Strategic Planning

Our Mission

The mission of the Ames Community School District, which aspires to be Iowa’s premier school district, is to inspire and empower all students and staff to pursue and maximize their personal and educational potential, grounded in strong community and family partnerships and guided by high quality educators who commit to innovative instruction getting every student what they need to be successful.

Our Beliefs

  • All students are capable of learning, growing, and succeeding.
  • Every student is unique and will be valued, supported, and affirmed.
  • All students can thrive academically when high expectations are set, and opportunities and tailored resources are provided.
  • A sense of belonging, being physically and mentally healthy, and possessing emotional wellbeing are essential to learning.
  • High-quality, well supported staff are key to student success.
  • Strong community, school, and family partnerships are essential to student academic success.
  • An evidence-based, data-driven decision making process is essential to achieve equitable educational outcomes.
  • Every member of the Ames Schools community, across individual characteristics, identities, and circumstances, is provided with intentional access to high-quality experiences and opportunities in our schools that contribute to proportionate outcomes for all students.
  • Schools are dynamic and require ongoing creativity and innovation.

Objectives

Each objective will be placed on an implementation schedule, prioritized, and carried out in the next 1-5 years.

Physical, mental, and emotional health & safety

Each student will benefit from a safe and vibrant environment that facilitates learning and promotes physical, mental, emotional, and social wellbeing.

Strategies:

  • Fully implementing RULER.
  • Mental Health First Aid.
  • ALICE / Active Intruder.
  • Self Care and Resiliency.
  • Use RULER for universal PK-12 SEL curriculum.
  • Specialty support positions.
  • Processes to ensure consistency across the district that include students.
  • Finalize and Implement the district mental health plan.
  • Create Sensory and Culturally Sensitive Spaces in each school building that enhance learning

Instructional framework and programs

Strategies:

  • Fully implement the Danielson Framework for Teaching.
  • Ames CSD will improve alignment across Tier 1 instruction by using the Universal Tier 1 Building Blocks.
  • Ames CSD will design and develop a curriculum framework.
  • Ames CSD will implement a curriculum framework.
  • Implement standards-referenced grading and reporting practices PK-12.

Meeting diverse needs

Each student will benefit from a clear system in which academic, behavior, and social emotional needs are identified, skills are taught, and high expectations are met.

Strategies:

  • Differentiate the learning of our students and staff.
  • Conduct evaluations of the specialized programs the district offers.
  • Develop a clearly-defined and consistent Multi Tiered System of Supports across all grade levels for academics and behavior.

Organization responsiveness and communication

Strategies:

  • Establish communication standards that prioritize the needs of students to promote transparency, accessibility, and overall message effectiveness.
  • Develop and implement communication standards and expectations in job duties and training for staff.
  • Establish a comprehensive feedback process that aims to create a more collaborative, inclusive, and effective organization that is responsive to the needs and preferences of students, staff, and the community.

Building stakeholder engagement and support

Strategies:

  • Deliver a comprehensive stakeholder engagement plan that integrates the community into decision-making processes to harness their collective expertise and resources so that students are supported in their overall educational, career, and extracurricular pursuits.
  • Identify and address the barriers that prevent families from fully participating in their student’s education to create a culture of partnership and collaboration between families and schools.

Attracting, retaining, and developing high-quality staff

Strategies:

  • Data will be gathered on current teacher satisfaction with professional development within the Ames CSD as well as their desire to increase differentiated PD for teachers and EAs.
  • Use targeted strategies to recruit, hire, and retain a diverse staff that mirrors student demographics.
  • Enhance the existing survey process to identify trends and themes to reduce turnover of high quality staff.
  • Building leaders will do “walk-throughs” where every teacher’s classroom is informally visited on a regular basis.
  • Create and administer a culture survey to teachers, supports staff, and administrators.
  • Building administration will take bi-annual action in response to data collected in the culture survey.
  • Each building will create a building leadership team that will meet regularly, address building goals, and improve the culture of support for all staff.
  • EAs within the Ames CSD will receive support in seeking additional professional learning opportunities.
  • All EAs will receive orientation that relates to their daily work either before or within their first day of their hire.

Guiding philosophies to accomplish our mission

  • We put the academic success of every student at the forefront of our decision making process.
  • Our environment is inclusive of all, and we affirm the value of each person Our system prioritizes and cultivates a culture of trust, safety, growth and collaboration.
  • We are effective, timely and transparent in our communication and decision making.
  • We are responsible stewards of district and community resources, facilities and environment.
  • We own, act on and are accountable to the strategic plan.