First days, first steps

Those of you who happen to have children in school would agree with me that the “real” New Year begins in August, not January. It’s the time when family budgets get adjusted and kids start contemplating new shoes, fresh haircuts, and back-to-school outfits.

Moms and dads talk about one last family weekend — while savoring the idea that bedtimes and routines will soon return to their lives. It’s the season for the first days of school, and first steps back into learning.

In Whitefish schools this year, our first days and first steps may look a little different. For example, a number of our students will meet 10 new and highly-skilled teachers, along with an enthusiastic new vice principal. I hope you’ll join me in welcoming these new members of our school and Whitefish community.

In addition, several administrators have accepted new positions within our school system in order to better meet the needs of our school community. They are all looking forward to challenges and rewards presented by their new perspectives.

And that’s only the beginning of what’s new in Whitefish schools. Following several years of thoughtful research and debate, our community passed a bond to rebuild our high school. Thanks to our citizens’ investment in their children and future, Whitefish students, in two short years, will attend a high school designed to provide a 21st century learning environment.

Furthermore, and perhaps most important, our remodeling efforts will not be limited to the high school building. We are also working to remodel our leadership, teaching, and learning.

Months before our state adopted the Montana Common Core Standards, our school district had begun examining how best to prepare our students for college, career, and citizenship. To that end, our teachers and leaders have begun their own transformational journey.

It is not enough to build a 21st century building. We must also embrace the 21st century learner, who is fundamentally different than students of the past. Our instructional strategies and leadership practices must vary, based upon how our students learn best.

We realize this year holds great challenge for us — including an intense examination of the Common Core State Standards. It’s encouraging to note that already, a number of our teachers have chosen to dive into rigorous professional development, discovering much more meaningful ways to engage our kids in complex problems, designing lessons which require our students to learn the skills of thoughtful dialogue, thorough research, and critical, competent evaluation of information.

So as we jump into a new school year, don’t be surprised if you hear some of our Whitefish students enthusiastically describing their first days and first steps in school. They may be excited to tell you that on the first days of school they already have been splashing around in thoughtful dialogue, captivating ideas, and perplexing questions.

After all, our students’ first moments in warm classrooms speak volumes about what we value most. My hope is that we in Whitefish schools will be leaping, feet first, into the big ideas.

Please stay tuned for more columns about the innovations in teaching and leadership directed toward continually improving the learning experiences of our Whitefish students.

— Kate Orozco is the Whitefish School District superintendent