Welcome to my first post . I plan to use this forum to offer insights into the district’s affairs, ask questions and to celebrate the myriad of good things that are happening at our schools each day.
Since school started we have been going as fast as we can to guide a series of improvement efforts. One of these efforts, to review our students’ secondary experience, included an employer summit. The event was a chance for us to gain feedback from employers and higher ed on what we need to do to prepare our graduates for life after high school.
We came away from the summit with three strong recommendations.
1. Teach our students the soft employment skills. Soft skills are the nontechnical skills, abilities, and traits that workers need to function in a specific employment environment. They include : problem-solving and other cognitive skills, oral communication skills, personal qualities and work ethic, and interpersonal and teamwork skills.
2. Improve our support for student transitions. The need to better guide our students in their transitions from elementary to middle school, middle to high school and high school to what’s next
3. Strengthen our school-business partnerships. This includes the district facilitating these and not depending on the principal forming them.
This was the first step in what will be an on-going dialogue with our local businesses and higher ed. I’d like to read your thoughts on this if you have something to share.
Are we preparing our graduates for what is next?
Welcome to my first post . I plan to use this forum to offer insights into the district’s affairs, ask questions and to celebrate the myriad of good things that are happening at our schools each day.
Since school started we have been going as fast as we can to guide a series of improvement efforts. One of these efforts, to review our students’ secondary experience, included an employer summit. The event was a chance for us to gain feedback from employers and higher ed on what we need to do to prepare our graduates for life after high school.
We came away from the summit with three strong recommendations.
1. Teach our students the soft employment skills. Soft skills are the nontechnical skills, abilities, and traits that workers need to function in a specific employment environment. They include : problem-solving and other cognitive skills, oral communication skills, personal qualities and work ethic, and interpersonal and teamwork skills.
2. Improve our support for student transitions. The need to better guide our students in their transitions from elementary to middle school, middle to high school and high school to what’s next
3. Strengthen our school-business partnerships. This includes the district facilitating these and not depending on the principal forming them.
This was the first step in what will be an on-going dialogue with our local businesses and higher ed. I’d like to read your thoughts on this if you have something to share.
Thanks
Steve Atwater