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
With the formation of a new leadership team this summer , it was the perfect time to re-evaluate our current practices and re-focus the district in order to reach heights that have never before been attained . The parent , teacher , and student surveys that were administered as part of my hundred-day plan gave us valuable data to develop and shape the vision of the district and our goals over the course of the next three years .
It was crystal clear from all stakeholders in the surveys that the single most important metric by which district success would be measured is student growth . It was refreshing to see such an overwhelming amount of support that was consistent with the beliefs and values of our administrative team ; thus , our overarching goal of the district ’ s three-year comprehensive plan was to
personalize the educational experience for every child in order to guarantee at least one year of academic and socio-emotional growth for every year of instruction . By using data from Pennsylvania Value Added Assessment System ( PVAAS ) projects , Northwest Evaluation Association ( NWEA ) benchmarking , and results from PSSA , Keystone , and PSAT tests , we will know the expected growth versus the actual growth for every child every year . This overarching goal drove the creation of our three-year
48 West Jefferson Hills
comprehensive plan which can be viewed in detail on the district ’ s website at www . wjhsd . net . I encourage everyone to visit the website and view the plan to gain a better understanding of where the district is headed over the next three years .
The next step of our plan was to again utilize the survey data as well as a human-centered design activity with our administrators and school board to identify the district ’ s personal and organizational core values . All good organizations know their “ why ” and what they believe on a personal and organizational level . After a thorough review of the data , our personal core values became Empathy , Respect , and Integrity . Our organizational core values are to deliver a personalized learning system , create a learner-centric focus , and foster positive relationships . The faculty , staff and students have all embraced these core values and it is
evident in their daily lessons and activities . In addition to our district social media channels , all of our administrators and schools have taken to Twitter to share the many positive events and learning initiatives happening on a daily basis that exemplify our core values . We have adopted the twitter hashtag of # WErTJ to be used on all of our tweets to see our core
Connect and Learn with Us
on Twitter ! @ GhilaniMike @ MPattersonWJHSD @ stmilburn @ emwst12 @ PrincipalSef @ WJHSD @ GH _ WJHSD @ MrsMerwin @ vpzunic @ PWareTJHS @ phmsjaguars @ McClellan _ WJHSD @ JES _ wjhsd
values in action each day . A list of our district twitter accounts is included above , and we encourage you to follow us throughout the year .
I thank you for your continued support and look forward to many new and exciting things in the New Year ahead . Wishing you and your families peace and happiness throughout the holiday season .
Dr . Michael Ghilani