Owensboro Public Schools
by Dr. Nicholas Brake
What a start to the year it’s been for Owensboro Public Schools! With over 5,000 students, our enrollment continues to grow. Thanks to our partnership with the International Center, one of our largest growth areas is with refugee students. To ensure we’re best serving the whole child, we’ve hired a full-time English Language Learner student services coordinator to help break down those communication barriers for parents, students and their teachers.
At OPS, our mission is to engage all students with innovative teaching and learning. We’ve implemented state-of-the-art reading programs like Footsteps to Brilliance and have partnered with local financial institutions to make sure our students have 24/7 access to books through Little Free Libraries. Our literacy efforts are paying off as we’re seeing some of the highest literacy state testing scores since I’ve been superintendent.
At the high school level, we often hear students, parents and teachers complain about the senior year. A new program at Owensboro High School aims to allow seniors to approach their last year of high school differently. The Bluegrass Scholars program, in its second year, offers a completely personalized and flexible educational experience while engaging students in the next part of their lives.
To complete the program, students must still finish core academic courses that are totally personalized to their needs using a variety of delivery options ranging from a traditional high school course to a dual credit college course to an online course. Many students choose to attend college full-time and complete an associate degree through the school’s Early College Academy. Bluegrass Scholars must participate in experiential learning through a community engagement project and internship.
The OPS staff continues to impress me with its effort and love of our students. Much of the education they provide comes outside of the classroom in coaching, conducting, directing, cooking, cleaning and volunteering.
Finally, we say goodbye to beloved OPS board members Cate Lauzon and Steve Knight. We welcome Melissa Decker and Jeremy Edge. Both new members have students in our school system and are already very active with their efforts to ensure that OPS continues to have a tradition of excellence.
Owensboro Catholic Schools
by Mr. Gerald Schoen
Owensboro Catholic Schools has a long standing tradition of providing a quality Catholic education to the greater Owensboro community, and with excellent academic programs embedded in the Catholic faith, we are thriving now more than ever. Four buildings make up our school system, but one collective vision keeps us focused on excellence. Our school community is actively fostering a thriving, economically sustainable, world-class K-12 Catholic education system built on the ACES Pillars of 1.) Academics, 2.) Catholicity and Discipleship, 3.) Extracurricular Activities and Athletics, and 4.) Stewardship.
We will continue to develop and improve upon all four pillars in 2017. Through a collaborative effort, we have developed strategic plans in each of these areas to ensure continued excellence.
Academically, our focus is on increasing technology in our buildings by updating teacher laptops and providing Chromebook carts to facilitate student learning in a digital environment. We will also increase web-based learning programs to personalize student learning and differentiate instruction. To facilitate this, we will provide professional development to ensure best practices are implemented in regards to technology.
In terms of Catholicity and Discipleship, we are implementing ways to increase our presence in the 15 supporting parishes and the greater community through service as well as coordinating common K-12 service projects to collaboratively address social justice issues.
OCS offers a wide array of enrichment activities, which foster a well-rounded student. A K-12 vertical focus group has been developed to review extracurricular programs and athletic facilities in order to identify ways to better meet the needs of our school community.
In the coming year, future sustainability is the focus for our fourth pillar of stewardship. In the short term, we are implementing a new school website to improve and centralize communication from school to home and increasing transparency through consistent reporting of resource management to the school community. In the long term, we are developing a funding plan and facilities plan.
The future is bright, and 2017 will be a time of growth for OCS as we continue toward a collaborative approach to strengthening our K-12 system.
Daviess County Public Schools
by Mr. Owens Saylor
Looking ahead to 2017, new construction or renovation plans will be considered and approved by the board during this calendar year, which is exciting.
DCPS will also be transitioning into a superintendent search, as I have announced my retirement at the end of this school year in May. A search committee should announce the new superintendent by then.
We are also adding a new 12th-grade class to Heritage Park High School, our non-traditional high school. We started with a 10th-grade class, then added an 11th-grade class last year. As of July 1, we will have full access to the building at 3361 Buckland Square and will utilize what used to be Daymar College. That will be a big move for us.
But as always, our prime focus this year is on academics. DCPS has just been declared “Distinguished” for the fourth year in a row, which is a tremendous accomplishment. Every DCPS school has been designed as Proficient or Distinguished. In 2016, we had our best ACT scores ever. The Daviess County Public Schools district was named to the national AP District Honor Roll based on the success of students completing Advanced Placement exams. But all of this is because of all the hard work of our district leaders and teachers.
Lastly, I’d like to acknowledge how blessed I feel to have been Superintendent of Daviess County Public Schools and how much I appreciate working with my partners at OPS and OCS. It’s been a great collaboration and partnership with both those school systems. What makes it special is we all think about our kids first; we don’t put our systems first. That’s exactly what makes things like Owensboro Innovation Academy and Community Campus possible. I love that we support each other like that. My replacement will be very fortunate to come into a situation where the community and parents care greatly about academics and the quality of our schools.