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“Students will always come first”
August 19, 2008 – Springfield Public Schools will create a culture of educational excellence by keeping students first and focusing the community and teachers and other district employees on accountability for results, Superintendent Alan Ingram announced Tuesday.
In crafting a new vision, mission statement, strategic priorities and core values for the district, Dr. Ingram said Springfield can have the “culture of educational excellence” sought in the new vision statement by working together.
“If we always put the needs of students first, and if we pull together and work as an entire community to make better schools, we will have them,” Springfield’s new superintendent said as he prepared to start the school year.
Dr. Ingram started work as Springfield’s new school superintendent last month and has spent his first weeks in office listening closely to what parents, students and staff have had to say about the schools. The new vision and mission statement is a product of Dr. Ingram’s discussions with the community and his early work with the school board and staff to reach consensus around what the Springfield Public Schools should be all about.
The new mission statement says: “The mission of the Springfield Public Schools is to provide the highest quality of education so that all of our students are empowered to realize their full-potential and lead fulfilling lives as lifelong learners, responsible citizens and leaders in the 21st Century.”
Dr. Ingram said it will take “the support and assistance of everyone: students, parents, teachers, support staff, administrators and the community,” to reach the new goals. He said an aligned management system will ensure system-wide accountability in the effort to: - Improve student achievement;
- Create a safe and nurturing learning environment;
- Expect high-performance management;
- Create learning communities;
- Require accountability for results;
- Achieve effective communications and collaborative partnerships.
The new core values of the district state: - Our students will always come first
- Teamwork, trust and mutual respect will be required;
- There will be a shared accountability;
- The core business of Springfield Public Schools is teaching and learning;
- Parents and the community must be partners.
“If we truly want great schools for our children and are willing to work hard to get it done, we’ll have those great schools,” Dr. Ingram said. “This community has great strength; enough strength to lift up our public schools.”
Click here to view school start dates and times (pdf)
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