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Well here in the office of Superintendent Wyeth Jessee with the Shelton School District for one more wrap-up before the end of the school Year, we're taping this on Thursday June 12th and this upcoming Saturday is an exciting time for everybody seniors Especially Shelton high school graduates at st. Martin's. How are you doing doing great Jeff? Thanks for being here Tell me a little bit about the past year We've had we will go through a whole host of things today as we wrap up the year but Talk about some of the things that you're most proud of I guess as we wrap this 24 25 school year The thing I'm most proud of is when I walk through all of our schools Our students are increasingly engaged in their own learning That that is a big difference this year compared to the other three years that I've been here Do you think that's having to do with further and further away from that kovat year where there was just so much Unsureness of what's going on and where kids were going to school and how they were receiving the education.
It's kind of well not back to any sort of normal that anybody who may you know has gone through any school system remembers but back to kind of that familiarity in the classroom Well, what I definitely know is that our teachers have been working really hard on some engagement strategies This is by design They have been working to build relationships with the students knowing their story student story strength and need They have been doing do now tasks So when kids come in they are ready to go and even at the elementary level or switching tasks They got something to do right away and that it's related to the lesson and then we empower their voice How am I bringing them in? How do I have them seated? What's the task that they're I'm asking to do and do they even know how to do it independently? is it clear to them about what the objectives are all those moves add up to further engagement and You know, well I I'd say kovat definitely messed up the cadence that you have as far as how How the school day goes, you know being online and all that and kids coming back and getting some of those foundational skills, you know those things especially impact our older students who You know that they missed a lot of those foundational things, you know, especially at our middle grades Those are gonna be the grades that are gonna be the hurt the most Yeah, because they especially in those primary grades, which you're learning your mind is like The biggest sponge ever at those age groups, that's when you're like literally learning how to read right and I think if almost everybody listenings and I go Yeah, just even think about the magic of how to learn how to read or the concept of numbers Yeah, so you're like that's why those kids especially again, you know OMS or obj those are those kids have been impacted the most because they missed those most foundational crazy years but for the for the Advancement it really is our teachers doing it and our kids coming along and doing the work and they're so excited to learn That's the part that has just been really transformative across the classrooms across all of our schools That's what I'm super proud of and excited about this year and into the future How does that how does that excitement that you see? How is that built into you talk about all the time is there's a strategic plan you got these pillars of the plan and You're you kind of are building that foundation of the house and it's Slowly starting to come together and you're starting to see kind of the fruits of all that work Some test scores are up Disciplinary Interactions are down Things like that How does that how does what you've been trying to push forth to the staff on these and the public? I guess too on your plan Tell me how you think that's Starting to come to fruition a little bit. I Don't think I can say it more strongly Most districts are not disciplined like we are about specific instructional moves To advance student learning. This is not your school district or schools or classrooms of old The scantrons.
Oh, yeah, and I remember those right the overhead projectors yeah, right with the the film and the The visa V pen. Uh-huh, you know, and I don't know about you But I fell asleep in high school many times like it was boring. Yeah and Lectures right long lecture lectures and those are being told not taught We teach in the Shelton school district.
Our kids are independent learners. I Would put us up against any other school district. I have I have staff here.
I have Other people from other districts they take they're taking note Jeff of the differences in what we're doing You can see those in the board meetings when you hear the parents and the students presenting The students are so articulate We have first graders writing and advanced grade levels and our data when you compare us to other like districts We outperform them here in Shelton and that I can't emphasize when you're like, oh, no, it's just school of old Just do school. Well, it's not just do school school's got to be different for our kids these days Forget kovat I'm competing against cell phones sure, but it's also a global economy. We're competing against everybody else We want the best and the brightest here so they can go on and do the other things.
That's why I continues to say When kids are in school, they're staying out of trouble when they're in there and they're learning They actually not only being in trouble, but they're helping to be leaders in the community here for Mason County for Shelton Here for the South Puget Sound for the state, whatever that these are the kids that are doing that and they're performing Performing athletics. We got our clubs our competitions That's that's the things that gets me Really excited about the future here for students and for this community. I mentioned Shelton and high graduation is coming up but Cedar and choice had their graduation and I listened in to the board meeting this week about 50 or so graduates and some first-time first Generation.
