time.
We are piloting a program in four
of our schools this year that has
been designed to increase student achievement and at the
same time, promote best practices and development of professional learning communities
among our teachers. It’s also
designed to keep teachers from
feeling overwhelmed by having
too much to teach. We’re calling
it Curriculum Connections: A
Specialization / Integration Pilot
and we’re doing it at grades 4 and
5 in the four schools. It’s still too
early to comment on our results,
but we’ve been very pleased with
many of the outcomes we’ve
experienced thus far, and we do
plan to continue the pilot based
on those outcomes.
Specialization
Our 4th and 5th grade teachers
have “specialized” by becoming
either a humanities (reading and
social studies) or inquiry (math
and science) teacher. We divided
the student day into two major
blocks of time and have partnered our teachers with a colleague at the grade level. (In
schools with three sections at a
grade level, they’ve altered the
model to accommodate a team of
three.) The students stay together as a classroom and travel to
spend half of each day with
another teacher and subject area.
Some of the positive outcomes of
this arrangement include: greater
depth in content due to the
reduced number of areas of
teacher preparation; greater
differentiation of the instruction
for
the
students;
greater
collaboration among colleagues;
greater student achievement.
(art, media, physical education,
and music) have been working on
their curriculum in order to maximize the benefits found when
students are taught content that is
common across curricular areas.
For example, our PE teachers are
now incorporating our health and
science curricula into their
lessons. Kids are running relay
races in which they name and
reassemble the bones of the
human body. Art teachers are
teaching polygons and Picasso at
the same time and with the same
vocabulary as the math teacher.
Music teachers have connected
many classroom concepts to the
musical concepts and elements
they are required to teach. It
makes for powerful learning for
kids while encouraging professional dialogue among teachers.
There have been some challenges
along the way, too, but none so
far that we haven’t been able to
tackle.
We know this won’t be THE
answer everyone is chasing, but
we do think it has great potential
for improving our professional
community and best practices,
and therefore improving student
outcomes.
Early experiences
have been promising! ■
Integration
As for the “integration” part of
the pilot, our specialist teachers
Pictured above: Celeste M. Carty and Dr. Eric Jolly, Science Museum president
Congratulations Celeste M. Carty, Crossroads Elementary
School, St. Paul. She is the winner of the 2006 Science and
Mathematics Elementary and Middle School Principal of the
Year award.
The Science Museum of Minnesota is proud to co-sponsor
this award with MESPA.
11
MESPA MISSION STATEMENT
The Minnesota Elementary School Principals’
Association is dedicated to promoting and
improving education for children and youth,
strengthening the role as educational leader for
elementary and middle school principals, and
collaborating with partners in education to
assist in achieving these goals.
12 • MESPA P
RINCIPAL
Quality Instruction/QualityCompensation:
Target Professional Development Using the
Teacher Advancement Program (TAP)
By Denise Wells, principal
Andersen Elementary School
Minneapolis
Quality is the great buzz word in
some Minneapolis schools. These
schools are the first schools in
Minneapolis to begin implementation of Minnesota’s alternative
compensation law that passed in
July of 2005, also known as QComp. Eight schools in our district
received approximately $2.9 million in Q-Comp funding to implement the Teacher Advancement
Program, (TAP).
Denise Wells
“I enjoy learning best
practices from the cluster group that I can
apply in my classroom.
I also enjoy collaborating with grade level
teams. I appreciate the
TAP mentor’s leadership
in researching, planning,
and modeling new
strategies.” (Kevin
Meyer, Andersen
Elementary teacher)
In order to receive the $260 per
pupil aid certain criteria must be
met. First, a district must have its
own strategic plan that includes
measures for improving student
performance, and individual
schools must have their own School
Improvement Plans. These school
plans must be consistent with the
District Strategic Plan and establish
performance goals and benchmarks that meet or exceed those of
the district. In addition to the
strategic and school plans, sites
receiving Q-comp funding must
participate in a program with the
following components:
• Career advancement opportunities for teachers who have
mentoring and coaching
responsibilities.
• Additional compensation for
mentors and coaches due to
the added responsibility.
• A reformed step and lanes
salary schedule, with at least 60
percent of the Q-Comp funding
based on teacher performance.
(Teacher performance is based
on student achievement gains
and evaluative teacher observations.)
• Student achievement gains
measured with value added
data and based on student
growth over time. (Typically,
the Minnesota Comprehensive
Assessment is the assessment
tool used to measure this
growth.)
• A trained evaluation team, usually including mentors, coaches
and principals, to conduct the
evaluative teacher observations.
• Ongoing site-based professional
development, specifically targeting student needs evidenced
by school achievement data,
during the school day and led
by mentors and coaches.
• Encouragement for teachers to
collaborate with their colleagues through the process.
As mentioned above eight
Minneapolis schools, including my
school, Andersen Elementary, are
implementing the TAP model,
which qualifies for Q-Comp funding. We began in the spring of 2005
with a practice semester. During
the practice semester we inter-
viewed and selected two mentors
and two coaches. We formulated
cluster study groups that were led
by the mentors and coaches.
During the practice session the
mentors and coaches continued
with their regular teaching responsibilities while planning the professional development for the cluster
groups. At the end of May, we as a
school, voted to continue with TAP
in the 2005-06 school year.
TAP Ensures Systematic
Professional Development
We are committed to the TAP
Program because full implementation of the program provides us
with systemic, ongoing, targeted
professional development.
Teachers are supported in implementation of newly learned, fieldtested strategies in their bi-weekly
cluster group meetings. In preparation for cluster groups, the mentors field-test each strategy.
Teachers then implement the
strategy in their classrooms. They
are asked to return to the next
cluster group meeting with student work showing use of the strategy. The student work is then
examined and the instructional
strategy is further refined in cluster groups with grade level colleagues. This serves as a perfect
vehicle for ongoing formative
assessment.
The focus for our targeted professional development in cluster
groups this year is literal comprehension, specifically, identification
of the main idea. We reviewed our
school data on the Minnesota
Comprehensive Assessment in
Reading and determined that a
school-wide focus on teaching
main idea would help students
accelerate their learning toward
the high standards and help
Andersen Elementary reach its
Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)
targets. Our common focus provides a common language and
common strategies throughout the
13
entire school. I can visit any classroom in the school and ask the students to identify the main idea.
Students will not only be able to
identify the main idea, they will be
able to demonstrate the strategy
they used to determine the main
idea.
