Conversation #36 with Piper Bognar, the Superintendent of Van Dyke Schools in Michigan covered a lot of ground. Superintendent Bognar is all about engaging partners and networking to build team and district capacity. When I asked about the educator role, she pointed to all of the additional highly-trained adults that her teachers have as "layers" of intervention for social emotional learning and trauma-informed expertise.

"Our district mantra is: Every Student, Every Day, No Matter What! Our commitment to strategic staffing reflects our dedication to holistic student support. Beyond traditional roles, we have integrated layers of interventionists, social workers, and Health & Human Services staff. Our high school team includes our College & Career Coach, plus we love having our detection and therapy dogs, named Intel and Tater Tot, in the building. Our partnership with Henry Ford Health to offer a health clinic within the high school provides crucial access to both physical and behavioral health services. We are proud of our ability to provide rapid, comprehensive responses to the needs of our students and their families.

The world our students will navigate upon graduation is rapidly evolving, with careers emerging that do not exist today. We are embracing easily digestible learning opportunities around topics like leveraging AI in the classroom and at the building leader level. AI can support administrative tasks, freeing up valuable time for direct student engagement. The focus remains on using data effectively – anonymizing student & teacher information to identify learning trends that inform our instructional strategies.

We are leveraging frameworks like the Professional Learning Community (PLC) model, diving deep into data to shape our academic, behavioral, and social-emotional support. We have partnered with Solution Tree, and many staff have also become skilled facilitators of our PLCs. We dedicate time each week for interventionists to collaborate with grade-level teams, analyzing data together to proactively address student needs. Our professional learning extends to crucial areas like equity and belonging, reflecting our 'Opportunity Regardless' brand. We engage in large group learning to build understanding and then often break into smaller teams for more focused application.

While county-wide collaborations can sometimes be complex due to logistical factors like substitute availability, we highly value our participation in early literacy, coaching, and interventionist networks, as well as focused partnerships on areas like attendance with neighboring districts. The grant-funded work with Concentric Educational Solutions, including home visits, exemplifies our proactive approach to understanding and addressing the drivers of chronic absenteeism. Being part of networks like the Institute for Education Innovation, the Urban Superintendents Association of America, and The Network of Distinguished Educators also provides invaluable opportunities for collaboration."