How 5 Superintendents are Planning the 2021-22 School Year

From K-12 Dive, March 22, 2021, by Kara Arundel

School system leaders are cautiously optimistic that the 2021-22 school year will see more students learning in-person and that the school day will resemble pre-pandemic routines, but with safety protocols in place. Increased vaccine administration for adults and the hope of childhood vaccines this fall, winter or early in 2022 are helping drive this confidence.

Superintendents, however, say it’s difficult to predict the status of the pandemic five months from now. That uncertainty is pushing them to prepare for multiple scenarios as COVID-19 continues to be a major health crisis.

“So, big picture is flexibility and agility,” said Scott Muri, superintendent of the Ector County Independent School District in Odessa, Texas, which has 32,000 students. “Just like we did last year, we never know.”

It’s not enough just to add instructional time, the superintendents agreed. The additional time has to be planned strategically so student learning is optimized. For example, Muri points to Opportunity Culture®, an initiative by Public Impact® that helps schools create multi-classroom leaders who mentor small teams of teachers through co-planning, coaching and modeling instruction. Read more…

Keep Learning

Educators get first-hand look at ECISD Opportunity Culture

From Odessa American, by Ruth Campbell, November 7, 2024 Now in its fifth year of implementing Opportunity Culture, Ector County ISD got some visitors from across the state and country Thursday to see how it’s done. Educators from Florida and Fort Worth and officials...

MISD welcomes visitors to highlight strategic staffing initiative

From Odessa American, November 7, 2024 School district leaders from across Texas were in Midland Wednesday to observe Midland ISD's successful implementation of Opportunity Culture. The visit included campus tours, observing classrooms at South Elementary and Alamo...