“TAP has helped me to
try strategies I wouldn’t
normally have tried and
has provided me a
forum for collegial
conversations.”
(Becky Ramgren,
Andersen Elementary
teacher)
In addition to receiving ongoing
professional development, teachers
have the opportunity for professional growth through participation in three full observations with
a mentor, a coach or a principal
14 • MESPA P
RINCIPAL
each year. The mentors, the coach,
and the Andersen Elementary
administrators were trained and
certified as TAP evaluators. The
observations give the teacher
explicit feedback in relation to the
instructional rubric and require
each teacher to self-reflect, or
score the lesson themselves, using
the instructional rubric.
Participation in TAP has changed
the language, the focus and the
way we see and do our work at
Andersen Elementary School.
Probably the greatest change is in
how we use our time together. We
have reduced the number of business-type meetings to only one
time per month. All of our other
times together as a staff are
focused on instructional strategies
and improving our practices to better meet student needs. Our time
is spent engaging in quality professional development and quality
instruction for both teachers and
students. ■
Principal For A Day
By Denise Wells, principal
Andersen Elementary School
Minneapolis
Principal For A Day, what is it? It is
a national program that was started
by PENCIL Inc. (Public Education
Needs Civic Involvement in
Learning), a non-profit organization committed to developing and
facilitating meaningful corporate
and community involvement in the
New York City public school system. The Principal For A Day program was developed as a way for
leaders in schools and the business
community to share ideas,
resources and responsibility for
public education, by serving as a
principal for one day.
During
Principal For A Day, community
and business leaders get a first
hand look at the life of a public
school principal by shadowing the
principal for a full day.
Five years ago the Minneapolis
Public Schools hosted it’s first
Principal For A Day event. The
goals for the Minneapolis Public
Schools included:
• Increasing public awareness of
schools.
• Providing community leaders
first-hand knowledge of the
challenges of educators and
schools.
• Providing a forum for community leaders to share observations and insights about our
schools with district leaders.
• Stimulating and creating new
school/business partnerships
or strengthening existing relationships.
• Providing resources for the
schools.
• Highlighting school successes.
The Principal For a Day program
in the Minneapolis Public Schools
is fortunate to have support from
many corporations, institutions
and foundations including, but not
limited to, Cargill, General Mills,
Star Tribune, City of Minneapolis,
the Minnesota Twins, Best Buy,
Dunwoody, Caribou Coffee, Time
Warner Cable, and the Geek
Squad. Achieve Minneapolis is a
major sponsor and does the majority of the recruiting of the business
and community people for the
event each year.
“It is a great way to
build support for your
school, your staff, and
most importantly, for
your students.”
Many Minneapolis principals have
developed long-term relationships
as a result of the Principal For A
Day event. My first principal partner was a man from the Minnesota
Monthly magazine named Tom
Whelan. Not only was Mr. Whelan
excited about the partnership, he
called in advance of the day to purchase a school t-shirt so he would
fit in with the students. He supervised lunches, read to students, and
observed staff members attempting
to build consensus in determining
budgetary priorities during the era
of diminishing resources for public
education.
One of the most
encouraging outcomes of that
Principal For A Day Event was the
opportunity to stay in contact with
Tom over the next two years.
Another of my Principal For A Day
partners was David St. Peter, the
CEO of the Minnesota Twins. This
was especially exciting because I
had the opportunity to show him
the wonderful leveled library that
we were able to build through a
donation from the Minnesota
Twins Corporation the previous
year. Two years ago my principal
partner was Alice Seagren,
Minnesota
Commissioner
of
Education. Each time I see her, she
greets me and hugs me. She is a
great advocate for public education
and is truly interested in the challenges we, as public educators, face
on a daily basis.
The Principal For A Day event in
Minneapolis always begins with a
breakfast at one of our schools.
The morning begins somewhat like
a blind date. We enter the room,
pick up our nametags, and then
begin the search for our partner
for the day. Often we do not know
what the principal partner looks
like so we walk around checking
out nametags with a few butterflies
in our stomach. After meeting our
match for the day there is a brief
program, and then we drive our
principal partners back to our
school. Our principals for the day
get to do everything we do all day,
including washing lunch tables,
mediating student issues, and
checking in with staff and students.
At the end of the day we drive our
principal for the day partners back
to the original school where they
participate in a feedback session
with district leaders.
Participation in the Principal for a
Day program has been an opportunity for me to build relationships
with community and business leaders I never would have had the
opportunity to meet in another
venue. It is a great way to build
support for your school, your staff,
and most importantly, for your students.
The relationships and
opportunities are endless.
Next year’s Principal For A Day
event is already scheduled for
October 26, 2006 in Minneapolis. ■
Denise Wells
15
Response to Intervention:
a proactive model
By David Wangen, principal
Churchill Elementary School,
Cloquet
Churchill
Elementar y
has
been
selected by
the Northern
L i g h t s
S p e c i a l
Education
Cooperative
to be one of a
small group
to
begin
planning
David Wangen
alternative
practices for
identifying learning disabilities in
students. The practice under pilot
will
be
the
Response
to
Intervention (RTI) strategy.
The activity surrounding the reauthorization of IDEA called for a different look at how learning disabilities were assessed and identified.
The IQ/achievement discrepancy
has been the predominant method
of identification. What’s under
challenge now is that this discrepancy model waits for kids to fail
before receiving special education
services. Supporters of the RTI
strategy say that the student’s
response to intervention should be
the recommended model rather
than the IQ/Achievement model.
The RTI model is proactive. In this
model, students in question are
involved in research-based intervention strategies being implemented by not only classroom
teachers, but other support personnel as well. Following teacher assistance teams, students move
through different phases based on
their response to carefully planned
interventions. Tier I identifies students in the general school population. Tier II identifies students
who are involved in the planned
intervention strategies. Tier III
includes a multidisciplinary team
who is responsible for deciding if
16 • MESPA P
RINCIPAL
the child meets the qualifications
for services. Basically, the student
needs to be performing clearly
below grade levels and also must
demonstrate a poor response to
intervention.
Benefits of RTI
Proponents of the practice identify
a number of benefits to using this
approach. These include: improved
instructional practices for large
groups; increased fairness in the
assessment process; earlier intervention which leads to preventing
significant academic deficiencies;
closer relationship between the
assessment process, assessment
measures, and academic instruction.
