Congratulations, thank you, just do not suffice

Many have probably wondered why I have been quiet on the news of the announced retirement of our Superintendent Dr. Randy Poe.  If you follow me on social media, I am probably one of the first to spread the word about big news.  Being on the school board, I needed a few days to let the official news sink in and allow some time for reflection.

One of the reason I ran for school board in 2019 happened Thursday night when Dr. Poe announced his retirement.  I knew the day would be coming sooner rather than later in that our school board would have to embark upon the search for our new leader.  I felt very strongly in the need to be a part of this extremely important process.  This is a huge decision that none of our board members take lightly.  We are very aware of the impact of choosing a new leader for our students, teachers, staff, families and community will have upon our county.  The Superintendent of our schools not only impacts education but the growth and vitality of Boone County and the Northern Kentucky region.  Our schools and education system is the heartbeat of our community.

I personally want to take this time to thank Dr. Poe for all he has done for students and families in Boone County.  I don’t think many really understand how much of a visionary that Dr. Poe is.   I am a parent, I am thoroughly immersed in the education realm on social media, Voxer groups, reading articles and at professional development events.  I have learned by being in these realms, just how transformational our district is ahead of others and the pride I have in being a part of it.  Many state our educational system needs to be adaptive and change, but very few districts actually make that happen.

There are so many areas that Dr. Poe has moved our district forward to become one of the most innovative and forward thinking districts in the country.   By being part of a much larger global education community, I have had the opportunity to see where education is and should be going.  While yes, everyone can see the physical innovations like Ballyshannon Middle School and the Ignite Institute.  But if you dig down underneath, you will see the real vision and initiatives put into place that benefits so many students at multiple levels and in different ways inside our schools.

Let’s see where do I even start.  I started jotting ideas down on a notepad and it kept growing and I know I am going to miss some.  I encourage you if you get the opportunity, ask Dr. Poe about any of the items below, you will be amazed with the wealth of knowledge and perspectives he will share with you.

1. Grading Scale – A couple of years ago, our grading scale changed to a 10 pt scale. I remember being at the Board meeting when this decision was made to change the grading scale. That our district went to a 10 point scale wasn’t the earth shattering part. The most intriguing part was the talk by Dr. Poe about the need for students to not be scoring below a 70.  If they score below 70, they have not mastered the content and they should not be moving on.  It is a dis-service to those students to be moved ahead but fall further and further behind because they have not mastered the building blocks for the next unit of materials. Not leaving kids behind, bingo.
2. Number one leads us into number two – Mastery Based Learning. I first learned about the concept of Mastery Based Learning when I participated in the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence’s Commonwealth Institute for Parent Leadership (CIPL) program.  David Cook from the Kentucky Department of Education walked us through Kentucky’s Education History.  I thought the concept of a child not moving on to the next concept until they mastered the previous one  was brilliant, why would we want any child moved through the system if they were not prepared?  Each block needs the block before it to be solid. The question was, how do we implement such a drastically different learning model?  This would require such a mind shift in teachers and families, how could it be possible?  Well, one platform which was making headway in education was the Summit platform.  Now I am not going to get into all the arguments for or against the platform, but what Summit did do was to help teachers make the mind shift to not only Mastery Based Learning but to Personalized Learning.
3. Personalized Learning is when a student learns content in the method which works best for them rather than just the traditional lecture style that most of us grew up with. Personalized learning opens the door to more engaged learners.  Often there is a choice of how a student may learn the material be it worksheets, watching videos, small group lessons, are just a few examples.  More engaged students = more successful students.  My children even took assessments at the beginning of the year to learn their “learning styles”.  They discovered that in different subject areas they may learn material better in different ways.  Talk about empowering student learning!
4. An education philosophy I learned about last year from one of our middle school teachers was co-teaching. I was at the school for another event and she invited me back after lunch to observe.  I couldn’t pass up the opportunity and I was glad I did.  Often times special needs or kids who need help are pulled out of class for interventions.  Or a classroom may be labeled as “inclusive” but the kids who need more assistance have a para-educator besides them.  In co-teaching, you do not know who needs special assistance or does not.  The co-teacher along with the teacher work as a team.  Students choose at what level they need help and then go to the appropriate group.  The key is, the students were self-selecting what help then needed, not the system.  It was beautiful to watch and it wasn’t until towards the end of the class that it clicked of what was transpiring in the room.  By being in the same classroom, growth scores for students were rising which was very hard to do in a traditional pull out type of scenario.  It takes a lot more planning and teamwork on the co-teachers part, but in the end it works.
5. I had the pleasure of attending the District Diploma ceremony at the end of the school year last year. This program is for students who struggle to be engaged in a traditional school setting. Many school districts would write these kids off, but not Boone.  Instead we engage them in a learning environment which works for them.  Many of the students not only received their high school diploma (many times first generation) but had either earned their Associates degree or a large number of college credit hours.  We did to give up on these students and they are succeeding!
6. Did you know we have over 60 languages spoken in our schools? Some of our schools have a significant (ELL – English Language Learners) population.  This comes with many challenges.  Some may have never attended school or have not in a number of years.  There are language, traumatic experiences and cultural barriers to overcome.  The Newcomer’s Academy was started last year which is a place for those ELL students who need a lot of help can get the additional support needed.  Instead of ignoring our new students, we embrace them and help them adjust to their new environment.  While we aren’t perfect, we are making great strides.
7. PLCs – A professional learning community, or PLC, is a group of educators that meets regularly, shares expertise, and works collaboratively to improve teaching skills and the academic performance of students. You may hear this term used a lot over the past few years.  The concept of PLC is important for our educators and administrators to move the pendulum on student achievement.  Many districts are just starting to implement PLCs because of the value of the collaboration, but our district is moving on the continuum of this useful model.

