Greyhills plans for the next five years

TUBA CITY, Ariz. - On May 27, 28 and 30, the Greyhills Governing Board along with members of the administration, teaching staff, parents and other stakeholders, met to establish an action plan to improve the school in the next five years. The action plan included all areas of the school including parents, maintenance and administration. The focus of weekend work session was to adhere to the mission statement.

At the suggestion of Gerald Keetso, governing board member, team members were asked to use SMART goals - strategic and specific, measurable, attainable, results-based and time bound. Many times Average Yearly Progress (AYP) is the main focus, but there is always an opportunity for improvement in other areas, according school administrators.

Some suggestions for the action plan included providing a safe environment. According to Roger Trujillo, auxiliary director, busses need to be replaced as well as drivers being 100 percent safety certified prior to the beginning of the school year. The dorm will be going to a five-day week from seven days. Other ideas included keeping the school structurally safe, putting up perimeter fencing, increasing security, revising policies and procedures for emergency situations and possibly installing cameras for surveillance.

Some ideas to create a nurturing environment was to address substance abuse and mental health issues with counselors on campus as well as exploring student mentoring and coordinating with outside organizations for after school programs, campus beatification and more teacher training.

"In Red Valley they had a good nurturing environment for students with mental illness by having a psychologist identify individuals with possible problems. Currently the staff may not be properly trained to recognize some of these behaviors. Bus drivers are an important resource evaluator of a students since they are a first point of contact so everyone needs to come together to cover all areas of nurturing of students," said Vice Principal Harvey.

One topic of discussion was the need for better communication. It was suggested that the executive staff should have an action plan to communicate more effectively as. Parents expressed concerns that they are not aware of testing days or activities until the last minute.

"Communication is a part of leadership and internal control. Everyone needs to be brought up to date every month with meetings and updates," said Reginald Bennett, federal grants manager.

Some of the ways to enhance the "culturally based" instruction were outlined by Chris Curley, parent educator and cultural coordinator. His plan of action included continuing staff development on Diné philosophy and learning as a way of implementing Diné language and philosophy using Ke' (relations) that encompasses a positive understanding and experience. The plans include utilizing more resources from outside the community as well as encouraging Diné speaking staff to speak more Diné language to enrich the cultural learning.

CEO Beverly Bancroft was pleased with the progress being made in establishing a five-year plan and looks forward to seeing an action plan that will be prioritized and put into force and sustained for the next five years. One priority is to get the openings for counselors filled in the school, which remained open throughout the school year.

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