“The discrepancy
model waits for kids
to fail before receiving
special education
services.”
Since September, the piloting process has progressed slowly. Among
the issues not considered as much
as needed was the change for the
regular education teacher who
sometimes has been using the discrepancy model for many years.
Though the change has been slow,
we’ve set three years as a comfortable time frame to be fully implemented. To help with this process
a broad team of staff has been
charged with leading the process.
This team has proposed a timeline
and has highlighted important
points to a successful implementation: good communication and
consistent meetings with regular
education staff; a computer program to track assessment data;
organized reading probes; more
training for interpreting data;
development of more researchbased instructional interventions;
implementation of problem-solving teams and, of course, an evaluation of our process.
Large-scale adoption of the RTI
process is still under consideration.
Our early attitudes about the process have been positive. The fairness of the process and the intervention strategies have certainly
made an initial impact with our
entire staff. ■
Bragging
Rights Facts
“Minnesota
recently earned
a perfect score
on the 2006
Development
Report Card.”
For more facts on
Web site
(http://www.mespa.net)
Click on the Educational
Resources section, then
click on the Champions
for Children link.
2005 - 2006 Champions
for ChildrenTM Award
In Recognition of Outstanding Leadership
In Support of Children and Education
Senator Mark Dayton
The Minnesota Elementar y School
Principals’
Association
is honored
to present its
Champions
for Children
Awardto
Senator Mark
Dayton.
Mark Dayton
Senator Mark Dayton has been a
staunch advocate for children
throughout his life of public service. As a former teacher in the
New York City Public School system, Mark saw firsthand the
needs of the students, their parents, and schools. Since entering
the United States Senate in 2001,
Mark has worked tirelessly to
ensure that Minnesota schools
receive the funding necessary to
prepare our students to compete
successfully in the global market.
Although Mark voted against the
No Child Left Behind Act, it
became law in 2001. Mark supports the goals of No Child Left
Behind; however, he believes that
Congress and the Administration
have not provided sufficient
funding for schools to meet these
requirements. He also believes
that some of the stipulations in
the law are punitive and not constructive to improving K-12 education.
In the 109th Congress, Mark supported various measures which
would ensure that our children,
from Head Start to college,
would receive the best education
possible. He will continue to
work for their passage in the
2006 session.
• Quality Education for All
Act of 2005: Mark and 16
other Senators introduced
this bill, which would reauthorize the Head Start Act
and the Child Care
Development Block Grant
Act. It would also make
needed changes to NCLB
education requirements
regarding public school
choice, supplemental educational ser vices, and
teacher quality.
• Individuals with Disability
Education Act: During the
fiscal year 2006 federal
budget debates, Mark
offered two amendments
that would fully fund IDEA
in fiscal year 2006, honoring a federal commitment
to fund 40 percent of the
additional cost of special
education services.
• Title I program: Last
year, Mark joined Senator
Robert Byrd in offering an
amendment that would
provide an additional $5
billion for Title I services.
This critical federal program for disadvantaged
children is responsible for
helping schools with the
additional costs of NCLB.
This year, Mark will continue to
focus public attention on the
high quality education Minnesota
children are receiving in schools
throughout the state. Mark has
initiated a “Senator’s Award for
Excellence in Education” for
Minnesota schools. The noncompetitive award recognizes the
thousands of individual success
stories that occur in our schools
each day. ■
Bragging
Rights Facts
Public schools “excel in
exceedingly difficult
areas, such as accelerated academics, the integration of immigrant populations and the education of students with
special needs… [and] In
fact,
contrary to widespread
belief, most ‘normal’ kids
from stable backgrounds
thrive there.”
(What Matters to Us, Public
Education, MPLS.ST.PAUL
Magazine, January 2006)
For more facts on
Web site
(http://www.mespa.net).
Click on the Educational
Resources section,
Champions for Children
link.
Champions for ChildrenTM a registered trademark used
with the permission of Banach, Banach & Cassidy.
17
2005 MESPA - NAESP MINNESOTA
NATIONAL DISTINGUISHED
PRINCIPAL AWARD
John Ahern
John
Ahern,
principal
of
Edgerton Elementary School in
Roseville Public School District
623, is Minnesota’s 2005 National
Distinguished Principal (NDP).
The National Association of
Elementar y School Principals
(NAESP)
and
the
U.S.
Department of Education, in corporate sponsorship with AIG
VALIC, established the prestigious NDP award in 1984 to
honor exemplar y elementar y
and middle school principals
who set the pace, character, and
quality of education children
receive during their early school
years. It is given annually to a
principal from each of the 50
states. Ahern was nominated and
selected by his fellow principals
through a statewide search process conducted by MESPA.
toward learning and strategies to
achieve immediate and life long
goals.”
Guided by the Edgerton school
vision, Keeping Children First,
Ahern’s learning community
achieves excellent academic
results and since 1995, Edgerton
has had the highest rating for
overall satisfaction in the
Roseville school district from parents, staff, and students. “Keeping
Children First is far more than just
a written statement,” according
to Dave O’Connor, former
Roseville deputy superintendent.
18 • MESPA P
RINCIPAL
(Dave O’Connor, former
Roseville deputy
superintendent)
“John Ahern is a strong advocate
for all students at Edgerton
School. This is demonstrated by
the investment and distribution
of resources to support a highly
diverse student population. He
has successfully fostered teacher
leaders to assume responsibility.”
Ahern’s
noteworthy
career
accomplishments include continuous improvement in school
atmosphere, academics, diversity
awareness and training, and professional learning for staff and
community. Peg Kennedy, the
Roseville district manager of
community programs says that,
“Leadership is
contagious and needs
to be shared by the
principal.”
“Leadership is contagious and
needs to be shared by the principal,” says Ahern. The motto at
Edgerton Elementar y, It Starts
With Me, “motivates all of us at
Edgerton to be responsible and
committed to improving ourselves personally and professionally, so that our students’ achievement and self-worth continues to
show growth. Edgerton’s mission
is to recognize the uniqueness of
each student, and develop in
each student a positive attitude
“John Ahern is a stro n g
advocate for all
students.”
