My favorite part of #100DistrictConversations is when systems leaders catch me completely off-guard, sharing things I'd never expect to hear. When convo #52 with Bill Kimball, Superintendent of Maple Run Unified School District in Vermont, went deep on therapy dogs I was not prepared, yet delighted! 😁

"My approach is always to connect with parents on their hopes and dreams for their children, as I've never met a parent who doesn't want more for their child. I've been working on governance with our school board and our Leadership Team, aligning on our district’s overarching goals.

We believe strongly in a train-the-trainer model and value teacher voice in our committees, recognizing them as curriculum experts. We used our ESSER money to train our coaches in extensive SEL, math, and literacy training so they could further develop these skills in our existing staff.

We developed our 'High-Leverage Concepts' (HLCs) for learning, or power standards, in 21-22. Our coaches and teacher leaders used these HLCs to seek out research-based materials from the What Works Clearinghouse. We have adopted curriculum & programs that have resulted in skyrocketing K-8 reading scores.

We've developed our own SEL concepts, providing teachers with at least 2 days of restorative practices training. We have 25 coaches forming a 'response to harm' team, gradually weaning off initial consultant support. Our board's strong focus on mental health is evident in our Panorama SEL scores, where we achieve 94th percentile in belonging and 85% of HS students report having an adult they can connect with. Our HS has 3 social workers and therapy dogs to support student well-being. These dogs are incredibly popular across our schools so we continue to add them when we can. We’ve made a deliberate shift from School Resource Officers to retired police officers as internal district employees, a model we've found highly effective.

We’re implementing Marzano Resources’ Highly Reliable Schools model, which integrates with our curriculum work. We approach this not as a new ‘initiative’ but as a framework to synthesize our existing efforts. We send scouting teams of leaders and teacher leaders to conferences because there is no substitute for the time our team spends debriefing and pushing on new ideas at conferences together. I also prioritize in-person over virtual training, as I find virtual settings hinder relationship building and lead to multitasking.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is integrated into our work; if we don't embrace it, our system will become obsolete. Teachers are actively teaching students how to use AI bots to detect AI-generated writing. Roughly 30% of our early adopters are using AI independently. We dedicate 2 days annually for teachers to propose and lead workshops and our AI sessions are consistently full. Teachers are leading this learning, figuring it out together."