Yeah, so explain what that is. Yeah. Well just really great Graduation ceremonies II, you know, it's a lot of people get excited about graduation Especially here and they should It's also a culmination of a lot of work, right? These the students have been with a lot of students been with us for 13 13 years.
Yeah, it's it's a Nice to celebrate that it you know as a superintendent. I'm always like, okay So like where did where did this journey start for a lot of these students and you and you and I'm talking to them And a lot of my really excited and when you saw 50 students at choice choice is a different school point-blank. I Anybody listening you want to go see what's going on? Take a visit.
There's choice during any school day It is kids are learning they're really engaged and you know, those are kids that come from some some tough stories and They're ready to learn they're graduated 50 kids Jeff they met the state bar for graduation and So those requirements they met and our requirements for this district. Those kids walked the cruise. We have a number of Programs there.
So it's not just like a a Program or one way to get your diploma choice. We have multiple ways One of those is called open doors that program flexes To provide a very customized education for kids where they're at and not all of them have to come at the same time, right? So it's not like a school starts at 730 or something like that, right? It's hey, you know, I got a job I'm getting off my early morning shift. I can't show up until 1015 great.
Come on in We got some work for you. We got tutoring we help you some kids can't make it in they get online We got that there as well They come in and get tutoring when they you know need some more assistance. It's easier to always tutor in person, right Jeff I mean everybody knows that yeah from kovat years.
Yeah, it's just hard to teach sometimes always online You can teach to a general class, but it's when you cut a customize and teach tougher concepts It's easier for us. So they offer all of that over a choice. We had a number of kids walk through 50 students would I don't think we've ever had anything near 50s to I think we've been like usually in like 30 to 35 students at the most Because a lot of the students who normally would never have graduated graduated and some again So those kids backgrounds where they are first generation The first in their family to graduate from high school.
We had some of those kids this year choice high school here in Shelton graduate That was really awesome and you can see the excitement on their face and their families were there to celebrate what does that do for their family tree to have a First generation person being able to move that tassel. I think they're the best to answer that question Again just in some I don't talk to every student, but I do talk to some of the students and There these are things that weren't possible before it's it's kind of the mindset of like I'm not capable Or that's for other people. Yeah concept right like people can have that in other aspects of their life.
I you know, and so You know, like I know you and I run for example, right like so you go like I'd never do an Ironman triathlon, right? Like so a full one, right? Right, which still holds true for me for sure But that kind of daunting thing that's for some of our kids this thing I can't even graduate high school or what is that possible and then they get that and then they build the momentum We have so many stories. I got a teacher that emailed me last night teacher at SHS He's like I got a couple kids that just keep failing algebra. Algebra is hard.
Algebra is a hard class for a lot of kids Especially just you know, not feeling the confidence of math math half of math is disconfidence Yeah, and he had kids just all of a sudden they building relationship with them. They turned it around they were failing Multiple trimesters turned around so they all work with you This teachers work with them customized work and tutoring for them including after school that dedication Those kids became confident and they got through algebra then they're ready for geometry then they're you know, then they graduate High school and then they go on to do the trades or they go to the military or they go to college Wherever they go. They got that confidence.
It has to start somewhere We got to find them wherever they're at match them and get them across the line That's what's so magical when you saw the graduations for both choice and Cedar and then again Saturday We'll watch a lot of kids walk across the the stage So many kids going so many places I've never seen so many kids going on to four-year schools Obviously Evergreen Street offering we have about 50 with 50 kids already registered to go there So that's through the Shelton promise that Shelton promise free tuition for those numbers and yeah 50 50 Jeff 50 So why it's out of like I don't know exact numbers, but somewhere around 450 kids probably Graduating this year could be a little bit less But right in that zone 50 of those kids Out of that are headed just to Evergreen State alone. Yeah, and They're keeping in the community. They're getting some skills.
They're gonna bring it back here. That's the future. That's the future right here in Shelton We can be competitive more jobs more businesses opening That's pretty that's pretty amazing when you think about that Availability again Probably quite a few our first year collegiate now and yeah They're first generation college students and to get that covered Through that program when I was up there talking with the president of Evergreen, you know He was like we identified that Shelton, you know, they're very Their culture is a lot like the culture here.