“Edgerton probably
deals with the greatest
challenges in the
district …(and is)
having
tremendous
success.” ■
(Peg Kennedy, Roseville
district manager of
community programs)
John Ahern
2005-2006 MESPA
Minnesota School of Excellence Awards
Celebrating Excellence in Minnesota Elementary
and Middle Level Schools
The MESPA Minnesota School of Excellence program spotlights the commitment to
excellence in Minnesota schools. The program offers a comprehensive, research-based school
improvement process that is aligned with national standards. It validates elementary and
middle level school communities dedicated to continual growth who successfully complete a
two-part school improvement process recognized by the Minnesota Department of Education:
a self-study, followed by an application with improvement plans to address demonstrated
results identified in the self-study. Since the program’s inception in 1986, 112 schools have
earned this honor.
Minnesota School of Excellence
Ridgeview Elementary School
Steven Abrahamson, principal
S t e v e n
Abrahamson
is the principal
of
Ridgeview
Elementar y
S c h o o l
(ISD#271),
located
in
Bloomington, with an
enrollment
of 330 K-5
Steven Abrahamson
students, with
an average
class size of 21 children. Ridgeview
has a building-wide Area Learning
Center (ALC) program throughout much of the year that helps students struggling to perform at
grade-level. Classes meet twice a
week and are taught by Ridgeview
teachers in a small group setting
that gives many students the additional support and help they need.
Ridgeview is also home to a district
Special K program. Students from
across the district are also enrolled
in
a
Communication
and
Interaction Program (CIP), which
provides support to students diagnosed on the autism spectrum.
Ridgeview has a large number of
gifted and talented students and
staff has received training in differ-
entiated instruction to challenge
these students.
Ridgeview Elementary has a dedicated and motivated staff that work
hard to make the best learning
environment possible for its students. The staff strive to educate
all learners to reach their fullest
potential, become lifelong learners, and responsible citizens following the schools’ stated mission: “to
create a learning environment that
helps learners to: recognize the value of
individual differences, display ethical
behavior, achieve success in their work,
and identify their role(s) in a continually changing world, with a development of a nurturing partnership
between staff and family that enhances
our caring school community.”
As principal, Steven Abrahamson
believes “It is important to model the
expectation I have of others. Hard
work, initiative and a desire for excellence are what make Ridgeview a very
special place. To be our best we must
make certain we remain healthy —
physically, emotionally, and spiritually,
and put our own families first, in order
to be most effective at school.” ■
Red Pine Elementary School
Gary Anger, principal
Gary Anger is
the principal
of Red Pine
Elementar y
School, which
opened
in
1995 with 525
students and
has grown to
become the
largest
K-5
school
in
ISD# 196 with
Gary Anger
900 students.
Red Pine has
a diverse socio-economic population, serving students from family
farms, middle-class homes, two
mobile home complexes, and a
newer multi-million dollar housing
area. This socio-economic diversity
strengthens the Red Pine community by helping children and adults
to learn about each other every
day.
Red Pine Elementary has been on
a “Quest for the Best” since it
opened in 1995. The QUEST program is an enrichment program
provided during the school day in
which all licensed teachers provide
instruction to students in classes
the students have chosen. These
classes cover all styles of learning
19
on an extremely wide range of topics from Spanish to math to beading to reading to birdhouse building to writing to camping. With
programs such as Fine Dinning, in
which the principal sports a tuxedo
to entertain classrooms that have
excelled in lunchroom and recess
behavior, at a fancy school lunch,
Red Pine’s focus is on positive
behavior. Also, Red Pine differentiates instruction for every student
each day with highly efficient,
grade level teams, Think Tank (vertical PLC) Teams, and school committees that share leadership to
make choices leading to improved
instruction and learning.
The schools’ “Quest for the Best”
mission statement is: “Our students
must learn the basic skills necessary for
future learning and successful life; our
students must be offered choice, enrichment and remediation opportunities
somewhere in the curriculum; and our
students must feel safe, secure, and confident in the learning climate proved by
the school so teaching and learning
remain the top priorities.”
As principal, Gary Anger leads a
learning community where the students, parents and staff live by their
“Quest for the Best” mission.
Anger says, “We all want the best for
our children and it is an honor to provide only the best education for our students every single day; our passion for
helping students learn and grow drives
everything we do.” ■
O.H. Anderson Elementary School
Donna Cadenhead, principal
Clearview Elementary School
Paula Foley, principal
Donna
T.
Cadenhead
is the principal of O.H.
Anderson
Elementar y
School,
located in
Mahtomedi
(ISD# 832).
With
an
enrollment
of 650 stuDonna Cadenhead
dents
in
grades 3-5,
they serve the entire district.
Students benefit from a class size of
26 to 29 students per classroom – in
addition to a dedicated, veteran
staff and the leadership of a fulltime principal. Cadenhead supports a strong and evolving curriculum. “We must be open to change
in our beliefs and practices in order to
meet the expectations of our students”
she says.
Paula Foley is
the principal
of Clearview
Elementar y
School (ISD#
742), located
in the St.
Cloud area.
T h e K - 6
school serves
approximately 425 students with a
Paula Foley
growing level
of diversity.
The staff at Clearview is “veteran”
and well respected by the students
and community. They employ
teaching strategies that meet the
level of need for the students they
teach. Clearview employs many
artists in residence, and gives
opportunity for field trips, concerts, and programs that extend
the classroom experience. The
Site Council at Clearview is committed to students who are in need
of intervention in reading and
math and the school also hosts
many Target Services after school
activities and has a large Kidstop
(after school) program.
The school site includes several
acres of woods and prairie. An
active committee devoted to the
preservation and improvement of
the outdoor spaces has created outdoor learning stations and lesson
plans so teachers can make the
most of this resource. The school
also offers special area classes in
music, art, and media. Music classes are supplemented by grade level
choirs; students may opt to participate in the choirs during noon
recess and they are open to all students based on their interest.
As principal, Donna Cadenhead,
says her role “as instructional leader
is to help teachers and others take on the
hard job of change.” She believes that
“we are educators in an exciting and
challenging age. Exciting, because we
have validated research about best practice teaching and materials with which
to understand and meet our students’
needs. Challenging, because we must
educate ourselves in order to implement
changes necessary to bring our teaching
to the highest levels. We must examine
our beliefs about teaching and learning
in light of current research.” ■
20 • MESPA P
RINCIPAL
Clearview Elementary School is
committed to meeting the needs of
all students as stated in their mission statement: “To meet the needs of
K-6 students by working collaboratively
with them, their families, staff, and the
larger community to create a safe, supportive, and positive learning environment where each child is able to achieve
and succeed.”
