The annual FSSD Leadership Retreat is a treasured opportunity for leadership to spend three days reflecting, learning, and collaborating in summary of the prior school year and in intense preparation for the next. The goal of the Teaching and Learning team in planning the retreat is for every moment to be well worth the participants’ time and attention, with actionable outcomes, and directly connected to student achievement and educator and staff member efficacy.

This summer, we kicked off our time together, with the entire team present, at Freedom Intermediate School with a session titled “Lead Like Lasso,” facilitated by longtime collaborator Dr. Joelle Hood. According to her website, Dr. Hood endeavors for her courses to provide guidance and coaching “about a different way of BEing. When we become the best possible version of ourselves, then we have more capacity to empower others to do the same. As leaders, we want to help others tap into their highest potential and utilize their strengths to create a team that is the best it can be. Through research-based practices and strategies from the areas of Organizational Leadership, Employee Engagement, Mindfulness, Positive Psychology, Emotional Intelligence, and Social Psychology, we will work together to strengthen your influence and impact as an extraordinary leader.”

We explored the numerous leadership lessons from the television show Ted Lasso, which, in a happy coincidence, align closely with the concepts from the book currently being studied by the leadership team – Trust & Inspire: How Truly Great Leaders Unleash Greatness in Others by Stephen M.R. Covey! Dr. Hood highlighted these connections, which was particularly fortuitous as we also delved
into chapter seven of Trust & Inspire later the same day. Primary takeaways included the crucial nature of genuine connections, care, compassion, and humor amongst leaders and teams, forgiveness and kindness alongside high expectations and accountability, and the honest acknowledgment of difficult circumstances while looking forward and proceeding onward – together.

Monday afternoon included a check-in on the progress of the access control project that involves electronic access to buildings and a rousing team-building activity. A middle school’s administrative team spoke to its targeted efforts around regularly scheduled remediation for all students who require it so that every student can reach proficiency in essential standards and concepts. As always, inspirational videos and icebreakers that leadership members can utilize with their faculty and staff were woven throughout the agenda on the first two days of the retreat.

Day two generally focuses on academic and social/personal competencies topics, with Dr. Snowden, Dr. Esslinger, school administrators, and, of course, T&L in attendance. Key district documents (such as assessment and professional learning schedules) were distributed, and an overview of the new state science standards and textbook adoption (both to be implemented in 2025-26) was provided, as was additional information on the new requirements related to computer science standards/instruction.

The group discussed the upcoming new district branding and strategic plan (aspire 2029) and how both will be approached and enacted at each school site. Clarifications about the characteristics of dyslexia, how those characteristics are identified, and how both relate to the Response to Intervention (RtI) process made for an in-depth conversation. A game of educational charades was Tuesday’s team-building exercise. On a much more serious but still engrossing note, we looked deeply into and determined the necessary next steps to refine the district as a Professional Learning Community (PLC)/Professional Learning Team (PLT), an integral component of aspire 2029. It made sense to then also spend structured time considering and planning for the maximization of Tier I instructional time and the continued focus on the growth and proficiency of English learners. An indispensable piece of all these sessions was the reading and analysis of research-based articles/texts.

Finally, the entire leadership team reconvened for the final day of the retreat, held for the first time ever at our spectacular performing arts center. The state-required yearly drug-free workplace for supervisors training was completed, and then the group undertook a top-secret but soon-to-be-revealed project for the August 1 opening day welcome session. All in all, we have synthesized knowledge and understanding gained from the school year just concluded and we are well-prepared and eager to take on 2024-25!