Board Approved 11/10/10

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FLORENCE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT #1
STRATEGIC PLAN

I. WHAT WE BELIEVE

A. Leadership:
1. Effective leadership is achieved through vision, communication, earning trust daily, having
personal regard for others, and staying forever positive.

B. Vision:
1. Kids first
2. I come section, as kids come first
3. Doing our best as teachers and staff, every day, for every child
4. Setting high expectations for all

5. Finding problems to just be opportunities for creative solutions
6. If educationally correct, it must be administratively possible
7. Respect modeled, given, received, and praised
8. Sharing an articulated, challenging, real world, technologically integrated curriculum
9. Trust earned, granted, forging a true partnership between faculty, staff, administration,
students, and community

C. Foundational Precepts:
1. Treat all children as though they were your own
2. All kids can learn, and learn well
3. Success breeds success
4. We control conditions necessary for student success
5. Strive to teach all students each day at a level challenging to them individually
6. Realize that true self-esteem emanates from achievement
7. What we allow, we encourage
8. You must inspect what you expect

D. 97%:
1. 97% of our kids will meet expectations when a personal relationship is established based on
trust and respect, and where communication of expectations is clear


II. WHAT WE WANT Successful students taught by effective teachers led by exceptional
administrators resulting in excelling schools

A. Students Who:
1. Respect themselves
2. Earn confidence through successful performance
3. Achieve to their potential using higher level thinking processes
4. Gain 1+ years of academic growth each school year
5. Provide evidence of reliability through regular attendance
6. Are effective communicators
7. Are problem solvers
8. Are technologically literate
9. Appreciate the diversity of others
10. Are proactive and assertive about their own education
11. Understand and demonstrate collaboration skills
12. Understand the value of co-curricular activities
13. Appreciate the diversity of others
14. Understand the need for empathy and compassion
15. Realize they must compete in a global world
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B. Great Teachers Who:
1. Earn the trust and respect of their students, parents, peers and community
2. Are dedicated and committed to our KIDS FIRST vision
3. Develops a classroom culture that creates a positive educational environment
4. Possess the art of teaching and truly know their kids
5. Articulate high expectations always
6. Are forever positive
7. Can utilize test item banks efficiently
8. Analyze data effectively
9. Understand the necessity of only teaching kids what they dont know
10. Possess and utilize exceptional teaching technique constantly
11. Effectively model and teach higher level thinking skills constantly
12. Model appropriate behavior for students and peers constantly
13. Effectively utilize differentiated instruction
14. Utilize the all technology available at the refinement level
15. Motivate kids to achieve academic success
16. Inspire students to become lifelong learners
17. Lead their students to 1+ years of academic growth each year
18. Are highly qualified
19. Are lifelong learners
20. Strive to increase parental involvement


C. Administrators Who:
1. Earn the trust and respect of their students, parents, teachers, peers and community
2. Are effective instructional leaders
3. Possess exceptional communication skill
4. Are team builders
5. Problem find consistently before taking action
6. Improve continually, leading their teachers and students to improved achievement and
behavior
7. Understand the need for reliable and valid data and know how to analyze it
8. Can creatively regroup students to enable all to learn at a challenging level
9. Lead their students to 1+ years of academic growth each year
10. Organize schools instructionally such that, to the greatest degree possible, every child is
taught to their potential
11. Collaborate and are respectful of others opinions
12. Model life long learning
13. Continually seek to increase knowledge of best practices
14. Strive to increase parental involvement
15. Continue to develop their understanding of the technology, its power and potential
16. Understand what motivates and influences the different personalities of all they serve
17. When investigating, discover the whole story by established facts with a thorough
questioning/answering of all involved, before providing closure


D. Safe Schools:
1. Characterized by a positive educational atmosphere, order, organization, and a secure
physical environment
2. Adhere to state statutes and board policy
3. Insure that the safety of all is our primary responsibility
4. Are alcohol and drug free
5. Take an active role against aggression, bullying, cyberbullying
6. Are clean and inviting places to be
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E. Technology:
1. All children and teachers must be adept technologically
2. Must be focused on helping our students learn more and learn it quicker
3. The District must strive to possess the most useful technologies designed to enhance student
learning
4. Specialized technologies will be made available for those most needy students
5. Internet safety is a focus and is included in the curriculum
6. Must apply to the real world and job market
7. Students and staff will possess a keen understanding of the different technologies available
8. To the degree financially possible, remain at state-of-the-art implementation, with focus on
bandwidth

