Chapter 2: Visionary Leadership
Shared Leadership
The Sharon Springs School District’s strategic plan for the implementation and utilization of information and communications technologies (ICT) has and will continue to draw upon a wide range of sources and involve many individuals. Input is sought from all stakeholders, ranging from students to board of education members, in an ongoing process that supports and encourages all learners to invest themselves in the learning ecology at SSCS. Using a shared drive as a truly collaborative tool, this plan is contained within a living document; thus, allowing all stakeholders the ability to collaboratively edit and revise the plan for technology integration according to our learners’ needs especially as they relate to changes in education methods as a result of advances in technology. Beyond a technical infrastructure to encourage collaboration, SSCS stakeholders meet regularly to review policies, discuss challenges, and building upon successes.
Individual Leadership
The technology vision of the Sharon Springs Central School is to provide a safe, supportive, flexible, diverse, open, and creative learning environment. This vision is designed to support scaled growth among learners with the end goal of more a student-centered and personalized learning experience, where each learner pursues individual excellence while meeting state and national standards.
Community Engagement
As a district, we are intentional in our strategies for engaging the greater SSCS community in our decision- making-process and execution of integrating technology as an integral part of our students’ education. We keep our district website up-to-date with all information that pertain to technology; additionally, we mail a district newsletter each month. We also encourage and provide the training for teachers to open a parent portal within the district sponsored Learning Management System (i.e. Schoology).
As the “hub” of our small, conservative community we continue to offer traditional open houses and “meet-the-teacher” events, but this is augmented by each teacher designing and maintaining a website and some teachers leveraging tools like Class DoJo to communicate with parents via mobile devices. This year (through a private grant) SSCS has opened a “Parent Resource Room” available once a week that gives community members a broad range of services, including (but not limited to): access to a strong wi-fi connection, iPads, and desktop computers, as well as human resources (i.e., trained teachers) who can help guide parents as they work, study and review various content related to education and parenting.
Additionally, the district has hosted its first “SSCS Learning with Technology Expo.”
