By Diana Whittle
There’s a new administration in town and Superintendent Jan Vesely is becoming known as a change-agent in the Kryene District. She’s laid out a 90-day plan for the Governing Board and assembled a team of professional educators to help her implement these goals.
Key among the Vesely administration is a curriculum that supports academic achievement and measurable learning standards.
It’s one of the reasons, Governing Board President Bernadette Coggins cited as the reason Vesely was selected for her position.
“The Board selected Dr. Vesely in part because she demonstrated the ability of being a strong leader, with the skills required to take us to the next level.
“We support her in her focus on teaching our students and preparing them for the future,” said Coggins.
In turn, Vesely chose Dr. Christine McDougall in the newly created position of director of school effectiveness. She joins Kyrene administrators, Mark Knight and Laura Toenjes, in providing support to schools to improve student achievement, to reduce behavioral incidents, and to close achievement gaps.
“Over the past 14 years, I have had the fortunate experience to work in multiple positions in all levels of the educational system from teacher, school administration, district administration, and state level support,” said McDougall.
Most recently, she served as the director of mathematics and science in Sunnyside Unified School District in Tucson. For the current school year, McDougall is assigned to Kyrene’s middle schools.
“The purpose of my position is not to be evaluative, but to be supportive to middle-school principals and to provide a direct line of communication with district leadership,” said McDougall. “I believe that a combination of support and accountability are necessary to create engaging learning environments and systems where all students excel.
“The Director of School Effectiveness position acts as a liaison, communicating needs and mentorship advice between principals and the district executive leadership team.”
To acclimate to Kyrene, McDougall undertook site visits so that she could visit classrooms and meet face-to-face with principals.
“During site visits, I dialogue with principals about school needs and work alongside them in classroom observations, teacher meetings, and leadership meetings,” said McDougall.
“I collaborate regularly with district leadership in Kyrene, our curriculum department, the student learning services department, and other departments to provide feedback, review needed supports, determine next steps, and coordinate services,” said McDougall.
For this school year, a large area of focus in the district is to monitor the progress of the 90-day action plans, which were required to be developed by each principal for their school. McDougall collaborated with each middle-school principal on the plan and its action steps for student achievement.
“The goals are around achievement in mathematics and English Language Arts, and closing the achievement gap,” said McDougall.
These are the same academic areas that are the basis of the state standardized tests called AZ Merit. Kyrene recently received the results of their test scores from the spring and both English Language Arts and mathematics scores report that more than 50 percent of Kyrene kids are meeting or exceeding state standards.
Peters to prioritize school safety
Another priority for the district is to maintain the schools’ environment so that it is orderly and the safe. Charged with this function is Jeff Peters, a long-time Kryene administrator, who recently accepted the role of director of safe and orderly schools
“As the name suggests, the main focus of my position is to maintain safe and orderly schools, which includes supporting schools in the area of student discipline and district safety procedures, and to organize action in times of crisis,” said Peters.
He also works with school administrators in providing appropriate consequences for student misconduct.
“I am responsible for preparing and presenting misconduct cases that rise to the level of a long-term suspension or expulsion. In these situations, which are rare, a due process hearing is required in front of a neutral hearing officer or the Governing Board,” explained Peters.
“Proactively, I also coordinate professional development opportunities for staff in the areas of student behavior and discipline. I work cooperatively with other departments in offering teachers and staff strategies on positively managing and influencing student behavior through Positive Behavior Intervention Supports.”
His expansive role for the district also includes serving as the incident commander and to lead the crisis team.
“This involves maintaining a plan and readiness in the case of fire, school lockdowns, school evacuations, and other events, which may impact the safety of students and staff,” said Peters.
“As part of this role, I coordinate resources to best address the situations as they occur and take proactive measures to ensure that the district is prepared to address situations in a manner most conducive to ensuring student and staff safety.”
In summarizing his new and varied role in the district, Peters says that he hopes to support educators to allow Kyrene to provide the best learning environment for all students.
“My goal is to continue to support a positive learning environment that is safe for students, staff, and the community.”