Yeah in Evergreen. It is it's a great match. That's right I've said this before and I'll say it again Evergreen see it's not that Evergreen State when I graduated from high school Yeah, super super Saturdays and those kind of all all all of that right like I Birkenstocks Right like that's not what that campus is we have actually a number of teachers that went to Evergreen State They do an outstanding job.
So that's that's a lot of promise for us And we're very thankful to Evergreen State and the state funding that program I saw Shelton's athletic director Scott Chamberlain do a presentation as well Athletics is always a big portion of a student's time in school and they have you've had some pretty good outcomes with that too Athletics and activities Jeff because I got to throw that in there. Yeah. Yeah Because now athletics is for every kid, but we have yeah I mean like I kind of the numbers close to a thousand kids, you know, like almost one in four students participates Here in athletics and that's just through us, you know, I know there's always other activities that are organized for athletics outside That's good.
You know, we want that fitness for our students, but it's also about social skills Jeff in the day of again, so, you know cell phones social media You know kids learn really well when they're physically against other ones and under sometimes some dress, you know Whatever competition you're in Whether that's a competition for your own physical fitness or against other teams with teammates That helps them learn some perseverance how to troubleshoot situations Right how to collaborate with one another communication skills all those to me athletics and most activities That is one of the most critical things that districts here at Shelton we offer for social emotional development is Truly athletics and activities without it. It would be really detrimental to hundreds of kids right here You had a pretty Robust school board meeting this week two and a half hours On tape and then you guys went into executive session. There was a lot of Emotions and conversations going on as people were up there say talking.
It was a kind of a wide variety of I don't know if it's because it was the end of the school year or how it shook out But it just seemed like there was a lot of people there First were you surprised by the turnout of all the there's a lot of folks there Yes, I was surprised about the turnout. Yes, I did it's I mean It's not like people would tell say we're all gonna show up or something. But normally these, you know, there's like 15 people there 10 or 20 people there.
Yes hot topics raise Raise the number of people to show up, right? So Us like others school districts Here in the state. I know right now. I've reached out I got you know, I talked to other superintendents other people Staff and other districts.
I Think I probably shouldn't have been surprised right like the surprise is not the real main point here the main point is people are showing up because we Public schools are underfunded and it does require districts to reduce the number of staff. They have that is bottom line. That's very emotional That is impacting people and their jobs At the same time as a district we are required to have a balanced budget We do have to decrease our expenses and the only way we can do that right now is through people.
It's it's 86 percent of our budget so explain to me that the balanced budget thing because you know a lot of folks may not even consider or realize that the district they think it's you know part of state government or whatever and it's just kind of There's there's something that needs to get done. Well, you get it done and It gets covered or something like that explain that balanced budget portion a little bit so our budget is 83 million dollars for the district We have to operate the entire school year with people with power with water with Curriculum with buses all of that has to be done with 83 million dollars We budget out. That's what we get from the state now.
It's got a lot of splices in it for certain purposes And I want to give you one example that I think again I've given before and I'd want people to hear so they can understand about where the pressure start to happen is I We you know as a district Working with any 83 million dollars when the expenses go up That means you can't do as much as you used to do That's that's fact, right? so when You're a heating bill, you know when the power bill goes up your water bill your sewer your garbage bill Which we call the operating expenses goes up and the revenue from the state doesn't match those things The money has to come from somewhere and when we're a people business It's gonna lead to jobs. It has to because I don't really have a whole lot of expenses Jeff outside of those operatings Those things do take millions of dollars right insurance is another big bill too, and that's gone up huge amount of money and for everybody right this again as I like to say this isn't Everybody at home when you watch your bills go up that they are the same thing for the Shelton scooters Just because we're part of the government. We don't get a special deal on Any of those utilities and those operating expenses, so it hits us So where are you going to get that money from Jeff that requires to drop us in the last three years? the state has short the Shelton school district four million dollars in those operating expenses The state has shortened the Shelton's good as four million dollars last three years How do I make up those monies is gonna come through a reduction? And that's why when people tell me well the district hasn't paid some of their bills that most monies I need those monies to pay bills because I've already promised that to staff.
We're in contracts for a year and Does it bother me absolutely I Can see on Tuesday night it bothers a lot of people because people are most those people got up in the mic are people who are are losing their job and It is a seniority Based system by contract those in the lowest. That's what is gonna end up You know being released from their contract because we have to balance that budget When the expenses they're not giving us more money state ledger did not give more money And they hadn't do that in the previous session either. So People go well, you can't balance your money Wyeth and I go well I can and I am we just cut since January Two point nine million dollars.
