SCS+Summer+Leadership+Retreat+-+July+12+&+13

**Welcome to our Summer Leadership Retreat Wikispace!**
Exemplary leadership at all levels of our school system is needed to take us to the next level! During our retreat, we will be learning together how we can each enhance our leadership effectiveness to drive positive change down to the student level. I contend that our efforts need to be targeted to impact our students - if we aren't working to make positive change that impacts the experience of our students while they are with us, then we are wasting our effort. Ours is a people business, so developing our staff is an important key in our work of driving change down to the student level. So our theme this year is **//Enhancing Leadership Capacity and Effectiveness to Impact Student Learning and Staff Performance. //**I believe wholeheartedly that **//Task Predicts Performance!//** Therefore, if we want our students to become better critical thinkers, problem-solvers, creative thinkers, effective communicators both verbally and in written language, collaborators, researchers, and more literate with information, media and technology, we need to ensure as leaders that our students are doing these things in the work provided at school. Additionally, our leadership should impact our students development of self understanding and social responsibility in a democratic and increasingly global society. A fundamental question we should ask is this: **//Has our work implementing the academic program with our students been elevated to include moral decisions that touch the core of what it means to be human, to live in a community with others, to find meaning and purpose, and to create a more just and peaceful world?//** I contend we must work toward this higher purpose and be careful not to succumb to the pressures of high stakes testing by becoming too test score focused. I believe we can aspire to these higher purposes and still give our students the opportunity to shine on the state assessments. We simply cannot lose focus on these higher purposes as we design and implement our curriculum. To do this well will require exemplary leadership on our parts. Together, we can and will do this important work - our students and community are counting on us!

=**RESOURCES:**=
 * [|Changing Education Paradigms - Sir Ken Robinson]**


 * __ LTM/ILTM Dates 2011-2012 __**

August 24, 2011 September 21, 2011 October 26, 2011 November 30, 2011 December 19, 2011 (Breakfast)* January 25, 2012 February 22, 2012 March 21, 2012 April 25, 2012 May TBA (Lunch)


 * All meetings are on the Wednesday following that month’s Board meeting, except the December meeting.
 * The Leadership Team Meeting (LTM) will begin at 8:30am in the board room at the central office with the Instructional Leadership Team Meeting (ILTM) beginning directly after it at 9:30am.**

__** Common Core Roll-out Regional Dates for 2011-12 **__ September 23 October 20 November 22 January 17 February 23 March 22
 * __ ISLN/Principal Leadership Network __**

To continue our momentum in the Instructional Rounds process, the following points of consideration and/or clarification are offered: FSHS – Week of August 22 FSMS – Week of August 29 LES – Week of September 5 SES – Week of September 12 FES – Week of September 19 FSHS – Week of October 10 FSMS – Week of October 24 LES – Week of October 31 SES – Week of November 14 FES – Week of November 28 __ Reflection on Rounds __ How would we like to see rounds conducted the 2nd semester?
 * __ Instructional Rounds - A Proposal for 2011-2012 __****
 * Schools should identify one person to spearhead the rounds process in your buildings. //(Please email Smith with the name of the school facilitator.)//
 * Rounds will be led and facilitated at the school level by the school-based leader with members of the district leadership team still //participating// in the process. The schedule for the first set of rounds should occur as follows:
 * In the meantime, also identify people who need training in the Instructional Rounds process and protocol who you would like to participate and/or facilitate. All new staff attending the orientation on July 19th will be trained. Another training session will be set at a later date TBA for those unable to attend.
 * Site visits will be conducted at 1:00pm after the rounds process and a lunch break. (Schools will receive agendas as before.)
 * A rounds schedule for the 2nd semester will be determined by the schools.

How can we follow-up on the problem of practice after rounds have been conducted?

How are we using the information gathered from the rounds process after they have been conducted?

*At the first of the month you have been assigned to present the Teaching and Learning Session at the Board Meeting, please send over student work to be displayed. At the end of the month, we will take it down and return it to your school.
 * __ Teaching & Learning Session Presentation Schedule __**
 * __ Simpson County Board Meetings 2011-2012 __**
 * August 18 ** – Central Office
 * September 15 ** – Franklin-Simpson High School
 * October 20 ** – Franklin-Simpson Middle School
 * November 17 ** – Lincoln Elementary
 * December 15 ** – Simpson Elementary
 * January ** – Franklin- Elementary
 * February ** – Learning Opportunities Center
 * March ** – Career and Technical Center
 * April ** – Community Education
 * May ** – Central Office