Fulton schools outline year‑two strategic coherence plan focused on learning, wellness and life pathways

Superintendent Lawrence told the Fulton City School District Board of Education on Oct. 13 that the district is moving into year two of a strategic coherence plan meant to align goals and practices across all six district buildings.

The plan, presented to the board by Hendrickson and other building principals, sets three districtwide priorities — learning, wellness and life pathways — and focuses on creating common expectations, shared leadership and consistent professional learning structures, the presenters said.

Hendrickson, speaking after Lawrence opened the superintendent’s report, said the district’s public-facing draft “encapsulates kind of what our 5 year plan is” and is intended to be “acronym free and easy to digest” for families and staff. He described the plan as pairing a long‑term aim with the district’s capacity to work together: “strategic is to have an aim and to achieve it. And then coherence is our ability to work together and be unified.”

The board was shown examples of implementation steps developed over the summer and at the opening of the school year. Those included a district retreat and a two‑day workshop led by John and Jessica Hannigan of Solution Tree, work on a district MTSS (multi‑tiered systems of support) framework, and the creation of common behavioral expectations using the SOAR acronym — “self control, on task behavior, achievement, and respect.” Hendrickson said sample posters using the SOAR framework are being posted in hallways and other common spaces.

At the classroom and team level, presenters described a system of professional learning teams (PLTs) that use four guiding questions and common formative assessments to check whether students are learning and to decide how to respond if they are not. “We are strengthening our tier 1 instruction through consistency, clarity, and collaboration,” Hendrickson said.

Presenters said the district’s year‑two work emphasizes goal setting at three tiers: individual students, PLT teams, and every staff member in a building, with tracking across attendance, behavior and academics. They described the work as building on the previous year rather than starting new initiatives: “it’s not a ton of new over and over again. We’re building, and we’re getting better and getting stronger at the things that we know are great for kids,” Hendrickson said.

Board members thanked the principals for the presentation. The district plans to finalize a polished version of the plan in time for a district coherence council (DCC) meeting on Oct. 20 and said additional midyear and end‑of‑year updates will follow.

The presentation included references to curricula and programs used districtwide: CKLA for ELA Tier‑1 instruction, Eureka Math for math, and Second Step for social‑emotional learning.

Board members noted the timing coincided with National Principals Month and thanked principals for their work; the meeting also included routine acknowledgements and school champion recognitions.