Hello SPS families, teachers and staff.
As we enter the final weeks of what has been a school year without equal, I want to take a moment
to say thank you.
From an all-virtual start, to our safe and methodical return to in-person instruction,
a lot has happened over the past 10 months,
including our operations levy, upcoming boundary changes, the siting
of a new stadium, and what to name our new schools.
Each of these issues has been challenging, and all have prompted spirited conversations
across our city. But the extraordinary level of engagement from you – the SPS community
– allowed our administration, advisory groups, and school board to make decisions in
pursuit of making our district better.
And for those who may have disagreed with a district decision this year, I ask you to
keep engaging with us. If we’re going to keep improving, we need to hear from as many
different voices as possible.
This year taught us to adapt, to innovate, and to collaborate in the face of a lot of
big changes. We overcame some really hard things together, and we’re stronger now
than we were last fall. I believe the confidence, collaboration, and learning we’ve experienced
is going to launch us into a very successful 2021-22 school year and beyond.
Right now, we’re working on a reopening plan that revolves around 5 core strategies
to put student success and safety first, and address the academic and wellness impacts
of the pandemic.
For starters, SPS is working to establish historically low class-sizes at all grade
levels. This holds the potential to have a transformational impact on our district for
years to come.
Students thrive both academically and emotionally when they get more individual attention and
support from their teachers. Smaller class sizes will also allow students more personal
space in the classroom, keeping them safe and healthy as we ensure compliance with safety
guidelines. Providing lower class sizes aligns with long-range planning and reflects the
current work being done to provide classroom space by building new schools and adjusting
boundaries.
Our second core strategy involves adding counselors, mental health therapists, support specialists,
and intervention teachers to help students process what they’ve been through and are
still experiencing as we emerge from the pandemic.
We encourage all of our students to use these services. Whether it’s a therapist, a close
friend, or a journal, having a sounding board is an important first step to feeling mentally
and emotionally better. And staff as well. If you’re interested in speaking with a
licensed mental health expert, our school therapists can help point you in the right direction.
In the next strategy, we’re continuing to invest in social emotional learning curriculum and training.
Even in the best of times, we all benefit from focusing on wellness, developing healthy
relationships, resolving conflict, and fostering an inclusive and positive community. Our students
in grades K-12 will engage in lessons that focus on their social emotional development
as we work together to build great school environments that prepare them for success in the future.
In our fourth strategy, as we develop staff and teacher trainings, we’ll emphasize
planning learning experiences that meet the wide-range of academic levels and needs in
our classrooms.
The goal is to use a variety of teaching methods to remove learning barriers and give all students
equitable opportunities for success. Our teachers work extremely hard to serve all students,
and this training focus is intended to give them options they can adapt to each student’s
strengths and areas of growth.
And the final strategy is to provide additional resources to students most in need. This will be a top priority.
Schools will receive extra staffing for intervention supports based
on factors like overall number of students, the level of poverty in each school,
and how many students receive special education services. This will be added support above
what the schools already receive.
We have so much to look forward to and I can’t wait to see what our students and staff accomplish
next school year. Thank you for continuing to show patience, grace, and understanding
during this difficult school year. Your collaboration has proven why Spokane is such a
remarkable place to raise our kids. There is so much for us to be proud of, and so many opportunities for us
to learn and grow. from these experiences.
I wish you well in the days ahead as we finish the last few days of school.
And I hope you have a great summer break, and we look forward to seeing you in the fall. Take care.