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OUR COMMITMENT TO EQUITY
During the 2013–2014 school year, the SPASD endeavored to rewrite the District’s vision and mission statements and to develop a Strategic Plan. After more than 60 Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats analysis meetings with community members and community groups and a three-day community visioning event, the District boldly proclaimed its commitment to Every Child, Every Day, a shared vision that drives our work to this day.
In 2018, the SPASD Board of Education supplemented our vision and mission statements with a School Board Policy Preamble, which also serves as the District’s Equity Statement. This document further defines the School Board’s dedication to the students and families of the Greater Sun Prairie Area. The SPASD vision and mission statements, coupled with the School Board’s equity statement, are the founding documents that drive the development and execution of the SPASD Equity Framework, which was also formalized in 2018.
Today, this comprehensive framework covers all aspects of District operations, from the Board to the Strategic Plan, from site excellence to our community partnerships. It represents our plan to support students who struggle to reach their full potential, students who deserve the very best from all of us because they are the leaders for our future, and students who have been marginalized and lack access and opportunities to fully thrive as scholars in our public school system. Simply stated, our SPASD Equity Framework helps us get to “Every” in our endeavor to achieve Every Child, Every Day.
SPASD Students Recognized at 100 Scholars Gala Virtual Event
Congratulations to Eastlan Shields, Shanyce Hutchinson, Lolly Saidy, Azarae Hanger, Chasity Collins, and Cierra Sercye for being recognized in the 2020–2021 Class of the 100 Scholars! The 100 Scholars process, sponsored by the 100 Black Men of Madison, has been designed to identify students who are enrolled in area schools and have demonstrated evidence of high-performance capability in intellectual, creative, artistic, leadership, or specific academic areas.
Read Your Heart Out
Westside and Northside Elementary Schools hosted virtual Read Your Heart Out events in honor of National African American Parent Involvement Day. This year, guests included Gov. Tony Evers, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, former UW-Madison basketball player Nigel Hayes, and members of the Sun Prairie Fire Department. It was a great day for our community to come together. Over 600 students and community members participated in celebrating our African American students ’ culture through the love of reading.
BEAM Awards
Congratulations to all of the Black Excellence Achievement Maker Award (BEAM) winners! This year, over 469 students received a BEAM award and were recognized in a parade-style ceremony. The community held signs of encouragement along the parade route and celebrated.
Summer School Students Design T-Shirts Focused on Racial Injustice
These summer school students took on the project of designing a T-shirt for a social issue. The issue they chose was racial injustice. They performed every step of the process, from designing the shirts to utilizing computer software to create the message.
AVID Program Spotlight
AVID is a college readiness system designed to increase schoolwide learning and improve academic performance for students. AVID is offered in the 7th–12th grades. 466 AVID elective students participated in the program. AVID targets students in the academic middle who have the desire to go to college and the willingness to work hard. These are students who are capable of completing a rigorous curriculum but can benefit from support. AVID learning strategies are a focus in all of our secondary buildings.
“AVID has given me more opportunities than I ever could have learned or found on my own. I think one of the best gifts AVID has given me is how to direct my pre-existing driven personality to benefit my future.” —AVID student
Race & Equity Team
Our District Support Center (DSC) staff engaged in a series of equity trainings for staff who have taken Beyond Diversity training. One recent training included a panel of staff who spoke about how their identities (racial and other) have affected them in their work and/ or personal lives, what kinds of microaggressions they experience, what their DSC colleagues can do to make them feel more supported at work, what the District does well when it comes to equity work, and what opportunities for improvement there are.
Staff Professional Development:
Recognizing & Preventing Curriculum Violence
On Tuesday, March 30, 2021, all instructional staff engaged in required professional development as part of their workday. SPASD students were part of a session that helped staff identify and prevent instances of curriculum violence.
“The three students were the best part of today’s professional development. Hearing about their experiences as Sun Prairie students helped bring awareness to me of what I should keep doing to build connections with all of my students, but also what I need to START doing to build stronger connections and to help students feel included and safe.” —SPASD staff member
District Book Study
In the spring of 2020, our instructional coaches recommended that a book study of Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain, by Zaretta Hammond, would help move our District forward in equity. All educators in our system have engaged in the study, discussion, and application of the concepts shared. Our educators will continue to focus on applying the “Ready for Rigor Framework,” which emphasizes awareness (of race, culture, and brain science), learning partnerships that emphasize relationships between students and educators, information processing (intentional lesson design that helps students process new information), and community of learners and learning environment (a culture that fosters connections, resolves conflicts, and creates space for student voices). These important concepts are now common knowledge for all educators in our District, and with practice will be applied in ways that strengthen learning communities and impact students in positive ways.
“We are all seeing ourselves as part of the solution and exploring instructional practices and biases to best meet the needs of our Black and Brown students. Through vulnerability, honest and difficult conversations, and building a deeper level of trust within our building, we are committing to the ongoing work of addressing racial injustices in our educational system.” —4th-grade teacher
