SYRACUSE – At a special work session on Monday, the Wawasee School Board drafted a new vision statement for the corporation.
The new statement reads, “All Wawasee Community School Corporation students are confident, well-rounded, college and career ready citizens who possess integrity and positively impact their communities.”
This new incarnation is a much-abridged version of Wawasee’s current vision statement, which is five paragraphs long. It still emphasizes the same priorities for its students – being self-motivated, adaptable, forward-thinking and community minded – but says so in a more concise fashion.
“(The new vision statement) is part of our Professional Learning Communities process,” said Tammy Hutchinson, administrative assistant to the WCSC superintendent. “The school board sets the vision for the district, and the ACT (Assessment, Curriculum, Teaching) Committee will work on its mission so that it aligns with the vision.”
Wawasee recently began implementing PLCs in an effort to increase collaborative efforts between educators. Teachers gather together with their respective disciplines to decide what courses, goals and evaluative methods can be used to most effectively lead students throughout their years in the Wawasee school system.
Wawasee High School Principal Geoffrey Walmer, a big believer in the effectiveness of PLCs, says that they put a large emphasis on “learning, collaboration, collective responsibility and a result-centric orientation.”
PLCs are designed to be adaptable on a year-to-year basis. A concise, encompassing vision statement can help give PLCs a target to aim for.
The vision statement will be up for approval by the school board at its October meeting.
