We are a small school community focused on delivering big educational results!
The East Troy Community School District is a District of Choice, empowering students through Personalized Learning Environments, State and Nationally Recognized Academics, One-to-One Technology, and rigorous and relevant course work, that enhances critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication, content and curiosity.
We take great pride in our constant effort to provide an educational environment promoting personalized education that accomplishes a year of learning growth for every child, every year, and promoting strong student engagement. We achieve these results by focusing on student data, quality assessments, project-based learning, strong curriculum development, digital media integration, global district literacy and strong teaching and leadership practices that keep our attention on learning and allow everything else to be variables.
Each and every year, we work to ensure our mission is a living part of our schools and our classrooms. Our staff continually works to meet and exceed our district goals by addressing our district initiatives and ensuring proper progress of these core foundational practices. We are proud of our high expectations, our achievements, and, most importantly; our continued emphasis on constant improvement.
We are located thirty miles southwest of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and sixty miles southeast of Madison, Wisconsin. The District is approximately 100 square miles and includes eight municipalities: the Towns of Troy, Spring Prairie, LaGrange, Eagle, LaFayette, and East Troy, and the Villages of East Troy and Mukwonago. Our student population is around 1650 students. We offer Pre-kindergarten through 12th grade instruction in four buildings.
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- ETCSD was the first in State of Wisconsin to provide Smart Labs to our students. Little Prairie Primary being the first in the nation to have a SmartLab completely dedicated to primary-aged children
- ETHS has a state and world recognized Fab Lab
- ETCSD is in the first class of officially recognized districts in the country as a Google for Education Reference District
- Little Prairie Primary, a school built with adaptable learning environments that promote collaboration and creativity within multi-grade academic wings, was awarded the Pre-K/Early Childhood Citation by American School & University Magazine and was featured in the 2018 Architectural Portfolio.
- ETCSD continues to meet or exceed students reaching their individual growth target for for 2018 - 2019 school year - 58% math and 56% reading
- 102 HS students took 169 AP exams with 76% of those students earning a 3 or higher in the 2018-19 school year
- Over 15 transcripted courses are available at ETHS
- ETHS Jazz Ensembles have earned a rating of 1st at State for seven years in a row
- Fourteen youth apprenticeship students earned certifications in 2018-19
- ETHS's NASA HUNCH team were chosen to attend Johnson Space Center
- ETHS juniors scored above state average on ACT for the 2018-19 school year
- ETHS girls volleyball team were named State Champions in the Fall of 2018
- ETCSD's Birth to Four - Stay and Play Program promotes play and social development for infants to age four
- ETMS band and choir students earned over 210 medals at the WSMA District Solo Ensemble Festival in February 2019
- All schools in ETCSD have been recognized through WI RTI center / PBIS network for developing an equitable system leading student success
- PVES implemented an “Innovation Lab”
- In 2019-20, 13 students from East Troy were selected to have their art and writing published in the Southern Lakes Anthology.
- ETHS has earned a Global Education Achievement Certificate
- ETCSD has a wrap around daycare partnership with YMCA
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Increasing program opportunities for students. Ensure programming that supports quality educational practices (strong affect size on student success – achievement and engagement)
- Increasing programs that insist on higher-order thinking – creativity and innovation (immediately and ongoing)
- Increasing programs that encourage strong collaboration and communication (immediately and ongoing)
- Creating programs that students want and desire (immediately and ongoing)
Increasing programs that align to our initiatives (immediately and ongoing)
To have an assessment literate professional staff that uses quality assessment pedagogy to adjust student learning process. A system that recognizes the necessity for those who are being assessed to be a part of the evaluation process toward becoming self-evaluated learners. A system that encourages continuous feedback to be used for ongoing learning, promotion of individual learning growth, and maintains an emphasis on what homework is being presented (individualized, based upon what one needs) and how this contributes to higher order learning.