As principal, Paula Foley believes in
providing
opportunities
and
resources to allow all students to
flourish. Foley believes that “the
process of educating children is more
important than the products of learning. It is our responsibility as educators
to ‘tell the story’ of all the good things
(and all the trials) that happen along
the journey to the ‘end’. When we communicate the whole story, and inform
others of the great things and challenges
that we encounter each day, people will
have a greater understanding and more
empathy for what we do as educators.
We’re fortunate to have the opportunity
to impact the lives of children each day,
it is a privilege we must covet and take
seriously.” ■
Greenway Schools
Jolene Landwer, principal
Jolene Landwer is the principal of
Greenway Elementary Schools, two
elementar y
schools that
are located in
Coleraine
and Marble
(ISD# 316).
With
an
enrollment
of 500 K-4
students and
150
early
childhood
and special
education
Jolene Landwer
students, the
schools have
a student: teacher ratio of 16:1.
Students benefit from a dedicated,
veteran staff and the leadership of
a fulltime principal, Landwer, who
assures continuity of curriculum,
program, staffing, and expectations. Many students are the second
and third generation in their family
to attend Greenway.
Currently, Greenway is pleased to
be able to emphasize field learning
experiences:
Laurentian
Environment Center, White Oak
Rendezvous Society, Paulucci
Planetarium, Trout Lake Day,
Children’s Discovery Museum,
Heritage Day, Camp Blue Water,
ICC Engineering Day, Bloomer’s
Greenhouse, and the Duluth Zoo
and Omni Theater.
respectfully and responsibly while meeting the challenges of a changing society.”
As principal, Jolene Landwer places
the students’ needs at the forefront
of all decisions. She believes that to
provide the very best opportunities
and challenges for all students, educational leaders must dream of better futures for their students and
develop fresh leadership talents in
teachers and other educators.
Landwer says, “It takes everyone to
make success. All people who have daily
contact with our students – teachers,
paras, secretaries, custodians, cooks –
will be recognized for contributing to the
success of our program.” ■
The Greenway Elementary Schools
are
committed
to
the
Comprehensive School Reform
process, with a determined focus of
meeting the needs of all students
whether they struggle or soar. The
schools’ stated mission is “to provide
a safe educational environment which
embraces diversity and equips learners
with lifelong skills enabling them to succeed, to think independently and to act
21
2005-2006 MESPA
Division Leadership Achievement Awards
The MESPA Division Leadership Achievement Award for Elementary and Middle Level
Principals is an annual recognition made by each MESPA division. The award expresses appreciation to the many outstanding men and women in the principalship who have contributed
generously to improving education, their communities, and their profession. They serve as role
models and sources of inspiration to other principals and educators.
Central Division
Kay Miles
Independence Elementary School
Big Lake
Her
colleagues in the
C e n t r a l
MESPA division
recognize Kay Miles
for her leadership role and
the encouragement she
gives teacher
l e a d e r s
t h r o u g h
Kay Miles
school improvement initiatives and S.M.A.R.T.
goals for student achievement. A
staunch supporter of professional
development, Miles likes to share
with her staff something she
learned in a professional journal:
“if you lose the passion for learning,
you lose the passion for teaching”.
A high profile figure in the Big
Lake school district, Miles has
helped to lead this growing school
system through district-wide initiatives and has served as co-principal
of 1600 elementary students while
planning for the construction of a
new, second elementary school.
She advocates for differentiated
instruction and gifted education to
help meet the varied needs of all
children.
Miles is an active MESPA member.
She has represented the Central
division as president-elect and president. She also has shared her
expertise as a presenter at
Surviving and Thriving in the
Principalship, a MESPA seminar for
new principals, and as co-facilitator
at Previewing the 21st Century
22 • MESPA P
RINCIPAL
Principalship, a MESPA workshop
for aspiring principals. She was the
gifted and talented coordinator in
Little Falls before joining the principalship. ■
East Suburban Division
Barbara Kearn
Willow Lane Elementary School, White
Bear Lake
Peers in the
East Suburban
MESPA
division nominated Barbara
Kearn for this
award because
the academic
success and
social/emotional health
of her students are at
Barbara Kearn
the heart of
everything she does. Her commitment to the children of her school
is wrapped up in the words of
Linda Holt, Hawaii’s 1995 Teacher
of the Year: “A student’s success in
school starts in the heads and hearts of
his or her parents and teachers. The
way we see them, the way they see themselves, is what they will become.”
Her leadership helped raise the
percentage of children reaching
proficiency on the MCA math and
reading assessments for both the
White Bear Lake and Lester Prairie
schools while Kearn was principal.
She successfully led the staff
through extensive study, discussion, and selection of best
practices.
She encouraged her staff, students
and their parents to expand their
knowledge and understanding of
other cultures as a commitment to
promoting peace and welcomed
visitors from Japan and Africa who
increased the children’s awareness
and comfort with other cultures.
Throughout her years as a principal in White Bear Lake, Kearn has
also been the Title 1 coordinator
for the district. As a creative problem solver, she has collaborated
with a variety of district level program facilitators to develop innovative programs to meet the needs of
all learners. Two primary initiatives, K.I.D.S. (kids interacting and
developing
successfully)
and
E.A.S.E. (early access to success in
education) were honored in 2001
by the Minnesota Association of
Administrators of State and Federal
Education Programs as outstanding
programs.
Kearn currently represents her
MESPA division as the 2005-06
president-elect. She has also been
a member of MESPA’s School of
Excellence Review Committee for
the past five years. ■
Minneapolis Division
Marianne Norris
Bethune Elementary School,
Minneapolis
Marianne Norris is a “go for it!” educational leader. Her peers in the
Minneapolis MESPA division recognize her diligence in forming many
community collaborations since
becoming Bethune’s principal in
2002: Phyllis Wheatley Community
Center, Heritage Park, Northside
Arts Community and Sumner
Library. All of these partnerships
focus on increasing student
achievement.
Wo r k i n g
toward
her
vision of an
arts-focused
school, Norris
identified the
resources
needed
to
implement
the vision and
secured them
from
the
C a r g i l l
Marianne Norris
Foundation
and
Arts
for
Academic
Achievement. After Norris leveraged the necessary resources from
this partnership, she was able to
gather a strong team of teachers at
Bethune School, as well as artists
from Stages Theatre, to complete
the vision.
