News from Sheridan School District No. 2
Contact: Mark Stevens
[email protected]
303-495-8699 (mobile) • 720-328-5488 (office)
News
Release
April 4, 2018
Superintendent
Candidates Interviewed
During a special meeting Tuesday (April 3), the Sheridan
Board of Education interviewed each of its three superintendent candidates for
90 minutes. The three are Antonio
Esquibel, Kirk Henwood, and Pat Sandos.
Board members Bernadette Saleh, Sally Daigle, Karla
Najera and Daniel Stange took turns asking the candidates the same set of
questions. The topics ranged from each candidate’s plans for the first 100
days, to student enrollment, budget, teacher recruitment and retention, staff
evaluation, parent engagement, academic achievement and more.
The candidates’ resumes were summarized in a news release
on Friday, March 29:
Following is an overview of some of the highlights from
each conversation yesterday:
Kirk
Henwood
Kirk Henwood talked about developing a major stakeholder
input process as part of developing a strategic plan for the district. He said
he would expect to produce a “clear, strategic” plan after the fall semester.
Henwood characterized himself as a data person and would use data to analyze
strengths and weaknesses of the existing staff. “It would not be my goal to
come in and change everything,” he said.
As an example of his ability to achieve community
consensus around challenging issues, Henwood related how he managed a concern
over religion in schools when football coaches were leading prayer on the
athletic field during district events. The “turning point,” he said, came when
he met with community groups and alongside faith-based organizations to
distinguish between family values and district values. “My leadership style is
very collaborative. I don’t know everything. I don’t pretend to know
everything. I try to reach out to experts,” said Henwood.
Henwood said he prefers a discipline policy that uses
restorative justice over suspensions. He said budgets need to be driven by
educational priorities and classroom needs. Henwood said schools must maintain
a “good balance” between the core mission of teaching and supporting community
needs. One school district where he worked offered initial dental care to
students and some stopped providing those services, he said. “Sometimes it’s
‘thank you and yes;’ and sometimes it’s ‘thank you and no.’”
Henwood said he believes in a “distributive leadership
style.” He talked about coaching classes he started to develop leadership
capacity. He talked about making sure all staff are working from the same page.
“Great systems have good people,” he said. “They know what they are about, they
know what their goals are. They have common routines and experiences.”
Henwood cited five core beliefs. 1. “It’s my job to find
ways to say yes.” 2. Relationships. “The best school systems have great
principals—and they develop, attract and inspire great people.” 3. Integrity.
‘Say what you mean, do what you say.” 4. Diversity. “Diversity of ideas,
diversity of people … I don’t surround myself with ‘yes’ people. I need people
who punch holes in ideas.” 5. Excellence. “Every day and every person.”
The desire to become a school administrator, he said,
stemmed from growing up poor in Denver. “Education is a pathway to success and
I think I’m a good example of that,” said Henwood. His parents both became
school administrators and a brother became a doctor. Work on the Navajo Reservation, he said,
showed him that the educational system has to fit the needs of those students
being served.
The effort to build a good working relationship with the
board, he said, would start with basic questions such as “why are we here” and
“what is it we all have in common about why we’re here for kids?” Leadership
needs to be working together on the same plan, he said, and it’s important to
create a “platform of stability.”
Henwood said major progress was made in a previous school
when the school set a shared goal that all students improve three percentage
points in three subjects (reading, writing and math) for three years.
“Accountability shouldn’t be super intimidating,” he said. “But it should be
fair.” The improvement led to increased enrollment, increased student
achievement, and more interest in the form of applications from teachers
wanting to work there. Henwood said he focused on improving instructional
practices so they were aligned with the kids being taught.
A community-wide discussion about adjustments to the
school year calendar, said Henwood, might offer a good opportunity to boost and
improve community engagement. Henwood emphasized the importance of high-quality
principals who in turn attract high-quality teachers. Regarding the budget,
Henwood said the district’s reserves should not be “savings accounts.” The
overall teacher compensation should be structured “so we are keeping our best
teachers, our most knowledgeable teachers.”
To restore an upward trend to the enrollment in Sheridan,
Henwood said he wanted to talk to Sheridan parents who have placed their
children in neighboring districts as well as non-Sheridan parents who choose
Sheridan over their home district. Henwood floated the idea of emphasizing dual
language skills. He pointed out that bilingualism is valued after high school
graduation and perhaps Sheridan could do more to encourage dual language
development throughout school.
