ADMINISTRATION BUILDING 835 OLD CLAIRTON ROAD JEFFERSON HILLS , PA 15025 PHONE 412.655.8450 FAX 412.655.9544 www . wjhsd . net
MESSAGE FROM
Dr . Michael Ghilani West Jefferson Hills School District Superintendent est Jefferson Hills WEST JEFFERSON HILLS SCHOOL DISTRICT NEWS
Welcome back ! I hope everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable summer . As of July 1st our new administrative team was complete with the arrival of Mr . Scott Milburn , Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Education , and Mr . Matt Patterson , Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Education . When they arrived , we hit the ground running thanks to the tremendous amount of qualitative and quantitative data that was collected through the focus groups and surveys that were completed as part of my first hundred days . We ended up getting a great response from teachers , parents , and students with the surveys . Focus groups were run with parents , teachers , students ( 3-12 ), paraprofessionals , secretaries , tech aides , and taxpayers who do not have children in the district . Many important issues were brought to my attention , and I certainly gained an appreciation for the many nuances of the culture and climate of our school district and community . The resounding sentiment I heard from all stakeholders was the desire to be better and be recognized as one of the top districts in the state . It was also communicated loud and clear that parents and teachers all felt we should be measured by our ability to grow our students academically and socio-emotionally . And that ’ s exactly what we are going to do !
After spending the greater part of June and July analyzing the survey data and reviewing everything from attendance rates to test scores , the administrative team began to assemble what will become our district comprehensive educational plan . What began as chicken scratch on a whiteboard in May has now morphed into an aligned strategic playbook that outlines our path to success for the next three years . We spent a great deal of time meeting with the entire district administrative team to assure that we had buy-in and support for many of our initiatives . I am also appreciative of the many teachers who volunteered to give up their summertime to come in and provide valuable feedback along the way . Our summer journey culminated with our administrative retreat which included every administrator in the district from the Director of Facilities to the Director of Food Service .
Day one of the retreat was spent at CCAC South Campus . Dr . Charlene Newkirk , CCAC South President , was kind enough to donate the space for the district to use . In the morning we worked with the Pennsylvania Leadership Development Center ( PLDC ) to focus on personal leadership development and build capacity among our administrative team . Our Board of School Directors joined us in the afternoon to process and digest the summarized survey data and to work alongside the administrative team to construct our district ’ s organizational and personal core values . Our organizational core values are to be learner-centric , to deliver personalized learning for every teacher , staff member , and student , and to construct a supportive foundation for our district built upon strong relationships . Our personal values for the district are respect , empathy , and integrity . Our core values will guide everything
40 West Jefferson Hills we do in the district for years to come . They will become the standard for every student , teacher , administrator , and staff member in the district and will be used to focus our planning and decision making and position our spending to have the greatest impact on children .
Day two of our retreat led us to the LUMA Institute at MAYA Design . Human Centered Design ( HCD ) strategies are an important part of my leadership style and were used in the focus groups as well as much of the work I have done with the administrative team . The Luma Institute provides HCD training around the world , and its headquarters are located in Pittsburgh . They were kind enough to host us for a day of strategy alignment and goal setting . We used HCD strategies to lead a collaborative , input-driven goal-planning exercise that cultivated the innovation and vision of our administrative team but led to the development of goals for each administrator in the district . The most powerful piece was that the goal development exercise was driven by the survey data as well as feedback and support from each individual administrator at the retreat . Our district ’ s comprehensive plan , as well as each administrator ’ s building goals , will be posted on the website for review . We will also be posting a summary of the survey results on the website . It is important to remember that they are a baseline that we will use as one measure to demonstrate the growth and progress as we make as a district .
The final day of the administrative retreat was spent visiting two of the most creative work spaces in the greater Pittsburgh area . The goal was to help our administrative team understand the impact that space can have on human behavior and the human condition . Many of the most successful companies in the world are very intentional about space and the values and culture that it promotes . I want our leaders to be more cognizant of how our facilities and classroom spaces might affect and impact teacher and student behavior and how they might be leveraged to promote the district ’ s core values . The first company we visited was Alloy 26 which is one of the largest collaborative co-working spaces in Pittsburgh . It is home to many start-up companies and was designed to spark creativity , innovation , and collaboration . The second company we visited , Inventionland , is a cross between a manufacturing company and Willie Wonka ’ s Chocolate Factory . They focus on bringing ideas to life and are responsible for many of the inventions that you probably use every day in your homes . The space at Inventionland is geared toward getting their employees in specific mindsets through immersion in creative but targeted consumer industries . As new buildings open and current buildings change , hopefully you will see some of the influence of this year ’ s retreat in every classroom and building in the district .
As the year begins , I think you will immediately see many new changes and additions to our educational program . Many of