By Colleen Cochran
Contributing Writer

The Avon Grove School Board held this month’s Committee of the Whole meeting on Oct. 8 at the intermediate school audion. Seven school board members were in attendance—Rick Dumont, Herman Engel, Dr. Dorothy Linn, Ken Roark, Ruchira Singh, Nick Taylor, and Bonnie Wolff.

Highlights of the meeting included updates to the Committee of the Whole’s strategic initiatives. One of these initiatives involves implementing a Profile of a Future Ready Avon Grove Graduate, a profile which was devised in 2021 by a team of Avon Grove School District staff and community members. 

This team is now ensuring the character traits and knowledge-based skills outlined in this profile are embedded in all areas of Avon Grove School District’s curriculum. Skills students are expected to master by graduation include, for instance, core academic knowledge, a growth mindset, critical-thinking abilities, communication and collaboration skills, and the capacity to be accountable and resilient.

Patti Schmaltz, K-12 supervisor of teaching and learning, delivered the presentation on behalf of the action team. She relayed that one way the team has been assuring competencies are prioritized is through creation of an internal newsletter in which teachers share ways they are implementing competencies in their classrooms. 

The team is also working to keep the community informed and involved in fostering these competencies. It is presently working to create a landing site on the Avongrove.org website that lists profile parameters and ways community members can help students cultivate these skills. 

The team has also created a community liaison position, and thus far has received eight applicants. The person filling this role will be expected to build opportunities for community members to come into classrooms and for students to spend more time outside the classroom involved in their communities.

Finally, Schmalz reported that the Profile of a Future Ready Avon Grove Graduate Action Team has ensured that profile competencies are represented in the Qualities of a Future Ready Learner section of the elementary school report card. Teachers will provide feedback on how students are progressing toward acquiring profile competencies. Plans are underway to update secondary school report cards to likewise relay this information. 

Emlyn Frangiosa, district supervisor of teaching and learning, provided the presentation on behalf of another strategic initiatives team, the Envoys for Equity Team. The purpose of this team is to ensure students are receiving equitable access to education as it relates to curricular and extracurricular activities.

She reported that the number of students participating in after-school sports has increased. She said that the team attributes this increase, in part, to the offering of more intermural sports. The increase also stems from the fact that free physicals have been offered to students who do not have access to a physician. The team is looking to expand the program to offer physicals to all students. This school year, free physicals will be offered Nov. 6, Feb. 12, and May 1.

She reported that the high school had been providing transportation home from after-school sports for students for whom transportation issues had previously precluded their participation in sports. She reported that while some students were using the buses, the transportation program was not receiving the level of participation expected. Therefore, the transportation will cease for now, due to expense. Less costly alternative means of transportation will be explored.

Frangiosa reported that the team’s Name Initiative has been well received by students and teachers. The Name Initiative involves students and teachers recording and sharing their preferred names at the beginning of the school year. The team feels that because a name is an integral part of a person’s identity, when people can say it correctly, it fosters a person’s sense of being a valued member of the school community.

Finally, Frangiosa reported that the Envoys for Equity Team is starting a mentoring program in each of the district’s schools. This program will help students build relationships with each other so that they feel connected, accepted, and valued.