The children at Bethune School
have excelled in reading during
Norris’ leadership. The school
received a Reading First Grant that
provides research-based staff development in literacy. The school was
one in the state to receive an award
from the Center for Reading
Research at the University of
Minnesota for making significant
progress in teaching students to
read in 2004-05.
Norris has been a member of
MESPA since 1991 and has served
as the Minneapolis division’s president-elect and president and has
been active on the Publications
Committee. Presently she is on the
executive board for the group of
elementary school principals in the
Minneapolis school district and is a
member of the Principals’ Advisory
for the North Area Superintendent
for Minneapolis schools. ■
North Suburban Division
Sharon Engel
Eisenhower Elementary School,
Coon Rapids
When asked to sum up her educational philosophy, Engel said, “It’s
all about relationships. Listen more
than you speak…learning truly is all
about relationships – those we build
with our students and their families,
our teachers and support staff, our
community members, our district personnel, and our colleagues.”
Sharon Engel
As Eisenhower’s educational leader Engel has shaped a “village” of
talented staff through their commitment to a shared vision, to the
children and their families, and to
each other. Engel believes commitment to children and shared
vision is directly responsible for the
student’s year-by-year improvement in academic achievement
and social skills. Part of the commitment is setting measurable academic goals and incorporating
weekly school-wide guidelines for
expected social interactions.
Eisenhower Elementary School
was one of the first schools to provide a non-graded option to parents. Also, it houses an English
Language Learner (ELL) program
and a special needs program for
cognitively disabled students.
In her role as music curriculum
consultant for the district elementary school music program, Engel
is an advocate for arts in the classroom. She believes the arts should
be experienced throughout the
entire
school
community.
Eisenhower holds school-wide
assemblies, large music theater programs twice per year, an annual
Fine Arts Celebration, performances by their 85-voice school
choir, and community outreach
programs. She believes integrating
the arts into the lives of the children leads to academic achievement and development of social
skills.
A long time MESPA member, Engel
has a history of outstanding participation in local, division (North
Suburban), and state involvement.
She has been the president of the
Anoka-Hennepin
Elementary
Principals Association and the president of the association for both
elementary and secondary principals in Anoka-Hennepin. She has
served her colleagues in the North
Suburban MESPA division as president and president-elect and on
the MESPA Board of Directors, as
well as the membership committee
representative. ■
Northeast
Division
Jon Larson
Bay ViewCaribou Lake
Elementary,
School, Proctor
Colleagues of
Larson in the
Northeast
MESPA division
recognize this dediJon Larson
cated
and
compassionate man as their division’s outstanding educational
leader. Asked to summarize his
educational philosophy, Larson
replied, “Kids don’t care how much
we know, until they know how much we
care.”
Developing positive relationships
with students, parents, and staff is a
priority with Larson. This is evidenced by the after school ski program with Spirit Mountain that he
started three years ago. This year
he, one of his fifth grade teachers,
and volunteer parents, have joined
42 children for fun on the slopes
after school.
23
Larson helped create an environmental education program, integrating the school forest into the
curriculum. He and one of his
teachers have been working with
the Audubon Center, and this
spring there will be staff development for teachers: “project learning tree”. There is a plan for fifth
grade students, as mentors, to take
kindergarten students into the forest.
Larson also met with faculty members from the University of
Minnesota, Duluth (UMD), and is
partnering with them to develop a
program that will allow elementary
education and environmental education student teachers to visit Bay
View Elementary and work with
staff and students. Author/scientist Sneed Collard, from Missoula,
Montana, will visit with help from a
grant from UMD.
Larson has represented his MESPA
division on the LegislationResolutions Committee. He is a
member of the Twenty-five Year
Club, a group of administrators
dedicated to education for 25 years
or more. ■
Northern Division
Don Lenzen
Eagle View Elementary School,
Pequot Lakes
Members of
the MESPA
Northern
division
believe Don
Lenzen provides excellent educational leadership to his
school and
the principals h i p .
Don Lenzen
Lenzen’s
administrative style is reflected in
his favorite quote, “What kids really
need are adults who care,” found in
the book What Kids Need to
Succeed, by Benson, Galbraith and
Espeland. His colleagues say the
climate in his school is one of
respect, warmth, and friendship to
all. This caring attitude sets the
tone for staff to focus on learning
24 • MESPA P
RINCIPAL
for students.
Lenzen is active in his building
leadership, always looking for new
ways of instructing and learning.
Accomplishing the task of opening
a new school has been one of
Lenzen’s most gratifying events in
the past couple of years. The development and design of Eagle View
Elementary enabled Lenzen the
opportunity to work with the community, staff, and school board
members.
Among the new programs that
Lenzen helped successfully integrate into the new school’s curriculum is the Early Intervention in
Reading. Teachers have seen wonderful results using these reading
strategies.
In addition to new programs, Eagle
View Elementary has seen the successful rebirth of an active Parent
Teacher Association (PTA). The
PTA has provided an improved
playground for the school, an
increase in volunteer hours,
enhanced communications with
parents, and activities aimed at
improving student learning: field
trip opportunities, lyceum programs, and a writer’s center.
Active in MESPA for many years,
Lenzen currently serves as the association’s Secretary/Treasurer. Past
positions include Educational
Advisory Committee representative
and member of the Board of
Directors as division president and
president-elect. ■
Saint Paul Division
Brenda Peltier
American Indian Magnet School,
St. Paul
ing, and provides training
for the teachers so they
become technologically
proficient as
well as their
students.
P e l t i e r
believes
in
empowering
Brenda Peltier
her staff to
make informed decisions regarding instruction. For example, she
uses conversations around data
that allow her and teachers to know
where students are in terms of their
achievement as individuals as well
as the entire population of the
school. Toward this communication, she provides time for teachers
to meet during school hours, as
opposed to outside of the school
day.
Under Peltier’s leadership the
American Indian Magnet School
strives to be the hub of the community. By opening the school for
community events and by hosting
monthly school activities, the parents of the school’s children see
the school as a more welcoming
place. This leads to greater parent
involvement, which can be especially helpful in this time of budget
cuts. Peltier says it is an honor to
have been working in Saint Paul for
the last 10 years, encouraging the
student success that will transform
the future of this area. ■
South Suburban Division
Patrick Pribyl
New Prague Elementary School,
New Prague
A quote by Benjamin Barber,
“Public education is important not
because it serves the public, but because
it creates the public,” sums up Brenda
Peltier’s educational philosophy. It
is the educators’ obligation, she
says, to provide quality education
for all students from all walks of
life.