Yeah, it's on a riff And that doesn't even count for the teachers that I got to do for next year because the expenses are still out there You know, and so when the expenses keep rising That's gonna keep forcing us when we don't have additional revenue revenues not keeping up with expenses here for us and other districts And so that is not just here people We're gonna have a presentation at the next board meeting on it To further explain it. We have a whole website dedicated to it. I keep pushing out monthly bimonthly information to our families and our staff on that issue, so Listening to some of the conversations.
I've kind of come up with some Questions for you to have an opportunity because in those meetings you don't have an opportunity. That's again another Thing that I think a lot of folks who've either never been to a meeting public meeting City Council meeting County meeting There's not the back-and-forth. You can't do that.
It's law or something. It is law. Yes, that's great Opens Public Meetings Act.
Yeah. Yeah So one of them is a little bit on reductions counseling staff reduction Let's talk about how the district is supporting the increasing mental health needs of students Where are you able to? either Reallocate or find or what are you doing for the for those students? So one of the Challenges I Where these conversations go because I know where some of these questions go right Jeff is like, all right mental health that is critical yeah, and Especially like I was choosing choice a lot of kids a lot of students at choice who benefit from mental health services They access that they choose to do that. It really helps them when students don't get a meal They're basic, you know good sleep and some of their own mental health.
It's hard for them to learn We when I got in this profession 25 years ago schools had nothing to do with mental health. I was told Don't do it because I was a special education teacher You know let somebody else's in the agency do it But the cuts come coming back on mental health and more kids needing more mental health And I do hear those comments at board meetings, too We do offer it we offer way more than we ever received the state does not give us money for that, but we do offer it and It is one of the priorities that we have to do Jeff. I feel is is critical In order to educate kids and get kids to graduate if I didn't have it, then we would graduate as many kids And so does that also include? So when it's mental health support and services does that also include the individualized education plans and and things like that because you know Like you were saying when maybe you first started or even 10 15 years ago Admittedly, I didn't have a child in school.
Okay, that's fine. But still I did never I never heard about the amount of Individualized plans Per maybe one or two per classroom now It seems at least with the school that my son goes to there's multiple many kids Maybe upwards of half whose parents have chosen to Follow this and get them individualized plans that all that all cuts into that too, right? So you're talking about special education services and You know special education services have been around since the early 70s. Okay, and that Those students have like exactly we're saying the IEP an individual education plan they qualify for those services because there's something is Some level of a disability is impacting their ability to access the general education.
So it comes through direct services accommodations and modifications Every district's required to stay. It's a federal law. And so Underneath the Individual Disabilities Education Act that those plans Do impact you referring it to mental health a lot of those kids do You know not Enough of them do receive specifically goals around social emotional learning right their social skills.
Yeah some behavioral goals adaptive skills, which is Can be related to that Those those are goals that have that there is funding for it But the state and the federal government don't fully fund that the part of the levy actually has been paying for that The state alleged has changed the law They said that no longer levy dollars can do to backfill for those services that they have Not even counting directly mental health services, which is a gen ed function here a And now it has to come out of your basic ed dollars that you get from the state Which is another pressure that's added. It's very technical. But it what I'm saying here is that the state only gives me 44 million dollars for basic ed Out of an 83 million dollar budget and that's the pressures why? Again, it's hard to pay down the things when I'm not getting enough money to pay for Basic ed is that still is that to a? Definitional problem in the sense that the state and the school districts have maybe changed the definitions of special education Over the courses of the years to encompass more Versus what the numbers keep creeping up John Q public out there thinks of when they hear the term special ed awareness can be good and Awareness can also sometimes lead to some other challenges, right? And so I think what you're alluding to is it seems like more students are qualifying for special education.
Yeah, and that is true in General it's not every single school. It's not every single school district. So But what I can tell you is the expenses for providing that more individual education just by common sense You can hear that sounds like more money.
