Published: September 28, 2009 12:29 pm      

District begins new phase in ‘commitment to excellence’

JOSHUA — Over the past few years, new campuses, new facilities and continually rising test scores for all groups of students have resulted of the Joshua ISD’s commitment to excellence.

In the past few weeks, the board of trustees has adopted some local goals. One target area is to improve the communication with the community about events in the schools. To that end, the district will increase its story contributions to the local papers, said Assistant Superintendent John Grigsby.

In spring 2007, JISD began implementing the Continuous Improvement Program for all its professional staff, campuses and departments. CIP creates a uniform and consistent decision-making process based on empirical and objective data.

The sole purpose of the program is to create an environment in which all decision makers and departments make sound decisions using specific guidelines and criteria. The data used should take the organization to an answer that will focus on agreed upon and identified goals.

The district recently renewed its commitment to excellence by retraining all administrative staff and department leaders in CIP. From this training, a new vision and new mission statement for the district were created.

The district expanded new teacher orientation from two days to five days. These are training dates in addition to the staff development for returning teachers and staff. The purpose of the expanded calendar is simple, Grigsby said.

Staff cannot afford to lose valuable instructional time because a teacher is new to the staff or is a first-year teacher.

For the district to maintain its continual improvement, time with students must be maximized. Although JISD is driven by instructional improvement, students’ interests are considered. They are expected to work hard, achieve and be productive and successful at all levels.