Guest Commentary: Senator Pride intersects with Capital School District’s three core values
Dr. Vilicia Cade is the superintendent of the Capital School District, which includes Dover High School, Central and William Henry middle schools, and seven elementary schools.
The Capital School District is committed to helping our students figure out what they want to do after graduation and what they need to get there, and then providing programs that will prepare them for success.
Success happens when students who want to go to college after graduation get into their first choices and do well there. It happens when students who want to enter the workforce out of school leave school with the talent and skills they need for a changing tomorrow. And it happens when students who want to serve their communities are prepared to make an immediate impact.
But each student has different needs and learning styles, and honestly, it can take time for them to find their own paths. If we fail to provide differentiated support, our students will struggle after graduation.
We are making progress in this regard. Many former students have returned to the district to teach and support our students. We are building community partnerships with organizations led by our graduates and family members. We are working hard to deliver the resources that teachers and administrators need.
In 2023, we will open our new Middle School of Innovation and The Middle School of Excellence, and, in 2024, an Early Learning Center. That will have a ripple effect on education throughout the district, enabling us to reconfigure the way we engage students from kindergarten through grade 8. We also are ramping up our science, technology, engineering and math programs with an eye on the future workforce.
The foundation for our upcoming “Transition 2023” strategic planning process will be set through our core values — Education Through Equity, Unity Through Love, and Leadership Through Inclusiveness — and on our efforts to build a districtwide culture focused on achieving educational excellence today for a changing tomorrow. Senator Pride resides at the intersection of these three core values.
We are helping students, faculty, staff, parents and other stakeholders understand how our core values apply to these ambitious goals. We are highlighting Senators who live these values every day. We want to make the classroom a place where engagement and excellence are celebrated, where distractions are minimized and where each student’s learning style is accommodated.
Our strategic plan will be built on three intents or success pillars:
- Linear and streamlined district, which is leadership-centric, focused on creation of an efficient and consistent organization.
- Culture and community, also known as Senator Pride, reflects our commitment to building a highly visible culture that results in improved school safety, hiring and retaining premier teachers and establishing strong partnerships with the community and families in support of their schools.
- Whole child, where we work toward removing nonacademic barriers to improve outcomes, using curriculum, instruction and assessment data. The focus will also be on behavior; social, mental and emotional health; and academic rigor and supports. Every initiative we develop or continue to pursue must fall into one of these buckets to ensure we aren’t distracted from our overriding goals.
I urge everyone in the Dover community to join us, as we reimagine what learning can be for our students, our staff and our parents, and as we launch an era of excellence through innovation.