Yeah, it is and that's why it's not there's not enough sufficient funds coming for it Even though by law it's a mandate to provide those services for kids who qualify for it There's not enough money to to to in those Dedicated dollars from the state state funds a lot of it And the federal government to meet that need and so again, it's another drawdown Jeff from other money So we're in I'm a superintendent. I got to go. All right, we're short about 1.2 million dollars in special education Where am I gonna find that in my budget? Are you cutting toilet paper paper towels? I Can't cut a bus.
I gotta get the kids there There's nothing there's no other magical Expense I have to pay the water. I have to pay the sewer the what I gotta have all those needs So it means people it's back to the people and that's the challenge We have and other districts have around that because we're trying to provide the best services We can our decisions come with what can we do the most for our kids? That's the most positively impacting them Mental health special it's a mandate. For example, I'm pressured today Jeff to think about math I would like to do some work around math.
I'd like to buy more tax I'd like to get some more training on it. I don't have the money for that next year that that is literally the things that I'm going through my head where I'm like I I'm just trying to I'm just trying to get there when I know I have to have savings so that I can Pay all of our bills and make sure that I have all of the staff that I have to do to provide again Basic education and we'll still provide math. I'm just trying to get it right be more progress like well the work We've done in reading.
I've gone for 20% of kids reading in standard in third grade now, we're 43 We're crushing it here. I want to do the same thing in math. I want to get that ball rolling It takes years to get it going.
We're gonna do some things. I'll see what I can do, but I don't have We are just not Districts Shelton and other districts are not funded enough to do all of that work I think that we're the expectations that parents have is that too similar with what's going on with the dual language learning and things like that dual language is a Program what it was in the there's just a misunderstanding around that we haven't cut dual language It's an open program, I mean you can open enrollment for it. We've got seats in dual dual dual language So if somebody wants to enroll in it, they can roll it.
So there's no cut in that It's open, you know, like we have seats And it is that evergreen What it was in the past Jeff was really a world language that also could provide dual language for kids who were? Spanish was their primary language But the world language was a sense that if kids were spoke English, you know English was their primary language They could learn a world language and Spanish was it in that program? Mm-hmm That's the past. That's not the that is not the current situation Jeff and That's unfortunate that that is misinformation out there. No cut to it It's just less kids are wanting to get into it because the number one group of families that are moving here Don't Spanish is not their primary home language.
It's mom or conkable that's not Spanish and kids need to buy best practice and know this they have to have either English or Spanish as their primary language and be Proficient for it to benefit from dual language if your mom or conkable is your home language and then you got to go learn two More languages. Yeah, that's not that's not developmentally appropriate That's not gonna benefit them that's why when I got here only 9% of the third graders that evergreen met standard in reading and writing Do you know what's gonna be this year almost 25%? Because the kids that are in dual language Our kids where primary language is Spanish or English. We do have that and it does benefit them We have them here.
It just can't meet the needs to the same number of Students because the way the district ran before was sandwiching all kids That were multi-lingual qualified for multilingual services and a lot of them were placed at evergreen for the elementary level That is no longer the case. Those kids were spread out between evergreen Bordeaux and Mountain View at the end of the meeting I heard one of the board members talk about the one of the surveys and how there was only a 25% response and then earlier in the meeting somebody was talking about that they felt I Guess they said something to the effect they felt fear of retaliation if they answer these surveys. Can you explain? either what those surveys were what you're trying to get out of those questionnaires and Culture is a really important thing here in the Shelton school district, right? So that's Not just with students it's not just with staff then you have a whole school culture when you have a positive Work environment it impacts kids in a positive way So in many ways I would counter some of the arguments in the sense that it's so bad when You're watching really good outcomes happen for kids significant decreases suspensions 865 suspensions my first year were down to about a hundred and fifty eight this year We're loading those those situations.
Those things are recorded Those situation the kids are staying in the class again. It's the hard work of the staff themselves that had it I just had a staff member my door before you walked in. She's like, oh my gosh, it's so much different at Bordeaux It's so great I go Yeah It is when I got here a lot of kids are out in the hall roaming around it was driving kids staff nuts I saw it and I agree.
I don't want that that staff worked really hard to reverse that at Bordeaux There's no kids running around the district it's way more under control and they got really good outcomes Right. And so is there gonna be kids with high needs? Yes. Is there any kids with behavior? Yes, can we? Work on that sure, but back to the issue of culture Staff surveys are one tool right to assess for culture because you're always working on it culture is not like done Yeah moving on right like hey culture is great The thing impacting our culture right now is the pressure on public education and the cuts Right, we have to have a budget we have a budget reduction here for this district and across for the state There are that is a reduction and what we can provide that's putting pressure.