In closing, Henwood said he made a choice to work in
Sheridan and pointed to his track record of improving student achievement,
improving growth, and improving the climate and culture of schools and
districts where he has worked. “Nobody is going to change the story of Sheridan
for us,” he said. “That’s our job. We need to sell ourselves inside the
community and outside the community. I believe I have the skill set to do that
work.”
Pat
Sandos
Pat Sandos said in his first 100 days that he focus four
main areas. 1. Strengthen rigor and provide choice to students. 2. Safety and
security. 3. Increase cultural competence. 4. Establish a financial plan.
“Because I’ve built relationships in the district, we can hit the ground
running,” he said. Building the plan would include all stakeholders, he said.
“This is systems thinking—with relationships attached,” he said. “Systems
thinking without relationship? We don’t make much progress.”
Sandos said he would work to build support for possible
mill levy and bond proposals that may be on the ballot this fall. He’s said he is hopeful that Sheridan will
receive a state grant to build a new high school. “You have to create this
perceived value in the community,” he said. “Why do we want this school?”
Sandos said he will look to hire staff members who are
passionate about kids. Administrators should have school-based experience, he
said. Sandos emphasized the importance of relationships. “You have to be able
to reach out to principals and say ‘how do I support you?’ And ‘how do I
support your academic program?’”
There are good teachers and leaders in Sheridan today, he
said, “who have to be given permission to stretch and to share what they know
with other colleagues.” Sandos said he would push for more “vertical
articulation” between schools.
Asked about difficult initiatives he has implemented in
the past, Sandos talked about adding formative assessment practices and “solid
learning targets.” The staff in his previous school, he said, built protocols
for teachers to be able to visit each other’s classrooms and learn from each
other. Those were systems that remained in place after he left the school, said
Sandos, because they were systems that worked for teachers and helped them
improve.
His experience as a principal, said Sandos, will help
when it comes time to finding efficiencies in the budget. He suggested that
there may be two district positions that could be filled by teachers and urged
that budget reductions be kept away from the classroom “as best you can.”
Sandos said he has already established relationships with
police department, city officials, library and recreational center, too. “Those
relationships are in place,” he said. Asked about his approach to mentoring and
supervising staff, Sandos said he is “very proud” that individuals he once
supervised now hold management positions in Denver, Commerce City, and
Jefferson County.
Asked about his guiding principles, Sandos said: “To my
core, I am ‘kids first.’ It’s annoying to people. It’s something I believe in
to my core.” Sandos referred to the idea of “collective efficacy” and that all
of the district’s work should be grounded in the idea of “how do we provide
kids with the very best instruction possible?” Sandos said he feels a “sense of
urgency” about the issue given how much time schools have with kids. “We have
to get better at helping teachers,” he added.
Sandos said he would stay “open and transparent” in
working with the board and added that he would work with the board “on building
our common interests, which are the kids.”
Engaging parents and community, he said, “starts with
visibility.” You have to let parents and
community members “catch you everywhere” including games, concerts, and
Saturday meetings. “My door is open,” said Sandos.
Good school principals, he said, are “sense makers with
community, sense makers with teachers, and with staff and kids. They have to be
kids’ first folks and they have to be solid instructional leaders.”
To manage the budget and ensure adequate reserve levels,
said Sandos, he would rely heavily on the current chief financial officer.
Sandos said the district should be open to “every kid
that walks across the threshold,” including undocumented students. “Every kid
is important here … that is something that is critical for us to embrace.” And
Sandos said he wants teachers to feel appreciated. Sheridan teachers, he added,
should feel as if they have the opportunity to grow professionally. Sandos said
he would look to increase the number of teachers and administrators of color
and also work to make sure teacher salaries are competitive. He floated the
idea of the district investing in teacher housing “so teachers can afford to
live here.” Teachers, he said, need to feel “like they are part of something
bigger than themselves, that their expertise is appreciated.”
Asked about turning out declining enrollment trends,
Sandos pointed to efforts in Sheridan to upgrade the clarity and welcoming
nature of the district’s web pages, including the use of video testimonials. He
talked about the importance of positive word-of-mouth referrals and engaging
with Spanish-speaking radio stations, too.
“I truly want this district to be a family and built on a family
concept,” he said. “I want us to having a waiting list. There’s no reason that
can’t happen here.”
