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District Announces First Academy of School Leaders
Reno, NV (November 23, 2011) - The Washoe County School District is introducing the Washoe Academy of School Leaders (WASL), a brand new academy for the development of future school leaders. The District has partnered with SUPES Academy, a national non-profit organization dedicated to the development of outstanding school leaders to create the Academy. SUPES Academy has conducted academies of this nature throughout the United States.
Superintendent Heath Morrison says, "The response to this initial invitation was tremendous and this group of school leaders was very talented with a wide variety of experiences. Leadership is the key ingredient to the success of any school. Anytime we can support our current and future school leaders to become better prepared we know it will increase student achievement. By providing this academy we are developing of a new generation of outstanding transformational leaders throughout the District."
The curriculum is based on research and best practices in schools, and it is tailored specifically for the needs of Washoe County and the state of Nevada. Through targeted professional development, a customized curriculum, professional mentoring and executive coaching, Academy participants will build their individual capacities in:
• Leadership• Leading learning• Creating an accountable school• Leading and managing people• Managing resources• Building relationships
The academy will be comprised of six one- or two-day sessions throughout the school year, facilitated by a SUPES representative and highly successful District leaders. Each participant will construct a personalized individual learning plan, and the Academy will provide more than 120 hours of targeted professional development. Participants will receive mentoring from exceptional building-level leaders, relevant classroom instruction from highly successful leaders, executive coaching, assessment and customized on-the-job activities to build and strengthen in each of the above core competencies. WASL graduates will be well-prepared to excel in the role of building principal.
The initial implementation of WASL is a three-year project with the SUPES Academy, during which District leaders will be trained to continue the work on an ongoing basis. Stacey Ting-Senini, the District's project leader for the academy says, "This is an exciting effort to build additional leadership capacity in the school district and feed our principal's pipeline. Participants include first year principals, assistant principals, and full-time teacher leaders and were carefully selected from among our District's motivated, successful and aspiring leaders."
The inaugural WASL cohort for 2011-2012 includes 26 District staff including: Jenni Anderson, Nanette Bailey, Kevin Carroll, Sara Cunningham, Ann Marie Dickson, Diane Dullanty, Vickie Duty-Howard, Kirsten Gleissner, Kristopher Hackbusch, Taylor Harper, Janeen Kelly, Leah Keuscher, Georgette Knecht, Michael Martindale, Bryan Myers, Robin Olson, Michon Pincolini, Kim Polsen, Jenny Ricci, Dana Ryan, Frank Selvaggio, Jen Van Tress, Megan Waugh, Joye Williams, Colleen Winter, Amy Wright.
The first session will be held this month. For more information, contact Stacey Ting-Senini at sting@washoeschools.net or 775.250.4469.
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About Washoe County School District: The Washoe County School District includes the Reno/Sparks metropolitan area, Incline Village, Gerlach, Empire and Wadsworth, Nevada. The District provides each of its 63,000 students with a superior education in a safe and challenging environment and is committed to graduate every child career and college ready.
For more information visit www.washoecountyschools.org. Follow us on Twitter at WCSDTweet.
Washoe County School District
425 East Ninth Street
Reno, NV 89520