How do cultures respond to that pressure? Can happen in many different ways and we are continuously trying to work and do it better So that we can work together to resolve those issues when we're splintered it's Harder for us to tackle these challenges when we're not on the same page and I and I recognize That's gonna be hard. Especially when you have Been received a notice that you are no longer going to be coming back in your job I'm sorry about that situation. I wish it wasn't the case.
I had a good question following that and said Hey Like can we return people back when we get back on better footing? And I said, yeah, absolutely and the good news is we have a plan Our plan is to like I said, I already have 2.9 million dollars in savings this year We have to do that because it's just like I said when I'm short all that money for operating expenses I got a continuously save and make sure that we get those things balanced once we can level that and build up our savings Then we can start to add back in to some of those positions that we have I Want to do as best I can for basic ed I'm in a challenge right now To figure out what is basic ed because I would love to have full-time librarians at every school I'd love to have a full-time nurse at every school. We can't afford all those things. Do you have like With your counterparts or with the teachers union or whatever is there a person that comes in and Sits with you or advises with you when you're making these budget decisions, so they see Some of those operating cost realities that you were talking about earlier.
Are there other people that get a chance to Have their say and or not say or just recommendations and what's going on so they too can kind of get a better sense of the overall reality of the district finances I wish that The budget for School districts, you know the budget could be really easy to explain when we've done a number of presentation I we do that out there our board has oversight of that. That's what people elect in And it takes in my experiences years for school board directors to get up to date with all of the more Byzantine rules those the crazy rules that get put in on every dollar and how you spend it and you document it and You know, they get up to it and you know Then they're like, okay. So what we do, you know that as you get more intimate with that then you can provide real input and For us Our strategic plan is that it can you see drive our decisions and honestly Jeff we I would want everybody to know I'm we're trying our hardest to build all those things for basic ed when again, we're not getting enough revenue for it It's not and if we had more we would we'd be able to do more There so there's not a lot of decisions really made for us.
I mean the state for example Requires an average of 17 or less students per classroom K through 3. That's a mandate by the state I have a mandate for special education and Making sure I have the services that are on that IP that that team decides for every single one of those kids Some of those kids need special transportation. I have to provide those we have to provide those services I have to meet all the educational minutes for the kids in reading writing map Washington State's history science social emotional learning it goes on and on and There isn't enough money to do all of those things to the degree. I think some people want them And as the superintendent, I'm watching that we are maximizing every dollar our staff are working feverishly to help and assist the students and that is Definitely without getting lost in a lot of adult issues Jeff Look at the outcomes that look at the outcomes.
The outcomes are amazing for the Shelton school district and We're maximizing every one of the dollars that come from the state and our taxpayers gives us We maximize those dollars for outcomes and I got a balance those needs for students With also about how that we just generally operate and I feel really good about that part I feel terrible about the part that we have to be this lean and that it is impacting our employees. I Would love to have more revenue so we don't have to make some of those tough choices But we are not alone Jeff right in this work This is going on at districts all over the stars in Spokane last weekend for graduations Talking to a teacher high school History teacher and he was just like yeah, we just had our cuts, too You know, it's just been a really rough ride over here to in the Spokane, you know, Spokane Valley and I was like, yeah I was like I Get it. That's just lean times for everyone.
So I think this final question kind of continues on that same regard but Trying to just maintain and keep a good Footing as you move forward into the next school year kind of talking about teacher Autonomy teachers able to kind of teach I guess in a way that they want or how they Present the information to their students. Is it? more of where where are the rules and restrictions come and come from when it comes to their ability to Be the teacher that teaches math this certain way Versus a teacher that chooses to teach a different way. I mean, how do you how do you get all those same? Outcomes and things like that So the state puts out learning standards, so they have standards, right? Your kid anybody listening doesn't matter if they're in another school district pioneer Southside The State mandates that you teach these learning standards and they're pretty Specific for each grade level and the different contents the things that you heard me mention before that we have to teach right? these minutes and stuff and The kids get us assessed in them and those assessments are the stuff that they get posted for the scores right for district so it's not that's not too complex the part that Has us the next part is that the dis every district has a policy It's you know district policy about how they do curriculum Adoption so curriculum is a really tough term because curriculum really is an approach curriculum material curricular materials is that that textbook that a lot of people wouldn't be familiar with you know, and so It's unfortunate and I know people aren't like I get him I feel like I'm sounding like making complexity to this but is we have to teach the state standards and There's different approaches that you need to borrow from to meet the needs of kids Not all kids are a grade level not all kids learn the same way.
