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SCHOOL NEWS
(This article, reprinted with permission,
featuring Michael Johnson, superintendent of Bexley City Schools, appeared
in This Week in Bexley on July 11, 2002.) Mike Johnson calls his first year as superintendent of Bexley City Schools "the fastest year of my career." "I wonder where it went," Johnson said. "I attribute this past year in Bexley as the best year of my career in terms of professional satisfaction. As a result, time flew by." Among other things, he helped put together a master strategic plan for the district. A $27-million construction project was begun at Maryland Avenue Elementary and the Cassingham Complex. He hired a new high school principal, athletic director, district drama teacher and a continuous improvement research coordinator for the schools. "It has been wonderful," he said, "to have had the opportunity this year to work with a staff and community who love and care for children more than words can describe. It is a community that generously supports its teachers and school system, and strives for the highest level of per formance in teaching and learning. Although I knew I would enjoy my experience in Bexley, this first year has exceeded all of my expectations."In pointing to the year’s goals, Johnson said he is pleased that the Bexley Board of Education adopted last month what is known as a Mission, Vision and Priority Statement for the district’s strategic plan. The school board had met at a special meeting in September 2001 to develop essential elements of a five-year strategic plan. In October 2001, the board gave an official charge to Johnson to move forward and share elements of the plan with the public and report to the board with final recommendations. Prior to the plan’s adoption last month, Johnson held 18 meetings with various Bexley constituencies to solicit input on the value and belief statements. As a result of those meetings, the list was expanded and statements were prioritized. As part of the plan’s vision, Bexley City Schools will provide high quality teaching and learning opportunities by involving and communicating with students, staff, parents and community in the implementa tion of continuous improvement processes and research-supported "best practices.""This will keep us focused as how we all act in the school district," Johnson said. "We’ll all be gatekeepers to these values and beliefs. We want our children to feel valued and safe." A new position, filled by research coordinator Michael Nicholson, will be part of implementing the strategic plan. "We will be setting up our own internal report card for the district," Johnson said. "Bexley is not challenged by the state report card. We need different goals than those of struggling school districts." One strategic priority in the plan includes possible implementation of early childhood programs and all-day kindergarten. Johnson said that Cassingham Elementary Principal Barbara Heisel is expected to lead a committee to look at all-day kindergarten as an option. He said that all-day kindergarten was implemented in the Colorado and Wisconsin school districts where he previously worked. In 2003, Johnson will be actively involved in an operating levy campaign. "As we go out into the future, the district will have to look at other revenues," he said. "We will have to look at the district’s needs and how to pay for them. It will take a broad based communication system to understand needs." |
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