These are just a few of the examples of how we are innovating education in Boone County, there are many more.

Something our district is embracing is Social Emotional Learning (SEL).  That is if a child is not socially tuned into school, there are distractions or not the best home environment, school is a safe place for them.  If a child is not mentally with us, he will not learn.  We have a number of SEL initiatives going on in our district – Leader in Me and Orange Frog just to name a few.  It is so easy for a Superintendent and school board to focus on the numbers that I am extremely proud that we make it a priority to help the “whole child.”

Partially the reason I am on the school board is due to Dr. Poe and his support of parent engagement.  Time and time again he has supported initiatives of parents as a whole in being a partner in education and me personally.  If you have attended the school board meetings since I have been on the board, you will hear me say time and time again, it goes back to building relationships.  Dr. Poe was willing to support and build a relationship with a parent who wanted to be involved.  Anytime I have asked him to be involved, he has   been there.  From speaking at the KY PTA State Conference to attending many CIPL program sessions to leading sessions on Growth Mindset at ParentCamp, he has never once turned my request down.  When I received the Beverly Raimondo Parent Leadership Award in 2017 which he and Helen Carroll submitted my recommendation, he made the trek to Lexington to present me with the award even though he was dealing with health issues.  He made another journey a few weeks later to Frankfort when I received citations from both the House and Senate Chambers.  I just kept thinking, this is the Superintendent of the 3^rd largest school district in Kentucky with over 21,000 students and he makes that kind of effort for a parent?  Wow.

I want to thank Randy for all the time he has spent with me, helping to learn and understand where our school district has been, our vision and role of a school board member.  It is only if we understand our history, that we can move forward with confidence.  I also want to thank him for his patience with me as a new school board member and my endless lists of questions.  It is almost guaranteed, that each time a packet for a meeting is posted, I will have questions.  It is my nature to understand an item as much as possible, sometimes it may take questions from different angles for the light bulb to go off.  I appreciate his patience waiting for that to happen.  I also want to thank him in pushing our board to be constant learners.  I have not read so many books in a long time, but I am thoroughly enjoying learning about 4DX, leadership and of course, Shawn Achor and the Happiness Advantage and Big Potential.

I remember shortly after winning the election, I was at an event in which someone asked me “are you ready to get on and change that board”.  My response was “I am ready to be on the board.”  In hindsight, that answer was never truer to the team which the Boone County

School Board is, but an integral part of that team is our Superintendent, Dr. Randy Poe.  I feel very blessed to have been able to serve on the Board with him as our Superintendent even if it only for a short amount of time.  Thank you, your guidance, vision and leadership will be truly missed.  BUT I do know, we will continue working together for the benefit of our kids in Boone County and Northern Kentucky, just in different capacities.

So now our board begins a new journey, the search for our new leader.  As I mentioned above, we do not take this lightly.  We know the heavy burden we have before us, not only for our students, families but our community and region.  Our journey begins tonight with a Special Board Meeting starting at 6:30 pm at Ralph Rush where our consultant will lead our district in the process, some of which is dictated by state law and regulations.  Please say a prayer for guidance as we start and move along this journey. The meeting is open to the public, so I encourage you, if you have any interest in this process, please consider attending.

Sincerely,

Julia D. Pile

Boone County School Board Member

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