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"To be the premier school district where every student is inspired every day."
That is the vision statement that drives all we do at MPS. Vision statements can be big and lofty and are sometimes difficult to connect to. For a public school system, working with kids and watching them emerge, dreaming and growing each day really is a vision we can connect to.
Inspiring kids is why we go into the field!
One project we've worked on this year has been a review of our career and technical (CTE) classes. These are courses that are specifically geared to prepare students for a path after high school. We've really been looking at what CTE courses we currently offer, what courses fit both student interest, and what needs are there in the community that we can help prepare kids to fulfill. Part of that conversation has led into a review of our graduation requirements.
The last time we reviewed our graduation requirements at MPS was about 15 years ago. The state has a number of requirements, but also leaves some room for Districts to consider local requirements.
Back in 2005, we determined that we needed to ensure kids were being exposed to technology and added a requirement that they take specific courses to guarantee studies in using technology. Over the past few years, instruction has seen considerable change.
We now have a fully implemented 1:1 student device program, where all of our kids have a personal device available to them and even before the pandemic changed our instruction, we now use technology is most of our courses.
Our recommendation to the board is to drop the specific technology course requirement, but not change the overall 30.5 credit requirement for graduation.
This will allow additional space in student schedules for our students to take elective courses they have an interest in and help us as we continue to work on our mission ... "where every student is inspired every day".
-- Jeremy Williams is superintendent for Marshall Public Schools