York Town News
From the superintendent's desk…
A time for reflection
By Dr. Henry R. Scipione
Superintendent of Schools
Dr. Henry R. Scipione
As superintendent, I find myself thinking this way about the York Schools. What have we accomplished and what lies ahead? Have we provided high quality education for our children? Knowing that quality means different things to different people, we must consider how we present this type of education to students in York. Is it academic achievement that determines how our community defines student success? Is it good citizenship? Is it having compassion and empathy for others? Is it being accepted into a "good" college? Is it being able to read in grade one? Is it high test scores? There are many, many ways to look at educational quality.
Our profession is often faced with the multiple roles teachers must play in providing this quality education. Teachers are expected to create a challenging environment for all students. They are expected to give additional support for our needier students. They are expected to attend to the academic, social and emotional elements of all children. They are teacher, parent and friend to their students. Are "good" teachers ones who test students academically? Are they ones who emotionally support students or ones who are strong disciplinarians who effectively control student behavior? Does a teacher need to possess all of these skills to be considered a "good" teacher? Does being a "good" teacher guarantee that quality education will occur?
To answer these questions we must look at what our community deems important. We need to ask what is vital for our students to learn and be able to do when they graduate from the York Schools. In determining the York Schools' Mission, Vision and Expectations, we did just that; we asked our community to define what was important. As a result of input at these community forums we articulated the York Schools' Vision, Mission and Expectations and we use these statements to make educational decisions. The York Schools' mission is to educate, inspire and challenge all learners to be ethical citizens who will make a difference in a changing and complex world. Our mission is lofty. It causes us to focus intently on our programs and resources.
As we applied our mission to the state of Maine expectations for students, the following list was echoed by community members. Our expectations are that York students will leave school as clear and effective communicators, self-directed and life long learners, creative and practical problem solvers, responsible and involved citizens, collaborative and quality workers, integrative and informed thinkers.
The York Schools' mission and expectations define quality. When you reflect on the quality of the education York students receive, the measure you use should be the student attainment of each expectation from the list above. When you consider what a "good" teacher is, ask yourself if York's expectations are being met. Is the teacher promoting all students to be effective communicators, self-directed learners, creative problem solvers, responsible citizens, collaborative workers and informed thinkers? It is through achievement of these expectations that we can measure student success and overall educational quality.
The quality of a York education is ultimately defined by the success of the students who graduate from our schools. How we define quality is critical to the measure of that success. Since 2004, actual college enrollment for York graduates has risen from 64 percent to 83 percent.
We can be proud of what we see thus far. We are keeping our mission and expectations at the core of our future planning.
