October_2019_From_the_desk_of_Superintendent_Burt

From the desk of Superintendent Burt…

                         Mission Statement Steering Committee

“We Create Innovative Thinkers for a Dynamic World.” Early this year, Colchester Public
Schools proudly adopted this new mission statement after engaging broad perspectives
from our school community and the Town of Colchester. The concept of “we” as a
community is central to our vision: working together, we prepare our students for the
intellectual, physical, and social demands of our ever-evolving workforce.

Shortly after adopting our new mission statement, we formed a Mission Statement
Steering Committee comprised of staff, teachers, parents, community members,
administrators, and the Board of Education to address these questions: How do we
focus our important work to fulfill this mission? What are our most important goals, and
what is the plan of action to achieve them?

Two key concepts are central to our vision of what the District should look like in three
to five years:

   ● All students are able to think deeply and generate ideas and/or solutions in
     response to challenging, authentic problems; and
   ● All students grow academically, socially and emotionally because of a safe and
     supportive community.

To focus their work, the Steering Committee reviewed the themes from student and
parent focus groups and student learning data. Assessments of current and future
needs was the basis for strategizing a plan for achieving our goals, monitoring progress,
and measuring success beyond test scores. The team also reviewed the ideas
generated by faculty regarding student learning needs.

The Steering Committee developed the following five thematic goals:

   1. We will raise academic growth expectations for all students.
   2. Students will develop innovative thinking and authentic problem-solving skills by
      engaging in rigorous tasks.
   3. Our instruction and curriculum facilitate integrated, real-world learning that
      maximizes individual potential of each student.
   4. We will increase our capacity to respond to student academic, emotional and
      social needs through partnerships with caregivers and the community.
   5. We align the budget with the district vision and the needs of our students.


We are excited about the goals established by this dedicated Steering Committee, and
are deeply committed to the ground-level and systemic changes necessary to create the
innovative learner. I welcome your input into this critical process.

Warm Regards,

Jeffrey E. Burt
Superintendent of Colchester Public Schools