Superintendent Entry Plan

Greetings Highline Community,

It is a great honor to begin my role as your new superintendent. The opportunity to serve Highline’s students, staff, families, and community is a source of great joy, excitement, and optimism. I am extremely grateful for the tremendous legacy of excellence created by the school board, district leadership, educators, staff, and community.

One of the things that attracted me most to Highline was the Highline Promise: Every student in Highline Public Schools is known by name, strength and need, and graduates prepared for the future they choose. It is a promise I strongly believe in, as it is a commitment to invest in our students first and foremost.

I am eager to listen and learn as I meet with our district team, students, families, staff, stakeholders, and community members. I am intently focused on understanding how students are experiencing the Highline Promise, how we can build upon the current work, and what additional steps the district can take to deliver on the Promise for every student.

To that end, I will spend time this fall engaging with the community in a variety of ways, including community meetings, focus groups, and individual meetings. I want to ensure we hear from all voices that represent our community.

We will use what we learn together to guide a review and update of our strategic plan this spring. The current strategic plan is due to sunset in June 2023.

Highline’s strategic plan challenges us as a community to embrace bold goals for every student. It is driven by a sincere belief in our students' abilities and their aspirations for the future. The plan’s foundation is deeply grounded in equity and providing our students with culturally responsive, inclusive, and standards-based instruction. 

I want to build upon the equity work in our strategic plan so that collectively we can disrupt institutional biases and end inequitable practices. All students must have an equal chance at success. It is a goal that is right, righteous, and rightful.

I look forward to meeting more members of our community as we learn and work together!

Living the Promise,

Ivan

Greetings Highline Community,

Over the last several months, I have spent many hours meeting with and listening to our students. Every student I encountered expressed a similar desire. Our students want a seat at the table and they want to share their experiences. They want us to listen and to take meaningful action based on their perspectives.

The goal of my fall listening tour was to better understand how students are experiencing the Highline Promise, how we can capitalize on our strengths as a district and what we need to do differently to deliver on our Promise for every student.

Listening Tour Feedback

During my listening tour, I heard directly from students, staff, families and community members. We held 27 focus groups and seven community meetings. I met with students and staff during school visits and department meetings. We collected feedback through an online ThoughtExchange. I met with community partners and employee association partners. 

We have many things to be proud of in Highline. Some of our strengths include:  

• Students report being known by name and having at least one meaningful relationship with an adult at their school. 
• Students can articulate their strengths and feel their strengths are acknowledged by adults. 
• Families express a deep sense of gratitude and growing satisfaction with Highline.
• Staff and board members share a deep dedication to the communities they serve and to equitable practice and policy.

The listening tour also highlighted areas where we need to improve. In Highline, we must:

• Ensure every student feels safe and welcome at school and address bullying.
• Provide academic experiences that stretch and challenge students and prepare them for future success.
• Improve policies, practices and programs to provide consistent support to students receiving special education services.
• Strengthen the partnership between schools and central office in support of students.
• Recommit to the Highline Promise to achieve equity and focus our efforts on the strategic plan goals.
• Offer equitable opportunities to students across schools.

For more detail about our strengths and areas for improvement, please read the focus group report from the Center for Educational Leadership at the University of Washington.

Next Steps: Strategic Plan Development

Our current strategic plan will sunset in June 2023. The listening tour feedback will shape the development of a new strategic plan. 

Our next step is to review and update the current strategic plan goals. I am committed to courageous goals for every student, grounded in equity and driven by a sincere belief in our students' abilities and their aspirations for the future. 

Based on the listening tour feedback, we know we need to focus on:

• Creating inclusive school cultures where students experience a sense of belonging.
• Providing exceptional and equitable experiences that result in better outcomes for students.
• Preparing our students for the future they choose.
• Ensuring operational efficiency and excellence.

We will continue to gather feedback from students, staff, families and the community as we develop the strategic plan. In February, we will ask you to share your feedback on updated goals through an online ThoughtExchange. 

We anticipate reviewing the updated goals and your feedback with the School Board in March. We plan to bring the goals for Board adoption in April. We will develop metrics and implementation plans following the Board’s approval.

I look forward to the strategic plan development process as we challenge ourselves to think about how to best meet the needs of every student at Highline.

Living the Promise,

Ivan

Dear Families, 

Thank you for helping us develop a strategic plan that will guide our work in Highline for the coming years. I have been reviewing the feedback I heard from hundreds of you on my listening tour last fall. 

Using that feedback from students, families, staff and community members, Highline leaders have developed four proposed strategic plan goals.

• Culture of Belonging: Ensuring a respectful and compassionate culture where all feel safe, valued and welcomed. 
• Student Learning: Providing equitable academic experiences and opportunities that stretch, engage, and challenge students.
• Future Ready: Preparing all students with the life skills and experiences they need to be ready for the future they choose.
• Bilingual & Biliterate: Preparing students to graduate bilingual and biliterate.

Now is the time to provide input on the proposed goals and the learning and experiences that should be included under each goal area to ensure all students graduate prepared for the future they choose.

I invite you to give feedback on each goal through a ThoughtExchange conversation. You can also see and rate others’ feedback. Please be sure to let us know which ideas you support (and don’t) using the five-star scale. This helps us see the values we share as a community. 

Give Input Now

The ThoughtExchanges will close on Sunday, February 26 at 11:59 p.m. Your voice is important!

Living the Promise,

Ivan