WCS Celebrates Achievements, Envisions Future
Article by Dr. David Hoffert,
Superintendent Warsaw Community Schools
The start of the new calendar year and the holiday break for Warsaw Community Schools provided a time of both reflection and planning for the new year. Warsaw Community Schools’ mission is to inspire and equip all students to continuously acquire and apply knowledge and skills while pursuing their dreams and enriching the lives of others. The first half of the 2014-2015 school year showed tremendous progress towards moving our mission forward.
During the first semester, WCS provided many innovative curricular opportunities for students to pursue their dreams through new course offerings. Just a few of the added courses at Warsaw Community High School and the Warsaw Area Career Center included German, calculus based physics, advanced dance, aviation, education professions, and expansion of the Project Lead the Way engineering courses. These courses, in addition to the many AP and Dual Credit offerings, lead to students earning over 1 million dollars worth of college credits last year while enrolled at WCS.
Advancement in science, technology, engineering, and math can be seen throughout WCS. At the middle schools, Project Lead the Way and biology for high school credit were offered to students for the first time. In October, WCS partnered with OrthoWorx, funded by the Eli Lilly Foundation, to create the first Mobile STEM laboratory with the purpose of providing all elementary students the opportunity for unique critical thinking lessons while also providing professional development for educators. This past semester, WCS also encompassed a 1:1 iPad distribution to all sixth grade students.
The last phrase, enriching the lives of others, in the WCS mission statement provides a higher purpose for our community standard of education. Two Lincoln Elementary teachers, David Wayne and Scott Sterk, dreamed of providing WCS students the chance to impact lives throughout our world by partnering with the organization, “Feed My Starving Children.” Their dedication culminated in the opportunity for over 3,500 students and hundreds of community members to raise money, gain awareness and then prepare over 1 million meals for children in Third World countries.
The aforementioned advancements during the start of the 2014-2015 school year prompted a special recognition. WCS was selected and recognized at the White House as a top “100 Future Ready” school corporation. This distinction was awarded to high achieving school corporations working with their local community to best prepare students for their future careers.
As we start 2015, educators and administrators are collaborating with parents, students and community partners to plan for the future. Much work has gone into developing further curricular opportunities. Students will begin the scheduling process for the 2015-2016 school year in January and February. Foundational work is being put in place to expand the iPad 1:1 program into the middle schools. This spring, the state of Indiana will implement a new ISTEP standardized assessment. Educators and students have been working hard to prepare for the increased rigor and depth of knowledge to be assessed on this test. We also greatly look forward to celebrating the achievement of our 2015 Senior Class as they progress toward graduation.
Personally, I am so thankful to serve in the role of Superintendent of my hometown; Warsaw Community Schools. I am blessed by working alongside amazing educators, dedicated parents and community patrons, a visionary school board and, most importantly, students who are developing into the next generation of community leaders.