F. Customer Service:
1. To provide exceptional customer service
2. Exhibited by friendly and inviting schools that promote character and achievement
3. Illustrated by attentive employees who greet all in a welcoming manner
4. All have all the current accurate information needed to communicate effectively
5. Please answer as many phone calls personally as possible, always identifying ourselves
personally and pleasantly

III. WHAT WE KNOW
A. We must provide instruction bell to bell
B. For teachers and staff to continually improve, the District must provide an effective and
comprehensive staff development program
C. Data must drive instructional decision-making
D. The purpose of evaluation is improvement
E. Instructional improvement must be founded upon a clear instructional model
F. The greatest factor in increasing student achievement is the teacher
G. The quality of the Principals leadership skill determines the success of the school
H. Kids dont care what a teacher knows, until they know that the teacher cares
I. If kids are to truly learn, they must be taught at the conceptual level embracing relevant
and real world examples whenever possible
J. Exercise and diet can affect a students attitude and behavior
K. Students that are significantly behind educationally must be provided more time to work on
that area of weakness than those who are at grade level
L. If we really know what kids know and dont know, and teach them at a challenging level
daily, they succeed dramatically
M. We must teach students at challenging levels because if we do not challenge kids, they will
become challenging thus, we must motivate students
N. Students learn in different ways honor their individual learning style through DI
O. Effective teaching is difficult
P. While the effective use of technology is a necessity for students to learn to their potential,
we must strive daily to insure that FUSDs system is a safe venue within which our students
collaborate
Q. To maximize learning, all departments must be coordinated and work efficiently such that
our students absolutely receive effective instruction
R. Areas of deficiency must be addressed at the students instructional level
S. To achieve higher level thinking, students must be assessed and challenged in those
domains
T. Students positive self-image is critical to meaningful social and academic growth and
development
U. When students take ownership in their school by becoming significantly involved in any one
part of a schools comprehensive program, their chances of academic success increase

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IV. WHAT WE WILL DO


This plan consists of the goals in leadership behaviors, the instructional process, curriculum
planning, and classroom procedures. With each of the goals there are strategies identified
to ensure the goals are achieved. Beside each of the strategies is a symbol which
identifies where we are with the implementation of that strategy as follows: o strategy
currently in place and needs to continue; * strategy that has been in place but needs to
be improved or strengthened; **new strategy to our plan.

A. Leadership Behaviors

1. Leadership (i.e. district administration and principals) has led an inclusive
process of developing a sustained and shared philosophy, vision and mission
that promotes a culture of excellence.
a. District Convocation
b. Staff Handbook
c. Weekly staff meetings
d. Weekly office staff meetings
e. Monthly Team Leader meetings
f. Monthly Department Head meetings
g. Weekly bulletin
h. Site based staff development *
i. NCA Accreditation (high schools)


2. Leadership actively promotes ongoing, two-way communication among
multiple stakeholder groups.
a. Monthly newsletters
b. Parent Organizations
c. Parent/Teacher Conferences
d. Websites
e. Connect-Ed for upcoming and major events
f. Stakeholder phone calls/emails returned within 24 hours
g. Leadership visible and available at all extracurricular events
h. Annual Students/Parents/Staff Surveys


3. District/school leadership systematically uses disaggregated data in planning
for diverse student needs, and then communicated data analysis information
to school staff.
a. Master Schedule reflects data analysis *
b. Flexible groupings across grade levels for language arts and math *
c. Leadership identifies the number of struggling and excelling students
to determine staffing and scheduling need *
d. Leadership team meets to review/revise Continuous Improvement Plan *
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4. The principal demonstrates the skills necessary to lead a continuous school
improvement process focused on increasing student achievement with a
student-centered, teacher led learning community. This includes the use of the
curriculum, and instructional materials, and resources relating to the Arizona
Academic Standards.
a. The leadership provides the State Standards to each teacher
b. Lesson plans submitted weekly to the principal; feedback provided
c. Objectives are written by curricular code and in student friendly form *
d. Lesson plans include differentiated instruction (re-teaching and
enrichment) *
e. Leadership monitors the progress of the different curricular software
f. Beyond Textbooks **


5. The leadership provides a clearly defined evaluation process and focuses on
increasing student achievement.
a. Evaluation process visited in staff meetings
b. Instructional Model teaching components revisited frequently and
modeled at in-services.
c. Teachers complete a self evaluation for post conference
d. Evaluation, both formal and informal, focus on instructional practices
and data reports submitted monthly to the administration **
e. The leadership reviews assessment data school wide, by grade level,
and with individual teachers *
f. Weekly walk-through and drop-ins