In conclusion, Sandos said he is a “work horse” and not a
“show horse.” He said his experience means he can tap a statewide network of
colleagues for needed support. Sandos said he would not view the superintendent
appointment as a stepping stone to another district. Sandos said he plans to
end his career in Sheridan. “I can provide the leadership I think you need
here,” he said. “We are in this together.
We are a diamond in the rough, just waiting to be discovered.”
Antonio
Esquibel
Antonio Esquibel said in his first 100 days he would have
meetings with an extensive cross-section of the school district and broader
community. He talked about the
difference between obtaining “buy-in’ from stakeholders compared with
developing a preferred sense of ownership. “With ownership, there is
investment,” he said.
Esquibel laid out five goals as his entry plan. 1.
Academic achievement and growth. 2. Develop and support unified governance
team. 3. Collaborative relationship with school board. 4. School climate –
continuous improvement. 4. Organizational effectiveness. 5. District learning
culture. Esquibel said he will look for a “sense of purpose” from staff and
would review all roles and responsibilities. “Everything needs to point to one
target and that’s high academic achievement for all students,” he said. All
graduates should have an opportunity to go to college and have an amazing
career, he said.
Esquibel said he supervised a network of 15 schools in
West Denver and worked to make sure that all 15 principals developed as
instructional leaders, not just managers of the school. “Many of the principals
were more managers and were making sure things were running well. We wanted to flip that. We instituted a
strategy around observation and feedback,” he said. All schools were ordered to
find money in their existing budgets to hire a community liaison or parent
coordinator, he said.
Making tough budget decisions, he said, would involve a
major stakeholder process. Esquibel said he would seek input from principals,
teachers, and all staff. “It always come down to high-quality instruction for
kids,” he said. “Anything that would impact that negatively, I would have a
hard time cutting.”
Esquibel said he would hold regular meetings with key
leaders and organizations in the community. Retaining the best teachers, he
said, involves providing the best school culture that offers teachers
opportunities for growth and advancement. “We need to be creative and
innovative in how we look at that,” he said.
Talking about his core principles, Esquibel said he
believes in high expectations; integrity and respect; lifelong learning; shared
responsibility of family and community; and building self-esteem. It is
“unconscionable,” he said, that the achievement gap exists and is some cases
widening.
Esquibel talked about his experiences learning with Dr.
Richard Elmore at Harvard University to “understand how we can rethink
professional development for teachers.” Esquibel emphasized the importance of
Professional Learning Communities that create “an environment for teachers to
share data with one another.”
Esquibel, a longtime athletic coach, said he’s
competitive. “I don’t like to lose,” he said. Many of his childhood friends, he
said, have not succeeded. “I had a strong family background that really
supported me (and) I went into teaching because of my friends that didn’t make
it.”
Esquibel said communication is key to a good working
relationship with the school board. “Trust is key,” he said. He pointed to
improved graduation rates, achievement levels and enrollment in schools he
supervised in West Denver. He referenced improved college enrollment rates and
recognition from the Colorado Department of Education. Setting expectations
about college begin in Early Childhood Education and parents should be shown
what that pathway looks like during pre-kindergarten conversations.
Sheridan has lost enrollment, he noted, but reversing the
trend is possible by developing schools that attract parents. Esquibel said he
would identify the “shining star” among Sheridan’s existing schools in terms of
parent engagement and then replicating those strategies.
Good principals, said Esquibel, understand the three
“power levers” of leadership—instructional leadership, data-driven instruction,
and student and staff culture. “How do create an environment that is conducive
to learning?” he asked.
All students are welcome in schools, said Esquibel, and
state statute makes that clear. “It doesn’t matter where they come from and it
doesn’t matter if they are a citizen or not … I’m going to fight for dreamers,
I’m going to fight for at-risk students. That’s what I’ve done my whole
career.”
Esquibel said he would need “a strong foundational
understanding of how teachers feel” before developing a plan for retaining
faculty. He emphasized the importance of ensuring teacher opinions are heard
and that it would be important to “identify the root cause of why teachers
leave.”
In closing, Esquibel said he worked at elementary, middle
and high school levels. “I feel like I’m the right person for this job,” he
said. “I have the passion. I have the determination. I have the will. I also
have the compassion. It’s about the kids.”
Note:
Superintendent Michael Clough is leaving the district in
June after a decade of leadership. The board is planning to select a
replacement by mid-April.
About Sheridan School District 2
Located southwest of Denver, Sheridan School District 2
seeks high-level post-secondary options for all students through continuous
improvement of quality instruction. More: www.ssd2.org
##