Patrick Pribyl’s willingness to go that
extra step is appreciated by his staff
and division principals alike,
according to his peers in MESPA
South Suburban division. When
asked to describe his leadership
style, his staff listed the following
attributes: compassionate, humble, generous, and gifted with students and adults.
Technology is one of Peltier’s priorities. She invests in technology
for the classrooms and the build-
He has been leading the staff of
New Prague Primary School since
2002. Currently his skills take a
new direction as he leads the construction project to build a new K-5
elementary school building in the
district.
child, a garden patch, or a redeemed
social condition; To know even one life
has breathed easier because you have
lived. This is to have succeeded.”
Pribyl
has
been involved
with MESPA
since his first
principal position in 199495
in
L e C e n t e r,
MN. In 199798, he was
elected president-elect of
the Southwest
Patrick Pribyl
division and
became president the next year.
He was honored with the
Southwest Distinguished Service
Award in 1998-99. The following
year Pribyl accepted the principalship at Five Hawks Elementary
School in the Prior Lake-Savage
school district. He immediately
became involved with his colleagues in the South Suburban
MESPA division and was president
for the 2004-05 school year.
Her caring
leadership
style is evident in the
programs she
has helped
implement at
H a r r i e t
B i s h o p
Elementar y
S c h o o l :
intergenerational relaDiane Dodge
tionships with
the Shorewood Senior Campus and
the LifeSkills to Live By program.
With the help of a dynamic leadership team, Dodge led Harriet
Bishop Elementary out of “not
making annual yearly progress
(AYP) status” in 2000-01. Since
then the students have made significant gains and, the school has
been on the AYP list.
He is in his twelfth year as an elementary principal and continues to
be involved in MESPA as the representative for South Suburban division on the state LegislationResolutions Committee. Pribyl has
also served for the last seven years
as the MESPA representative on the
Minnesota Academic League
Council. ■
Southeast Division
Diane Trisko
Elton Hills Elementary School,
Rochester
The Southeast division voted Diane
Trisko and Dianne Dodge as corecipients of this award. Trisko has
a personal mission statement that
serves her and her school community well: “Live well, laugh often, and
love more.” She takes her joyful attitude to work with her each morning and blends it into her daily routine.
As educational leader for Elton
Hills Elementary School, she is
proud of the success of her students, who have achieved annual
Diane Trisko
yearly progress (AYP) for the past
two years. Student progress is carefully monitored. The implementation of a monthly reading collaboration day under Trisko’s leadership allows teams of classroom
teachers and all reading support
teachers to meet and discuss reading proficiency. Substitute teachers
are hired for this day, allowing the
teams to work together and analyze
the collected reading data.
Trisko has been a visible leader in
the field of education. In 1997 she
was
selected
to
represent
Minnesota as the National
Distinguished Principal. In 19992000 she served on the Profiles of
Learning Administrative Review
Committee at the Minnesota
Department of Education (then
the Department of Children,
Families, and Learning). State
elected offices she has held within
MESPA
include
Secretary/
Treasurer, Southeast division copresident, and elected liaison to
the MESPA’s National Association
of Elementary School Principals
(NAESP). She also served on the
national level as a member of the
NAESP Resolutions Committee. ■
Southeast Division
Dianne Dodge
Harriet Bishop Elementary School,
Rochester
The MESPA Southeast division
voted Dianne Dodge and Diane
Trisko as co-recipients of this
award. Dodge lives by these words
on success, often attributed to
Ralph Waldo Emerson: “To laugh
often and much; To win the respect
of intelligent people and the affection of children; …To leave the world
a better place, whether by a healthy
Dodge has served her colleagues in
the MESPA Southeast division as:
president-elect and president in
1993-94 and 1994-95 and again in
2003-04 and 2004-05, and as a
member of the Educational
Advisory committee. In 1995 her
peers selected her to receive the
MESPA Distinguished Service
Award. ■
Southwest Division
Rick Herman
United South Central Schools, Wells
His
colleagues
in
MESPA
Southwest division nominated Rick
Herman for this award for his leadership as president of the division
for the past two years and as treasurer the previous three years.
Under his guidance, the professional development opportunities
at division meetings were excellent.
These opportunities attracted new
members to the meetings, which
increased membership in the division and increased networking and
collaborations.
Herman says that his United South
Central educational philosophy
25
closely mirrors the four points of
the FISH philosophy. The first:
Choose Your Attitude, and how you
react to situations during the day.
Second: Play, and show children
that
adults
enjoy
the
work they do.
Third: Make
Their Day, and
get to know
your students’
strengths and
weaknesses.
Fourth:
Be
Present, and
let students to
know you care
Rick Herman
for them.
grams, and helping staff to “think
outside the box”. Implementing
elementary team time at United
South Central Elementary has
helped the staff plan and coordinate curriculum, discuss student
issues, help develop strategies for
improving the school’s climate, and
review data to help make decisions
based on student needs.
“Thinking outside the box,” means
looking for what’s best for students
and their educational experiences.
There are ways to teach lifelong
learning skills besides in the classroom, if educators can become
more creative. ■
According to Herman, the three
most significant accomplishments
of his career are: implementing
elementary team time at United
South Central Elementary, working
closely with the special education
teachers to implement quality pro-
26 • MESPA P
RINCIPAL
West Suburban Division
Bernice Amberg
Cedar Manor Intermediate Center,
St. Louis Park
B e r n i c e
Amberg’s colleagues in the
MESPA West
Suburban
division nominated her for
this award to
recognize her
outstanding
work with the
Minnesota
Bernice Amberg
Association of
Administrators of State and Federal
Education Programs (MAASFEP)
as well as her service to MESPA.
She provides a space for the division to hold its monthly division
meetings, which increases the networking opportunities among division members. She also is a mem-
ber of the MESPA Educational
Advisory Committee.
“Minds are like parachutes, they only
function when they are open,” sums up
Amberg’s educational philosophy.
As educational leader for the
school, Amberg has been the catalyst for the development of targeted student programs: to increase
reading levels, Early Birds, an
extended day program, was created
using the Reading Naturally system;
a Saturday Learning Academy was
launched to assist low average students in skill development of reading, writing and mathematics; an
Early Intervention Reading program was developed with the assistance of kindergarten teachers.
