Dear Blue Ace Families,
Welcome back for the 2022-2023 school year! We hope you all have had a relaxing and rejuvenating summer break, and are ready to get back to learning. We are excited to see all of our students’ faces in classrooms once again!
I want to open this school year with a refocus on our mission, vision, values and Portrait of a Graduate…
Granville Exempted Village Schools has a rich tradition of high academic standards and rigorous educational opportunities. Our students are at the center of our learning organization, and as a learning organization, our Mission statement professes we are Learning for Life. Our Vision states: “Graduates of the Granville Exempted Village School District are well-prepared and empowered to be thoughtful, productive, and contributing members of their communities, and are equipped with the critical thinking skills and self-sufficiency necessary for success in our ever-changing world.” At the heart of this theory of action is also a mentality of continuous improvement within the organization. We shift this theory into action by taking our mission and vision and applying strategies and practices to realize the true impact on students. Curiosity about how we educate, and commitment to continuous improvement, lead to changes in classroom practices that align with student needs. Granville Schools are spaces for true human development with students at the center of our work.
Several years ago, we engaged in an innovation process to determine how we could improve outcomes for students. The by-product of that process was the integration of Project Based Learning (PBL) into our students’ and teachers’ mindset. Shortly after the PBL work began, we engaged in a community process to identify our Portrait of a Graduate (PoaG) – a composite of our Values combined with what mindsets, skills and dispositions we want our students to possess after their tenure within our district. Two years into implementation, the pandemic hit. We saw firsthand the six competencies outlined in our PoaG – empathy, resilience, collaboration, critical-thinking, adaptability and responsibility – on full display with our students, staff and community.
As we begin a new school year, we are engaging in the process to REFLECT, RETHINK, and RESET our learning organization with all of the lessons learned throughout the past 2 ½ years. We will take advantage of the ways we have improved our educational outcomes, and abandon those practices that are barriers to deep learning. Once again, our Portrait of a Graduate will be the North Star that leads us to fulfill our mission of Learning for Life.
Thank you for your continued support!
Your partner in education,
Jeff Brown
Superintendent, Granville Schools