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Mission Statement |
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The Washoe County School District sets out to create an education system where all students achieve academic success, develop personal and civic responsibility, and achieve career and college readiness for the 21st century. |
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During the 2010-11 school year, the WCSD Board of Trustees and Superintendent, Dr. Heath Morrison, launched Envision WCSD 2015: Investing in Our Future. The strategic plan was a culmination of more than 9 months of work with WCSD parents, local community members, teachers, administrators, and other stakeholders. The plan articulates those efforts the District intends to carry out in the coming years in order to fulfill its mission and vision.
Attending always to continuous improvement, the Board and administration have established ambitious district-wide academic and operational performance targets. The targets and the supporting action plan are instrumental in holding Trustees, Administrators, and all educators accountable for meeting the unique needs of every student.
The overarching performance goal for the school district is to improve the graduation rate and at the same time ensure that our graduates are college and highly-skilled career ready. Leading to this overarching goal is a set of academic goals that chart the path for success from Kindergarten through graduation. Underlying the academic pathway is a set of foundational goals related to building human capital, family engagement, and community capital, fostering a safe and engaging school climate, and by continuously improving facilities and support services.
District administrators worked with all building administrators to establish aligned school improvement targets. For every pathway target, schools have disaggregated expectations for student and school performance. These targets are a critical first step in building a robust district accountability system which moves beyond the current federal and state mandated AYP system.
2011 Performance Outcomes
- In math performance as measured by the state CRTs, the District demonstrated gains in the percentage of proficient students in every grade 3-8. This included a seven percentage point increase in grade 7 and an eight percentage point increase in grade 8.
- In both math and reading, the District outperformed the state at all school levels.
- Looking at math performance by student groups, with few exceptions gains in the percentage of proficient students were observed for all ethnic minorities as well as special populations.
- Although 2011 AYP results have not been finalized, it appears that the district has held ground with some slight improvement with respect to the number of schools failing AYP.
- During the 2010-11 school year there has been a significant decrease in the 9th grade credit deficiency rate.
- All comprehensive high schools met the Jay Mathews Challenge Index based on the percentages of students taking AP examinations.
- Although not finalized for 2011, the District anticipates a significant increase in the graduation rate as measured by the longitudinal cohort method of calculation.
- There continues to be a significant increase in the percentage of IEP students earning standard high school diplomas.
- In the 2010-11 school year, the School District observed a significant decrease in the number of unfilled teacher absences.
- The school district continues to work toward and has seen a narrowing of the gap between Title I and non-Title I schools in terms of teacher experience and the percentage of teachers with advanced educational degrees.
- In Title I schools, 100% percent of classes were taught by highly qualified teachers and Paraprofessionals.
- The District has been awarded the Government Finance Officers’ Association Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting for fiscal year 2010-2011, which is the tenth year in a row.
- The school district received an Achievement of Excellence in Procurement award for 2010 and is one of only 14 districts to win the award for 14 years.
- The Sierra Nevada Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America recognized the Washoe County School District's Communications Department with three awards during its annual Silver Spike Awards ceremony. The communications team took home one of the highest honors, a Silver Spike Award, for its emotional video that promoted the release of the District's new strategic plan, Envision WCSD 2015 - Investing In Our Future. The Communications Department also won Awards of Excellence for the publication of the strategic plan and for the marketing plan that introduced Envision WCSD 2015 - Investing In Our Future to the community.
- The District currently has bond ratings of Aa2 from Moody’s Investors Service, AA from Standard and Poor’s Rating Service and AA- from Fitch Ratings. These ratings were affirmed when the District issued bonds in 2010. These ratings are among the highest ratings for school districts in Nevada.
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Goals and Objectives |
Provide all students with extensive opportunities, challenges, and support in achieving continuous academic success
Recruit, select, develop, and retain highly-effective personnel to provide the best educational opportunities and services for all students.
Engage family and community members in strong relationships and meaningful opportunities to increase expertise, trust, and shared responsibility for student success.
Value and strengthen a positive, productive, self-renewing culture throughout the district with attention to safe, orderly, and respectful learning and work environments focused on student achievement.
Align and maintain efficient and effective performance systems to sustain a cycle of continuous improvement in support of student learning.
Performance Targets for 2012*
Graduation Rate: 71%
AP Participation: 34%
AP Performance: 57%
SAT Participation: 39%
SAT Performance: 1538
ACT Participation: 39%
ACT Performance: 21.6
9th Grade Credit Accrual: 88%
8th Grade Algebra Participation: 34%
8th Grade Algebra Performance: 59%
8th Grade Writing Performance: 65% Prof / 18% Exceeds
5th Grade Math Performance: 76% Prof / 20% Exceeds
5th Grade Reading Performance: 64% Prof / 16% Exceeds
5th Grade Writing Performance: 49% Prof / 15% Exceeds
3rd Grade Reading Performance: 70% Prof / 34% Exceeds
3rd Grade Math Performance: 76% Prof / 39% Exceeds
Kindergarten Reading Performance: 62%*
*Subject to annual revision by Board of Trustee |
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