Highs and Lows of Life

Sunday, I said goodbye to my 10 year old yellow lab Miele, who crossed the Rainbow Bridge all too soon. My heart was ripped to pieces and I still don't know how to handle that pain of losing another pet. Those of you that are animal lovers can certainly relate to their unconditional love! I went to my "go to" coping mechanism, the work I am able to do in Waukesha. 

This week was jam packed with so many positive spotlights I truly don't know where to start first. On Tuesday at our Teaching and Learning Board meeting, we highlighted a few things that I want to mention. First, the progress at Hadfield. I know it sometimes feels like it is happening at an inchworm pace, but with the Math pilot in particular we are seeing student achievement data at levels we have never seen before. We are seeing student's excited about being proud writers, all the while our Hedgehog staff continues to bring their patience and excellence to the work that is in front of us and I appreciate all that you are doing!

We also had some of our Music teachers on hand to highlight program enrollment and performance participation. Please check out the landing page of our website to see all the wonderful opportunities we have in the coming months all across our district. Just wonderful!

North was also on hand to highlight some of the ways in which they are securing accountability around our Key Performance Indicator: 80% of students earning a GPA of 2.8 or higher. We know this is a Redefining Ready indicator of not just college success but career and community success as well. North staff are working intentionally and collaboratively to reach their school goals and currently have 73% of their students achieving at this level.

Thursday, as I left West HS with our snow wonderland, I was feeling so thankful to our Math teachers who are in year one and year two of our new Agile Minds Integrated Math curriculum. Staff at West opened their doors to observers not just from Waukesha but from about 10 other districts who came in to observe the teaching and learning happening in these high school math classrooms that is transforming our student’s efficacy and their overall levels of success as mathematicians.

The week started out with the lowest of lows in life and yet I was able to witness so many phenomenal educators this week doing amazing things for our students in the 'Sha. May each day bring you more highs than lows.