- Using high quality assessments (diagnostic and ongoing) to guide teaching and student learning
- Providing information to continuously assist the learning process – allows different demonstrations of strengths; areas to improve and explore; and meeting various abilities, knowledge, and skills
- Visible learning targets through the use of “I CAN” statements or “objectives” to reiterate the focus of learning outcomes
- Matching learning targets with appropriate assessments
- Creating an environment that supports varying assessment opportunities
- Using assessments to promote, motivate and encourage student learning (assessment “as” learning)
- Involving students in development and setting of goals per their assessments
- Providing frequent feedback to improve upon learning, rather than long intervals of infrequent feedback that focuses on grading
- Using assessments that enhance and promote higher-order thinking while demonstrating varying student levels toward proper recognition of student learning growth
- Using assessments to intervene early toward expanding learning opportunities and to intervene early when students are struggling
- Demonstrating all parts of the system are interconnected – curriculum, instruction, and assessment
- Decreasing isolation while increasing collaboration
- Continuing to provide professional development and support
Increasing current connections with young families that develop and foster relationships between the school district and parents/guardians. To ensure physical, social/emotional/behavioral, motor and cognitive developmental milestones are being reach by all children aged 0 – 4, to maximize the school district’s ability to provide a year plus of learning growth each year a child attends school in the East Troy Community School District. Finally, assisting and involving parents with using every day moments to make extraordinary educational moments for their child.
- Establishing connections and improving upon some of the current connections – Stay and Play program; representation at Chamber of Commerce Expo; and existing committee representation.
- Establishing a consistent district contact – Little Prairie Primary Principal
- Implementing a plan toward becoming more visible in the community
Developing necessary partnerships throughout district and community to enhance exploration and hands-on-experiences toward promotion of real-world learning experiences
Continuing to improve upon sharing information and maximizing common tools to improve upon our communication efforts pertaining to the district, building(s), and individual classroom with appropriate stakeholder groups. Continuing to improve upon keeping parents, community members who are not parents, community members whose children attend school outside the district, staff, and citizens outside of East Troy School District informed.
- Each teacher, supervisor and administrator will maintain and keep their websites up-to-date with current events happening in the classroom/school and district and showcase awards and acknowledgments from in and outside of the district.
- District will focus on sharing tangible student and district results, district initiatives and progress, various district news, including renovation updates.
Developing and utilizing relevant and meaningful learning experiences that align to our learning targets and promote higher order thinking – exploration, application, critical-thinking, problem solving, innovation and creation by strengthening partnerships with business and industry professionals, college and university representatives, district-level decision makers, school personnel, parents, students, and alumni. Ensuring our education goes beyond the school classroom.
- Creating (and share with staff) a resource guide that includes information about each partnership, how the partnership can support the curriculum, and any contact information and adding to the resource as additional partnerships are established
- Planning extensions / partnerships into lesson planning as part of the Project Based Learning framework and capturing these extensions/partnerships in the course activities found in the district’s curriculum tool, BYOC (Build Your Own Curriculum)
- Aligning resources to necessary curriculum and grade levels
- Creating opportunities for career development and work-based learning for students (increase Youth Apprenticeship program and student involvement, introduce GPS to local businesses, and meet with Village and Townships to increase PBL’s through identification of challenges / problems that can be used by our students to analyze and create)
- Forming partnerships with interested stakeholders toward improved student achievement and student engagement
- Establishing structured opportunities to engage stakeholders
- Leveraging community responses to assist with other initiatives
- Utilizing digital media to increase opportunities for collaboration and communication
- Decreasing isolation while increasing collaboration through extensions / partnerships
- Continuing to provide ongoing, professional development and support
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Integrating digital media into building and classroom repertoire that increases authentic student learning experiences and enhances our emphasis on a personalized learning environment for each child.
- Ensuring availability and accessibility to students and staff that will support all educational purposes All professional staff will begin to explore and understand what a “flipped classroom could be and should not be”
- All professional staff will be expected to demonstrate how they are utilizing digital media to assist students with interventions and extensions
- All professional staff will demonstrate how they are utilizing digital media to move their classroom environment toward a personalized learning environment (i.e. improved assessments, improved quality feedback loop, student choice to represent learning, etc.)
