WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — Whitehall-Coplay Board of Education appeared pleased Monday with a wrap-up report detailing districtwide goals for the 2023-24 school year.
Superintendent Robert Steckel led the discussion on the district’s six primary goals.
They are: coronavirus pandemic recovery, school safety, the capital improvement plan, strengthening connections, implementing elements of the comprehensive plan for the second year and enhancing student learning.
Steckel highlighted successes and detailed where it puts the district within its 10-year plan.
“I think that we've seen some tremendous strides taken toward improving the operations of the district."Whitehall-Coplay School District Superintendent Robert Steckel
Pandemic recovery was listed as a top goal, with the intent to develop and implement year three of a comprehensive pandemic recovery plan.
Priorities under that goal included summer and after-school programming, evaluating the 2023-24 instructional model, pushing ongoing academic support, stressing social-emotional learning and mental health supports, and encouraging professional development and instructional coaching.
“We met all of those goals," Steckel said. "We have new professional learning, ongoing academic support, [Multi-Tiered System of Supports] model expansion into the middle school.
"A lot of the efforts that came out of the ESSER funding and planning that was required from the pandemic, which have kind of become the norm and the way of doing things because we adjusted a lot of our learning models based on the needs of our students."
School safety and building projects
School safety was another notable “and ongoing” goal, Steckel said, with a mission to revise and implement school safety plans, resources and procedures.
Top focal points under that umbrella include a reunification drill and planning for the new Gockley Elementary School.
“So we're really trying to get to that point where we have a maintenance plan in place that won't require large-scale future improvements, once we get our buildings up to speed,”Whitehall-Coplay Schools Superintendent Robert Steckel
“We also do have the full-scale evacuation drills planned for August to go over to Catasauqua to use their facilities in a mock hypothetical situation," he said.
"Just with our staff to get acclimated, God forbid we needed to evacuate campus."
Capital improvement plan goals include facilitating building projects in accordance with the plan and completing construction of a new kindergarten and first-grade elementary school.
Steckel was apprehensive to say the Gockley Elementary School was complete just yet, but said Sunday’s ribbon-cutting for the facility was well-received by staff and students.
Other building initiatives included completing renovations and moving tenants into the district’s education center, with the goal to move board meetings, operations, and the district office to the building; addressing traffic and campus safety upgrades; and other structural issues.
“So we're really trying to get to that point where we have a maintenance plan in place that won't require large-scale future improvements, once we get our buildings up to speed,” Steckel said.
Connecting kids, staff, improving learning
The goal of “strengthening connections” among staff, students, parents and community through increased partnership opportunities, community involvement and activities saw some notable success over the past year, according to Steckel’s report.
That included making opportunities for parents and guardians to attend events during the school day, cross-campus opportunities for students and staff, and a community involvement plan connected with the school district.
Electronic communication between high school officials and parents worked quite well, “and we’re going to expand that to our middle school next year.”Whitehall-Coplay Schools Superintendent Robert Steckel
According to Steckel, electronic communication between high school officials and parents worked quite well, “and we’re going to expand that to our middle school next year.”
Goals linked to the comprehensive plan included effectively communicating and promoting the Profile of a Graduate, developing and implementing an onboarding/induction program for new support staff, and evaluating and redesigning the district’s Differentiated Supervision Model, a professional development program.
Steckel also touched on the district’s ambitious goal to enhance student learning via “quality instruction and research-based programming,” which aims to get all students to the point of “grade-level mastery of essential academic content and career-ready skills.”
Points listed under that goal included consistent quarterly meetings to analyze data and refocus efforts for each grade, and to provide professional development on “effective instructional strategies.”
Momentum funded by taxes
“We're very excited," Steckel said. "We had a very robust data meeting process this year that was received very well by the administration and staff, and we're looking forward to a data day in August."
Steckel emphasized that the district’s success stories over the past year have been “a team effort,” with administrators, teachers and support staff striving to continuously improve.
"Everybody in this room is a Whitehall Township resident, so we do the very best we can.”Whitehall-Coplay School Board President William P. Fonzone
Board President William P. Fonzone agreed.
“It was a highly successful year for the Whitehall-Coplay School District academically, and we are climbing the ladder of success,” Fonzone said.
According to Steckel, this past year’s goals wove in perfectly with the district’s 2030 Vision, a 10-year plan detailing large-scale projects intended to improve and expand educational opportunities for students.
“Well, I think that we've seen some tremendous strides taken toward improving the operations of the district," Steckel said.
"When it comes to efficiency, when it comes to the focus on student learning, we've really put a tremendous effort into improving the culture on campus with our staff and our students.
"And I think a lot of those goals really tie into that, that continuous improvement."
Asked about concerns over tax hikes — WCSD just approved a 4.5% tax increase — to help fund the projects, Fonzone said the issue was rooted in low revenue, not outlandish expenditures.
He said the key point to keep in mind is that those taxes go toward improving education for the children.
“We raise our taxes based on what our what our goals are, what is necessary,” Fonzone said. He said he feels the impact, as well.
“Our revenues have decreased, and we just we don't raise taxes to raise taxes," he said. "Everybody in this room is a Whitehall Township resident, so we do the very best we can.”
