Dear St. Serra Parents,
Parents and educators are always encouraging students to do better. You regularly hear me emphasizing that we are helping our students develop 21st-century skills so they can be successful in their educational endeavors. What exactly are 21st-century skills? They are skills that provide a framework for successful learning in the classroom and ensure that students can be successful in today’s constantly changing world where learning never stops. These skills–critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and communication–are the cornerstone of learning and success.
How do we know that our teachers know about these skills? How do they pass that knowledge on to our students? How do we close the achievement gap between students? At St. Serra, we emphasize a Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum. That is a commitment to ensuring that every student has equal access to the curriculum. Nobody gets cheated! The material covered in one grade-level classroom is covered in the other grade-level classrooms. How do we accomplish this? We have to give teachers time! We have to give our teachers the tools and build our teachers' capacity to deliver high-quality instruction to all students.
We accomplish this by scheduling quality professional development time (early out Wednesdays) for our teachers. We must provide teachers with professional development that focuses not just on curriculum and standards, but also on sharing strategies to assist students in developing 21st-century skills; it allows teachers to take advantage of current research and technologies. We must provide teachers with time to analyze data from their classrooms; it informs instruction. We must give teachers the opportunity to engage in professional discussions with other educators and administrators; it leverages our collective expertise. Good professional development guides the tasks that teachers ask students to do.
We can’t be merely good. We have to be great! As educators, we will continue to be life-long learners so that we can share our knowledge with the students at St. Serra.
Always Striving,
Tim Tolzda, Sr. Principal