- Each teacher, supervisor and administrator will maintain and keep their websites up-to-date with current events happening in the classroom/school and district
- Decreasing isolation while increasing collaboration
- Continuing to provide professional development and support
Integrating global literacy into the existing curriculum toward ensuring world languages and world cultures are being provided to all elementary children.
- All elementary classrooms will incorporate global literacy into their lesson planning.
- All elementary classrooms will develop continued exposure opportunities throughout their classroom that relates to grade level content
- All encore staff will integrate the global literacy initiative into their lesson planning to assist with helping children to connect to world languages and world cultures
- All elementary buildings will develop exposure opportunities throughout their building that will enhance global literacy.
- Continuing to provide professional development and support
Increasing educator effectiveness through high quality content knowledge, high quality pedagogy – (planning and delivery), high quality assessments, high quality technology use, high quality learning environment, and high quality professionalism that will increase student achievement, increase student engagement, and promote and ensure an effective teacher in every classroom and an effective leader in every school.
Utilize the CESA #6 performance evaluation system that promotes improving teacher practices around student achievement – student learning and growth, quality practices per district initiatives, timely feedback, goal setting, provides opportunities for continuous learning/professional growth, and promotes trust and collaboration while ensuring accountability.
- Continuing the use of classroom walkthroughs on a consistent basis toward assisting with identifying individual and building level strengths and needs
- Providing feedback to staff (formative assessment and summative assessment) through observations (formal and informal), documentation log and goal setting
- Providing feedback to staff through student data and student outcomes
- Creating designated times for Professional Learning Communities and clearly identifying use of this designated time
- Maintaining a Team Leader job description and establishing selection and evaluative measures
- All building level staff meetings will focus on district initiatives and quality practices
- Utilizing sources as depicted in new educator effectiveness model
- Observations knowledge of content, instructional delivery, assessment FOR and OF learning, learning environment, and professionalism – aligning to new educator effectiveness model
- Documentation log as it relates to instructional planning and artifacts, student achievement, etc.
- Student survey
- Goal Setting
- Goals for each teacher (SLO’s) will be developed prior to October 30 to assist with continuous improvement focus based upon student outcomes
- Yearly evaluation cycle timelines will be distributed at the beginning of the school year, informing administrators, teachers and educational specialists where they are in the evaluation cycle and when components are due
- Lack of implementation and or continuous improvement upon district initiatives must be addressed
- Substandard behavior and attitudes must be addressed immediately and documented
Creating opportunities that are allowing students to explore real world problems and challenges toward expanding and applying their current knowledge in an authentic, real-world context. Moving beyond the following: lecture, an add-on-activity, done alone, one-right answer, disconnect from real life, disconnect from standards and assessment, and isolated from today’s technology.
- Improving upon current questioning for feedback opportunities and assessments / The best questions are provocative and challenging, accessible to students, open-ended with multiple answers, and linked to important content
- Continuing to identify barriers and remove barriers to assist professional staff with creating these opportunities
- Incorporate PBL into teacher planning that aligns to quality assessment practices, use of digital media toward enabling personalized learning and improved feedback, and connecting to partnership/extension initiative
- Add programming each year that supports PBL, partnerships/extensions and authentic assessment practices throughout the district (i.e. - at least 1 PLTW class each year at high school, elementary curriculum, and middle school programming ).
- Continuing to provide professional development and support
Assessing current practices as it relates to assessment, evaluation, grading, etc. toward maximizing student learning has allowed the district to move towards using a Standards Based type report card for students PreK-8th grade, while students in the 9th-12th grade receive grades based on the Laude Recognition system. Adopting a reporting system that is constant with consistent subtopics throughout PK – 12 that recognizes student effort, citizenship and motivation aside from achievement. (i.e. Citizenship, communication, collaboration, innovation, thinking, personal responsibility, digital media, etc.
