District Goals and Initiatives

This continuous improvement plan describes the map to move the Amherst, Pelham, and Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools in a direction consistent with the mission identified by our staff, community, and School Committees. Our commitment to the continuous improvement of teaching and learning, and the overall improvement of our school systems, incorporates the tenets of our mission statement and is based on a set of core beliefs and on theories of action. Corresponding goals, indicators of success, and timelines will be used as ameans of focusing our work on our mission. The information gathered during this process will be used to adjustand refine our practice and ensure that we assign our human and financial resources wisely.

District Departments and Building Administrators will create implementation plans to correspond to goals identified by the Superintendent and School Committees. This cycle of continuous improvement began in the summer of 2010 with the review and analysis of data related to goals. Areas of growth and areas in need of improvement were identified and the information was used to reflect on our practice and to adjust planning. Periodic review of goals occurred during the school year. A District end of the year update will be presented to theRegional School Committee in August to accompany this updated plan.

We are committed to celebrating our accomplishments, identifying our areas of necessary growth, and addressing all present challenges. This unwavering focus on practice will move us closer to our vision of supporting our students in their growth and, thus, to realizing their goals and become contributing members of our wider community.

I would like to thank the faculty, staff, students, School Committees, community members, and families for their input into this guiding document. I would like to specifically note the input of Dr. Rossi Ray-Taylor and Dr. Rebecca Woodland who provided their expertise and their willingness to support our Districts’ work. Lastly, I would like to thank our wider community for their support of the schools. In particular, faculty membersof the Five Colleges, members of the RaDAR group, our community and town partners, and individual community members who have a voice in this work by their continued focus on access, equity, and excellence, and for their willingness to work collaboratively with the schools to benefit every student, every day.

Maria Geryk
Superintendent of Schools
August 2011