From June 10-12, the FSD Leadership Team convened for its annual time of reflection, preparation, learning, and professional collaboration and growth.  Ultimately, the goal of this event is to further the expertise and effective teamwork of FSD leaders so they can provide optimal support to every employee in the district, leading to the best possible learning environment and outcomes for our students.

Day one saw the full leadership team gather for a series of sessions facilitated by members of the FSD Teaching and Learning and Finance and Administration Teams. Topics included:

• Results Coaching structured practice focusing on individual areas of enhancement for each person. In teams of four, participants provided reflective feedback to each other based on a goal aligned with their area of responsibility, or on fluency or student motivation and responsibility.
• An employee relations session, presented by Human Resources Supervisor Mrs. Leslie Duke, addressed the means and methods for supporting the FSD as a healthy, purpose-driven place of employment.
• Best practices for appropriate and timely intervention and remediation for students, as needed, and for determining when and why a referral to special education is warranted.
• Roundtable conversations targeted to increasing students’ reading and math fluency for elementary school administrators and to effective ways to encourage student motivation and responsibility for 5-8 principals and assistant principals
• Prioritization of projects and endeavors related to the topics detailed above, as well as others covered in the last nine months for the 2026-27 school year (next steps for instructional rounds, district guiding coalition, and school collective commitments and how they inform our work, high-quality intervention and enrichment that are embedded in the school day, etc.)
• Recognition and celebration of retiring District Nurse Amy Fisher.
• Team building to cultivate communication, trust, and problem-solving district and schools/departments-wide.

On day two, Dr. Eric Twadell of Solution Tree and the superintendent of Adlai Stevenson High School District 125 in Lincolnshire, Illinois, led an intense, highly interactive session with school and district administrators that was tailored to the FSD’s current state regarding the PLC at Work approach. He delved into:

• The crucial role of team norms in ensuring targeted data discussions and, most importantly, the norm of every team being “no alibis.”  In other words, we will make no excuses when students do not learn.  We will swiftly determine a way to ensure that they do.
• Assessments that authentically measure student learning and how to clearly and effectively communicate test results and their implication to students and parents.  This impacts grading practices as well.
• The importance of the district guiding coalition having conversations about and taking actions on items that are applicable to and will positively impact school district guiding coalitions.
• The differences between cooperation (sharing), coordination (planning), and collaboration (interdependence).
• A revisit of the Seven Stages of Professional Learning Teams and guidance as to how we can best leverage this document to continually enhance the PLC at Work approach.
• A discussion around the key outcome of teacher collaboration: is everyone on a team teaching with the same high level of expectations and scaffolding the learning as needed so that learning is optimal for all students?
• Healthy and productive teams.
• Protocols for effectively analyzing, synthesizing, and applying data.
• Embedding superlative intervention and remediation in the daily school schedule.

The third and final day of the retreat included another spirited team-building activity that reinforced this goal-oriented team’s emphasis on listening, paying attention to detail, and being there for each other as we completed a project to the best of our abilities. We closed by filming a little dance performance that you just might see on August 3, opening day.