Chief academic officer outlines strategic‑plan priorities and upcoming accreditation visit

Chief Academic Officer Dr. Hayek briefed the board on progress across the district’s five strategic‑plan priorities and previewed the external five‑year accreditation visit scheduled for February.

Curriculum: Pre‑K, social studies and EL curriculum teams are in stage two of resource evaluation, with intensive reviews scheduled during district professional development days over January–March. Dr. Hayek said the teams will return to the board with recommended resources after completing evaluation.

Instructional excellence: A 13‑member working group has met three times and is building a three‑year plan to implement Marzano as the district’s instructional framework, develop onboarding for new staff and create a repertoire of resources (observation PDFs, staff‑created videos and external materials) to support teacher development.

Data and improvement: The district has connected Infinite Campus data to the ANAVE K‑12 platform (the district previously approved the purchase) and will add state, assessment and behavior data to create executive dashboards. Dr. Hayek and district staff are meeting weekly with the vendor to configure visualizations for district and school leaders.

Accreditation visit: The district will host an external team for its five‑year accreditation visit (required under Nebraska Department of Education rules). The team will conduct school tours, classroom observations and multiple stakeholder interviews (teachers, classified staff, administrators, parents and board members). The visit includes an opening presentation, school site visits and an exit presentation to staff; a final written report will follow in several weeks.

Dr. Hayek invited board members to participate in interview opportunities during the working meeting if they are available. The accreditation process will produce two to four recommendations in the exit report, she said.