They don't even have the same interest So we've got to build an approach that meets the needs and of the kids of where they're at Staff don't have time to design all of their materials from scratch Right, and so that's why a lot that's why we have those curricular materials And we have to borrow from what they call supplemental Materials as other things that you draw to combine to meet the fluid needs of the kids That are again attached to the state standards the part where a lot of teachers have autonomy is Some of the ways that they can build out the activities for the students But is their pedagogy their own individual style those relationships with the kids right the nuance of those Conversations and how you draw them in and you take structures routines your class how you call kids up You might have scouts like a couple kids that are teacher leaders making it engaging Relate to the real world more than maybe some other people do and they you know Like those are some of the ways that staff have flexibility in it the staff we have Some staff districts have some stuff to have extra expertise and building out curriculum and The way we draw that in for reading and writing for example We have what are called units of study and that staff have designed help design those and That's what we do and you keep adapting teacher teams come together and they adapt those What work didn't work with their grade level and you you just kind of finesse and adjust those things month to month Year to year usually because you learn from this year and you go Okay, I got to adapt, you know the next lesson because my kids didn't learn this Adapt to that but in a large sense You're taking the curriculum that you're having and you're getting ready and you're making notes so that you can either Do something different the next day or improve on it for the next school year? Because you're trying to change it and so then teams these expert teams come back. They get the feedback They adjust it and move it forward math is one of those things where it's not the same for all places and we have different outcomes That's the part where honors On a strategic plan and by design because you're asking me like hey Don't we just provide education kind of the the same way? They're like no, I'm like it's by design You have to have the best approaches that meet the needs of our unique population here in Shelton That's why we're getting the outcomes. We are in reading and writing.
I'd like to do some of the same things in math That's that's where I'd like to go to head and those are just too big right in areas Yeah, yeah, I don't have all day to describe all the other content areas Well 50 graduates at choice and cedar great accomplishments their High school for Shelton high is this Saturday at st. Martin's? It's always an exciting time to be on a college campus and then walk across the stage there You got a speech you give and all that. Are you that do you give the speech or who does I? What's the present? What's the I make for man official? proclamation for graduation It's the they met those Congratulations standards by the state of Washington and the Shelton School District for high school graduation and So that and then I you know on behalf of the school board and announced that for them and the rest of the people there in the Arena, I think it's called an arena, right? Yeah.
Yeah, I think it's arena. I don't think it's an auditorium, but it's an arena and That's what we'll do. I'm super excited to go high high climbers It's a lot of graduates Jeff.
Yeah ever been there. Oh, yeah, that's a lot of kids It's gonna be a long day there shaking a lot of hands Lots of excitement Most certainly it's palpable Yeah, I'm just really proud of our students that at the end of the day we talk, you know again We're talking a lot about in our conversations a lot of it is a lot more behind the scenes. It's so much Unfortunately, it's not as focused on How great the students are doing because I see it too and I see him out in the community, but a lot of it is Behind the scenes a lot of ceremonial parts of it the kids and their stories are What's really impactful? That's what the Shelton School District is about.
That's what SHS is about How can I get these kids to meet their maximum potential? Where do they want to go? And so again access an opportunity for them Whatever it is and the kids are going all over the place and doing all sorts of wonderful things and it's really neat to hear their story because some of them are like I I am nervous. I don't even want to go up there and some other kids are like I can't wait and I'm so excited Like it's just some different emotions in the day itself But it's also here cool to hear their journey of getting there. Yeah, very cool.
They worked hard Superintendent Wyatt Jessee here at Shelton School District We'll continue these conversations and have more ways to kind of promote and talk about how the district is Working to do what it can within its means for the kids in the 25 26 school year Which will be here before you know it. I'm getting old Jeff. It's almost a whole new school year.
Thank you so much