The Standards-based Report Card:
- Clarifies and reinforces consistent high expectations for students and schools.
- Helps teachers, students and families focus on standards throughout the year.
- Provides specific feedback on progress to the standards so students, families and teachers can work together to set meaningful goals for improvement
- Additional support at home and school can reinforce the concepts and knowledge learned based on information in the standards-based report card.
Laude Recognition
The High School chose to use the laude system to recognize graduates for their success in rigorous programs. These designations use weighted grades: Students with a 3.2 GPA or better are eligible for Summa Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude or Cum Laude. To achieve Laude recognition, a minimum of four credits (eight semesters) of honors coursework is required. Honors points are calculated by multiplying the students overall GPA by the number of honors credits they have completed at the end of semester 2 of the senior year.
The Board approved the new academic recognition and eliminated the class ranking system for the following reasons:
- High Achievement: Students are more focused on the educational value of their class selection. They choose to take a broader range of course work to balance and improve their educational experience - rather than selecting a course for the potential weighted grade to increase their "top 10" class ranking.
- Top Performing Schools: Schools around the state and nation can be vastly different. Students from different high schools may have selected vastly different courses and may have earned different grades - but have the same class rank to report to colleges.
Increase Post-Secondary Opportunities: Research shows that colleges may consider applicants more individually when class rank is not a factor. Factors such as academics, test scores, course rigor and extracurricular activities may become the focus. Most importantly, it means that our graduates applying for college will be competing with all applicants, not just the students within their own high school.
The driving purpose for collecting data through varying assessments (formative and summative) is to guarantee instructional and leadership improvement by identifying student and staff needs toward changing what is to be learned, how it will be learned, and how it will be assessed.
- Utilizing diagnostic assessments to assist with differentiation
- Utilizing formative assessments
- Developing and setting of goals
- Planning for extension opportunities and necessary interventions
- Actively participate in Data Teams
- Discussing data regularly with student and parent(s) to assist with ensuring a personalized learning environment
- Develop “Master Data Document” that will allow professional staff to request specific data
- Understanding new Special Education law / RTI model – use of high quality assessments and generating useful data/ criteria toward providing proper programming and high quality instruction while progress monitoring student success
- Implementation of a progress monitoring tool to be used with students receiving intervention and enrichment.
- Define PLC team roles and responsibilities. Define team leader roles and responsibilities
- Decreasing isolation while increasing collaboration – each professional teacher will at least once per semester visit another professional colleague to observe a practice area of interest Continuing to provide professional development and support throughout school year and summer academies
Increasing a personalized learning environment through the use of student profiles and quality educational practices (see above) that recognize the abilities, interests and learning styles of each child to assist in their learning and year plus of growth.
- Creating learner profiles – comprehensive, data-rich learner profiles that convey how a student is doing pertaining to attainment and growth, how a student learns best and the information is used to plan a customized learning environment and assist with instructional planning, delivery and assessments
- Customizing learning paths – each learner follows a unique path based on their individual interests, strengths and learning style
- Proficiency based progress – learner progress is based on demonstrated proficiency in pre-defined, agreed upon essential understandings that align to standards. Advancement is tied to performance, not seat time or credits (ongoing dialogue)
*Reference: Definitions pertaining to learner profiles, learning paths and proficiency based progress came from the institute at CESA 1.
Creating curriculum clarity for all stakeholders about what each student will learn through the mapping of essential understandings, development of learning targets, and quality assessments (see above) that involve high level activities that are relevant and meaningful. Align the Common Core Standards and Next Generation Science Standards.
- Aligning Common Core Standards and Next Generation Science Standards
- Developing learning targets
- Generating quality assessments that align to learning targets
- Generating higher order activities that are relevant and meaningful - allow students to explore toward more creativity and innovation
- Utilizing BYOC to share information amongst all stakeholders
- Decreasing isolation while increasing collaboration
- Continuing to provide professional development and support
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