Friday, Oct. 23 marked my fourth month as Superintendent. In those four months, we have accomplished a lot. Thank you Board of Trustees for your support in moving our district forward in a positive direction.
Our biggest impact has been in the area of soliciting stakeholder input through our Long Range Facilities Master Planning and LCAP Stakeholder Meetings. However, please know we realize there is still much work to be done.
Like I said when I interviewed with the Board of Trustees, I believe I have the skill, knowledge, and experience to facilitate district success and I have the will and energy to make it happen. The key will be to continue to listen, work collaboratively, and take action in the best interests of our students.
One of those decisions occurred on Saturday, when we participated in the 16th Annual 7th Grade Compact for Success Visit to SDSU. We had a record-breaking overall attendance of close to 5,000 students and parents. The energy was contagious and everyone was inspired by the environment and planned activities.
It was also the first time all feeder district superintendents were present to join us in preparing students to be college and career ready. At the event, I shared with the 7th graders that back in 1999, when the dream was visualized, they were not even born yet. But, the leadership at SDSU and SUHSD had a dream to enter into an agreement where any student who studied hard, any student who truly focused on their learning, and any student who met all the requirements of our Compact for Success would not only be eligible, but also guaranteed admission into one of the most prestigious universities in the United States.
Did you know SDSU is ranked in the top 100 universities of America’s Best Colleges? Did you know that SDSU receives close to 80,000 freshmen applications for about 5,000 spots? Our Sweetwater graduates have such an exceptional opportunity. Sixteen years ago that dream became a reality and that dream is still alive and well today. After Saturday’s signing of the MOU, this same opportunity is extended to our students through the Class of 2023. We will take advantage of this incredible opportunity and together, ensure each student is prepared and ready to succeed!
This week’s LCAP Stakeholder Meetings are being held for Trustee Area 3 on Wednesday at Otay Ranch HS, 5:30pm and for Trustee Area 4 on Thursday at Castle Park HS, 6:00pm. The Long Range Facilities Master Planning Meeting is tomorrow at SUHI – 6:30pm. We invite parents, students, and staff. We hope you join us; your voice matters!
In Sunday’s SD Union-Tribune there was an opinion editorial written by David Brooks entitled, “Our Wisdom School?” He started out discussing the new documentary “Most Likely to Succeed”, a film that indicts the entire K-12 educational system. Mr. Brooks described how the documentary argues our American school system is built on a Prussian model designed over 100 years ago.
The school system’s main activity is downloading content into students’ minds, with success or failure measured by standardized tests. The documentary also described our school system is unsuited for the modern workplace. The producer of the documentary said our test-driven schools are training students for exactly the rote tasks that can be done much more effectively by computers.
The documentary goes on to say the better approach is to take content off center stage and to emphasize the relational skills future workers will actually need. Skills such as being able to motivate, collaborate, and persevere. The documentary cites High Tech H.S. as a school it believes is training students well. The documentary emphasizes relationships, not subject matter. Mr. Brooks, the writer of the op ed, stated the big question is whether such a shift from content to life skills is the proper response to a high tech economy. He believes the documentary’s perspective is, at best, a partial response.
Brooks goes on to say, ultimately what matters is not only how well you can collaborate in groups, but the quality of the mind you bring to the group. He continued by saying in rightly playing up soft skills the movie underemphasizes intellectual virtues. The rest of the op ed describes the stages of how to produce “wise” people. The wise student learns how to engage in relational skills alongside factual literacy. I agree with Mr. Brooks. I call what he wrote about as finding a balance with learning habits of the mind and learning habits of the heart! Habits of the mind are those habits that develop the intellectual capacity to solve the current and future world problems.
It’s when teachers prepare students to produce knowledge rather than merely reproduce knowledge. Art Costa describes habits of the mind as applying past knowledge to new situations; persisting; and, questioning and posing problems. Habits of the heart means having a disposition toward behaving in a way that develops relationships or the emotional intelligence to develop collective efficacy. One habit of the heart is having an understanding that we are all in this together and having an appreciation of the value of “otherness.” Helping our students develop both habits of the mind and habits of the heart is a worthwhile goal for all of us to pursue in Sweetwater.
Thank you for the opportunity to serve and support you!
Sincerely,
Karen Janney, Ed.D.