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Home My WebLink AboutAcademy Vision Values MissionPage 1 of 7 Vision = Our Destination as an Organization “Westlake Academy inspires students to achieve their highest individual potential in a nurturing environment that fosters the traits found in the IB learner profile.” ~ Inquirers, Knowledgeable, Thinkers, Communicators, Principled, Open-minded, Caring, Risk-takers, Balanced, and Reflective ~ Values = Our Organizational Beliefs (Daily Guide Posts/Our “GPS”) Maximizing Personal Development Academic Excellence Respect for Self and Others Personal Responsibility Compassion and Understanding Mission = How We Will Pursue our Vision on a Daily Basis “Westlake Academy is an IB World School whose mission is to provide students with an internationally minded education of the highest quality, so they are well-balanced and respectful life-long learners.” Page 2 of 7 GIVING CLARITY TO OUR VISION Vision = Our Destination as an Organization “Westlake Academy inspires students to achieve their highest individual potential in a nurturing environment that fosters the traits found in the IB learner profile.” As shown in the box above, our current WA Vision Statement has 4 basic components. They are: 1. Inspiring students 2. Our students achieving their highest individual potential 3. Offering a nurturing environment for our students 4. Fostering in our students the IB learner profile traits • Had discussion to create dialogue/common understanding of Vision Statement • created DEFINING PRINCIPLES to help gain further clarity of our Vision. Defining Principle means: A fundamental assumption as to how each of the 4 components of our WA Vision Statement will manifest itself as an outcome within our school; either in the members of our school body individually or corporately. Page 3 of 7 May 17, 2013 Board of Trustees Workshop: Board members seemed to agree that the current Vision Statement for Westlake Academy is a good one that should continue to be adhered to. Teams determined specific Defining Principles for each of the four points made within the Vision Statement, as listed above. Teams were arranged as the following: *Siena: Carol Langdon, Troy Meyer, Amanda DeGan, and John Zagurski *Venezia: Michael Barrett, Ben Nibarger, Todd Wood, and Alora Wachholz *Florence: Cliff Cox, Shelly Meyers, Debbie Piper, and Rod Harding *Roma: Laura Wheat, Ginger Awtry, Clint Calzini, and Kelly Edwards Some additional questions arose from the workshop exercise, which were in need of further consideration before the Board, including: Key Questions: • Are we doing the things outlined in the Vision Statement? • How do we know if/when we’ve reached our “destination?” (i.e.: vision) • How do we define our students’ post-secondary success? • What is our value proposition? • IB Learner Profile in MYP/DP? • Educated parents - a need? - Do the clarifying statements get at the intentions of the Board in the stated vision statement? - Are we in agreement on highest individual potential? Is it preparing our students to take on the “fork in the road” that they choose? - college, vocational school, work environment, military, etc. - If so, is the Board in support of using this as the basis to update the WA current strategic plan as a component of the ‘umbrella’ system for the entire organization – meaning cascade the WA department SP to a Tier Two strategy map and tie into the overall direction of the Town. - In update the SP for WA into a similar BSC system – we would narrow the focus of the performance measures to address the types of questions: o How do we know when we have succeeded? o What does post-secondary success look like for our students? o What does success look like in PYP/MYP/DP? Page 4 of 7 Vision = Our Destination as an Organization Defining Priniciple for Vision Component # 1: “Westlake Academy inspires students…” Some questions to ask: *What is “inspiration” to a typical WA student? *Whose responsibility is it to inspire students? *What does inspiration look like in a typical WA student, or in our student body as a whole? *What type of school environment creates inspiration? *What type of personal interaction between students and teacher(s) creates an inspired student? Example: WA will have a culture that enables and encourages students to want to learn and view learning as its own reward. Clarifying Statements ~ “WA engages students to be life-long learners through motivation to set goals and a destination for the future by providing individual attention and space to grow.” ~ “WA’s teachers, parents, and students will create a culture that encourages open communication where there are no limits, challenging, guiding, and encouraging discovery, which ignites a person’s desire to continuously learn and passionately engage in life.” ~ “Parents and teachers collaboratively engage students in authentic learning to produce intrinsically motivated student who reflect and act.” ~ “Students of all academic levels and abilities are inspired to learn. How do we know they are inspired? They come to class, they participate, they do their homework, they go above and beyond what is expected.” Page 5 of 7 Defining Priniciple for Vision Component # 2: “Westlake Academy inspires students to achieve their highest individual potential… Some questions to ask: *What is the “highest individual potential” for a student? *How do we define post-secondary education success for our students? *How does a student come to recognize potential in himself/herself? *Whose responsibility is it to foster the desire within an individual student to identify their highest potential? *What role(s) does faculty play, or not play, in the process of identifying a student’s potential? Example: The entire WA school body, faculty, parents, and students will see it as their corporate and individual responsibility to help students identify and realize their interests and dreams. Clarifying Statements ~ “The stakeholders of WA provide the support students need to be confident and gain maturity to realize their potential dreams and interests through the IB Learner Profile.” ~ “WA, at a minimum, will prepare students for college success while focusing on student growth and developing a hunger for more.” ~ “Identify and address different learning styles while promoting an environment that maximizes academic and real-life learning to produce a responsible, engaged citizen.” ~ “Students are inspired to set high standards for themselves and are supported by faculty, staff, and parents, to achieve them.” Page 6 of 7 Defining Priniciple for Vision Component #3: “Westlake Academy inspires students… in a nurturing environment…” Some questions to ask: *What is “nurturing” and what is a “nurturing environment,” as it relates to a school? *How would you describe it? *How does one balance nurturing with the need to maintain order, discipline, and a safe school environment? *Whose responsibility is it to nurture students and how is it done effectively? Example: WA students, faculty, and parents will strive in a deliberate fashion to nourish and grow our students’ self-awareness and world view, based on a positive ethos of personal self- worth and integrity. Clarifying Statements ~ “WA creates a positive, supportive, safe environment where stakeholders promote and develop self-awareness and integrity.” ~ “WA will allow students self-exploration, risk taking, and the ability to be different while maintaining a set of guidelines/policies/a roadmap that is tied to #1 and #2. To educate, raise, bring up, and establish global citizenship.” ~ “A nurturing environment will manifest itself as a culture of acceptance and tolerance for differences in ideas, opinions, and aptitudes. This will encourage discovery, risk-taking, and problem-solving within a framework of well-defined expectations and consequences.” ~ “WA students feel safe and supported and are in an environment where they belong and where their self-worth is continually (affirmed?).” Page 7 of 7 Defining Priniciple for Vision Component #4: “Westlake Academy… fosters the traits found in the IB learner profile.” Some questions to ask: *What is the IB learner profile, what are its attributes, and what do they mean? *Does the school body as a whole embrace the IB learner profile? Why or why not? *Is the IB learner profile inculcated into all aspects of WA’s culture, educational programs, and extra-curricular programs? Why or why not? *Why is the IB learner profile important to us as a school? Example: We commit that the IB learner profile traits will be evident in all that we say, do, or offer programmatically as a school, and will be clearly evident in the behavior of our students, parents, and faculty on a daily basis. Clarifying Statements ~ “Just do it. Foster it.” ~ “Self-defining.” ~ “The WA community makes explicit the actions and values that make one an internationally-minded person who can change his or her environment for the better.” ~ “-“