Dear Lincoln Community,
I wanted to provide an update on our work to support students and staff at Lincoln, as well as our efforts to improve our recruitment, onboarding and system of support for principals.
Following our town hall at the end of February, we shared a recap with the community and the administration reviewed the final After Action Report prepared by Reesheda Graham-Washington of RGW Consulting. Based on the findings outlined in her report, the administration developed a number of recommendations to support the school and set the stage for the selection process of a new leader. The full After Action Plan was presented to the District 97 Board of Education on March 17, and was approved April 21. A summary of our next steps is included below.
The administrative team had originally planned to share this information through additional town hall meetings this spring. However, we are temporarily suspending those plans due to the state’s current stay-at-home order. We are exploring alternatives and will follow up with the community soon. In the meantime, please continue to reach out to our team via email or Let’s Talk.
Thank you for your ongoing support. Take care, and be well.
Sincerely,
Dr. Carol Kelley
Superintendent
Leadership/Staffing
- Ryan Gordon and Sheila Carter will serve as co-interim principals for the 2020-21 school year. Click here for the March 17 announcement >
- The board approved the following staffing changes for Lincoln:
- The addition of a student support specialist who will assist the building administrative team in organizing and fostering a positive learning environment that is conducive to best meeting the needs of all students, staff and parents.
- The addition of a receptionist to assist the building’s two current administrative assistants with the responsibilities affiliated with a large school.
- Increase the building’s social workers to from 1.5 to 2.0 FTE (full-time employees) and the psychologist from 0.5 to 1.0 FTE to better support the social-emotional needs of students.
- The addition of one full-time enrichment specialist (formerly known as a GTD teacher) to split between Lincoln and Longfellow to support qualifying students. This will increase the enrichment specialists at Lincoln to 1.5 FTE.
Administrative Support
- The district will provide support to the school’s team leaders and the Building Leadership Team (BLT) through an internal professional learning opportunity called “Leading Teacher Teams.”
- We will utilize “Leading Teacher Teams” to improve the two-way communication between the school and district departments, and a district staff member will serve as a liaison to Lincoln to ensure that staff are able to give input and feedback about district-level decisions.
- The district is reviewing proposals for executive coaching and support/enrichment for building principals.
- The district is requesting proposals for a climate/culture audit at Lincoln, as well as additional professional development for staff. We are also seeking proposals to conduct an external audit of the Spanish Immersion Program at Lincoln.
- Senior Director of Human Resources Gina Herrmann will further examine our hiring processes and recommend how we might improve our expectations and guidelines in preparation for our next principal search.