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B. Instructional Process

1. Technology is integrated effectively into classroom instruction and is used as a
teacher resource tool for instructional planning, instructional delivery, and
assessment, monitoring student progress, and communicating information.

a. Technology used for instructional planning, assessment, and monitoring
student progress
1. Galileo *
2. PLATO *
3. Accelerated Reader
4. Fast ForWord
5. ALEKS **
6. Reading Assistant *
7. Rosetta Stone
8. Math XL (high school only) *
9. Thinking Maps **

b. Instructional Delivery
1. E-instruction *
2. Computers *
3. Promethean/Smart Boards *
4. Document Cameras *
5. I-TV *
6. Thinking Maps **

c. Communicating information
1. Connect-Ed
2. PASS
3. Websites *
4. Portal



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2. Differentiated instruction (i.e., adjustment of concept, level of difficulty, strategy
for instruction, amount of work, time allowed, product or performance that
demonstrates learning) is used to meet the learning needs of all students.
a. Flexible grouping is determined by formal & informal assessments *
b. Teachers are required to assess students and analyze data and
develop lesson plans that show differentiation by groups,
expectations, activity, and assessment *
c. Re-teach and Enrich time built into the daily schedule **
d. Targeted before and after school tutoring time *
e. Increased academic time, standards and skills classes *
f. Intersessions

3. Teachers and staff promote high expectations of students and recognize and
accept their professional role in student success and failure.
a. Assemblies are held to recognize student success in the areas of
academics, citizenship, attendance & extra-curricular activities *

4. Professional development is continuous and job-embedded.
a. In-services are based on data and survey results *
b. In-services are planned on each early release days *
c. Teachers are required to attend all in-service training during
designated staff develop time *

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C. Curricular Planning

1. The school/district has developed an explicit, written curriculum that is aligned with
Arizona Academic Standards.
a. Beyond Textbooks **

2. The district/school implements specific steps for monitoring and reporting student
progress in learning the Arizona Academic Standards.
a. Monthly assessment reports submitted to principal *
b. Parent contacts list submitted to the principal
c. PASS system updated weekly for parent view
d. Quarterly benchmark data analyzed and reviewed with teachers,
students, and parents, as appropriate *
e. Student failure list provided to site administration
f. Weekly formative assessments are used **
g. Develop data teams for English, Math, and Science (high schools) **

3. The staff monitors and evaluates curriculum and instructional programs based on
student results, and makes modifications as needed to ensure continuous school
improvement.
a. Flexible homogeneous groups are formed across each grade level for math
and language arts *
b. Differentiated instruction is provided following all formative assessments in
language arts and mathematics *
c. An enrichment and re-teach program is provided at each grade level **
d. Teachers required to maintain data books and student portfolio **
















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D. Classroom Procedures

1. Teachers and staff build positive, nurturing relationships with students and work to
improve student attendance, dropout rates, and graduation rates.
a. Small group instruction allows the teacher to foster personal relationships *
b. School wide Character Counts program
c. Truancy program **
d. Teacher and on-line tutoring programs in place to increase achievement *
e. Intersession available as an intervention or for credit recovery
f. Motivational programs are implemented at each school

2. A variety of scientifically research-based strategies and best practices focused on
increasing student achievement are used effectively in classrooms.
a. Madeline Hunter based (Teaching Edge) instructional model
b. A reliable test item bank is used for formative and summative tests *
c. Computer software programs (Galileo, Plato, Accelerated Reader, ALEKS, Fast
ForWord, Reading Assistant, Rosetta Stone, and Math Excel) are used daily in
classrooms and monitored *
d. A combination of whole and small group instruction is practiced
e. Extra instructional/ learning time is built into the master schedule for all K-8
students in the areas of language arts and math **
f. Co-teaching exists where appropriate between the regular and special
education teachers **

3. Students are provided with a variety of learning opportunities within the normal
school day; and may receive additional assistance beyond regular classroom
instruction to support their academic learning.
a. Re-teach and Enrichment classes offered **
b. Additional support provided through TRIAGE/ELL, Title One, Special Education
c. Teachers provide after school tutoring *
d. Curricular software programs are used to meet individual student needs *
e. International Baccalaureate and Advance Placement at the high school level
f. At the high schools we want to also stress the importance of having a
comprehensive program where we value student success in the arts and athletics