Policy 101: Educational Philosophy of the School District
As a school corporation of Iowa, the School District, acting through its board of directors, is dedicated to promoting an equal opportunity for a quality public education to its students. The board’s ability may be limited by the school district's ability and willingness to furnish financial support in cooperation with student’s parents and school district community. The board is also dedicated to providing the opportunity to develop a healthy social, intellectual, emotional, and physical self-concept in a learning environment that provides guidance to, and encourages critical thinking in, the students for a lifetime.
The board endeavors, through the dedication of the school district's resources, to encourage students, who come to the school district from a variety of backgrounds, to look forward to the time when they will have jobs, homes, families, places in the school district community, and attain recognition as individuals. In order to achieve this goal, the board will seek qualified employees dedicated to development of their professional skills for the betterment of the education program and for the expertise for educational productivity.
Instruction and curriculum are the key elements of a public education. Critical thinking and problem solving skills that will assist the students' preparation for life is instructed as part of a sequentially coordinated curriculum. The school district strives to prepare students for employment, to discover and nurture creative talent and to prepare them to meet and cope with social change in an atmosphere conducive to learning.
The support and involvement of the home and the school district community are essential to achieve educational excellence in the school district. The school district strives to maintain an active relationship with the home and the school district community to create within the students an awareness of dignity and worth of the individual, civic responsibility and respect for authority.
The Board believes that excellence in education means success for all students. It is the philosophy of the district to identify student outcomes, to organize the instructional program to help students achieve those outcomes, and to assess attainment of those outcomes. The Board believes that students must be active participants in the learning process. That students helping students is a powerful educational force. That students need to apply the knowledge and skills they are learning. That students must think globally, but act locally. And that students are responsible for learning while teachers help to make it happen.
The Board believes that students of today are in preparation for the future and will: acquire, comprehend, and apply knowledge which will be necessary for fulfillment and achievement in life; develop and establish skills, attitudes and concepts which will enable the student to become a life-long learner, initiate and sustain relationships based on respect and a sense of mutual responsibility, adapt to and create change, and build an awareness of and confidence in self.
The Board believes that students will use acquired skills through a variety of settings for assessment including: writing samples, observations in realistic situations, self-assessment, standardized tests, individual and group demonstrations, and teacher-made tests over content. The Board believes that students will show progress through assessment which: will be an important part of everyday learning, involves student performances that demonstrate progress toward specific goals, clearly states expectations to each student, and creates a picture of what each student knows, what each student can do, and what each student can be.
The Board believes that students will possess knowledge, skills, and abilities in Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, Math, Reading, Fine Arts, Motor Skills, Guidance, Special Education, Vocational, and Communication. For all these areas, the teachers and administrators are working to: identify the most critical skills each child needs to acquire, identify the level at which each child learns the skills and abilities, identify the areas of knowledge essential for each child to know, create a curriculum that meets all of the State of Iowa guidelines, and create a curriculum that allows each student at STC to develop to their fullest potential.
Legal Reference: Iowa Code §§ 256.11
I.C. Iowa Code Description Iowa Code § 256.11 DE - Educational Standards
Approved: 6/21/22
Reviewed: 6/21/22
Revised: 6/21/22