Amberg believes professional
development training for all staff is
critical in increasing student
achievement and a better ordered
school. Staff development in Six
Traits of Writing resulted in a higher level of writing proficiency for
students. As a result of implementation of strategies learned in
Responsive Classroom training, the
staff saw a reduction in discipline
incidents. ■
Western Division
David Stoltenburg
Frazee Elementary School,
Frazee
Colleagues in the MESPA Western
division have nominated David
Stoltenburg for his creative leadership in the development of the outdoor curriculum in his school district and his dedication to the team
effort of educating the students at
Frazee Elementary School. They
also recognize his service to the
members of the Western division as
the past president-elect and president of the division. He now rep-
resents
his
colleagues as
a member of
t
h
e
Elementar y
Political
A c t i o n
Committee.
Stoltenburg
sums up his
educational
philosophy
David Stoltenburg
with
these
words: Be genuine and sincere, and
you will be successful in your pursuits.
Try especially hard to give others credit
and recognize their efforts in helping
children achieve.
Frazee Elementary School has a
240-acre school forest that is used
to engage its students in learning.
Under his leadership, an outdoor
curriculum has been created and
Frazee as well as neighboring dis-
27
trict students have benefited from
the
environmental
activities.
Stoltenburg considers the involvement in this environmental program by students, staff (particularly
sixth grade teacher Woody
Blasing), and others to be the highlight of his professional career.
Striving to give students at Frazee
the opportunities to reach their
highest potentials, after school and
summer school sessions are
scheduled. Programs are offered
through Targeted Services to reach
students who are struggling and
need that extra boost. Stoltenburg
says he leads an exceptional staff,
teachers who are concerned and
care enough to put in that extra
effort.
Stoltenburg believes it is important
to develop a strong community
education component within the
small, rural Frazee community. He
has been fortunate, he says, to have
had many wilderness canoe
guiding opportunities to the
Boundary Water Canoe Area in
Minnesota. He finds immeasurable
value in how these opportunities
become educational learning experiences and creates the link
between the school system and the
community. ■
2006 Science and
Mathematics Elementary
School Principal of the Year
Celeste Carty
Crossroads Elementary School,
St. Paul
ing a culture that encourages and
celebrates math and science literacy.
Celeste Carty,
principal of
St.
Paul’s
Crossroads
Elementar y
School, has
been named
the
2006
Science and
Mathematics
Elementar y
and Middle
S c h o o l
Celeste Carty
Principal of
the Year. Created out of a partnership between the Science Museum
of Minnesota and the Minnesota
Elementary School Principals’
Association, the award honors the
key role elementary and middle
school principals play in develop-
In reviewing applications for this
year’s award recipient, the award
committee looked for evidence of
the nominee’s support of professional development and coaching
for the teachers in their schools,
active partnerships with other organizations, efforts to apply math and
science standards to curriculum
and provide support materials, support of out-of-school as well as inschool experiences, inclusion of
families, and evidence of other creative ways of fostering interest in
math and science.
Carty was nominated for the honor
by Dr. Bill Lindquist, a Crossroads
teacher. Lindquist praises Carty for
her participatory style of leadership. “Her staff is committed to her
and her vision,” Lindquist says.
“She was able to develop a schoolwide culture of respect for learning
with a particular emphasis on
inquiry-based teaching strategies.”
Lindquist cites the success of
Crossroads’ Inquiry Zone, a nationally-unique learning environment
that is a central showcase feature of
the school, as further evidence of
Carty’s excellence. “The Inquiry
Zone was designed to stimulate and
support student inquiry based on
individual interest,” he writes.
“Eighty work stations were put in
place, hosting a broad array of scientific disciplines. These stations
are rich enough in a diversity of
interests to meet the unique learning needs and interests of our
school population.” ■
28 • MESPA P
RINCIPAL
PUBLISHER
1667 N. Snelling Ave., Suite C101
St. Paul, MN 55108
PRESORT STD
US POSTAGE
P A I D
MINNEAPOLIS, MN
PERMIT NO #4557
MESPA . . . is working for you
STAFF PROVIDING SERVICES IN THE AREAS OF:
INSURANCE PROGRAMS TAILORED TO MEMBERS:
• Professional Issues
• Professional Employment
• Legal Opinions/Assistance
• Negotiations Consultations
• Arbitration Assistance
• Public Relations
• Auto Insurance
• Life Insurance
• Disability Insurance
• Tax-sheltered Annuities
REPRESENTATION:
• Minnesota Department of Education, Task Forces
& Advisory Committees
• Alliance for Student Achievement
• MN Academic Excellence Foundation
• MN Alliance for Arts in Education
• MN Friends of Public Education
• MN P-16 Partnership
• Better Education Lobby liaison
• MN Academic League Council
• MN Coalition Against Censorship
• NAESP
• Urban Leadership Academy
LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITIES:
• Lobbying at State and National Levels
• Proposing new legislation and maintaining existing
legislation beneficial to public schools, children and
professional staff
• Working with other education associations toward
common legislative objectives
• Monitor legislative activity
• EPAC (Elementary Political Action Committee)
• NAESP Federal Relations Coordinator
INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS:
• Institute, Annual Statewide Convention
• Leadership Conference
• Legal Seminars
• New Principals’ Seminar
• Aspiring Principals’ Workshops
• Technology Workshops
• Breakthrough Coach (time management)
• Professional Development—
- leadership skills
- administrative issues
- curriculum areas
- school reform concepts
- technology
• National Convention
PUBLICATIONS DEVELOPED FOR
THE ELEMENTARY/MIDDLE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL:
• MESPA PRINCIPAL Magazine
• MESPA ADVOCATE Newsletter
• MESPA E-News Electronic Newsletter
• MESPA Web site
• MESPA Leadership Directory
• Statewide Salary and Benefits Survey
• Legislative Alerts
• Position Description for Principals
OTHER SERVICES:
• Clock Hour Renewal Credits for Programs
• Business Partnerships
• MINNESOTA SCHOOL OF EXCELLENCE Recognition
Program
• DIVISION LEADERSHIP ACHIEVEMENT Awards
• NATIONAL DISTINGUISHED PRINCIPAL Program
• SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS PRINCIPAL OF THE YEAR
• Electronic surveys of MESPA members on issues key to the
principalship.
. . . Professional Leadership
for Professional Leaders

Spring 2006 - Wyndmere Public School

Transcription

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