• July 26, 2023

    Dr. Sessoms presented her Equity, Inclusion and Belonging data collection results at the school board's July 24, 2023 meeting, concluding Phase I of her work which used a combination of qualitative surveys along with quantitative data review of the district's 2021 Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS) and the district's  2021 PA School Climate Survey.

    A total of 222 individuals (34 parents/caregivers, 35 high school students, 46 middle school students, and 107 school staff) responded to the qualitative surveys. Dr. Sessoms analyzed the data to decipher respondent's perceptions of the district's strengths, opportunities, aspirations and results (SOAR) to begin to develop strategic goals for each committee or building level team to implement during the 2023-24 school year. 

    Nine themes emerged from the data:

    • Mitigating burnout and cultivating sustainable employees through capacity-building
    • Comprehensive mental health professionals and systems
    • Practicing equity, inclusion, and belonging
    • Developing effective social emotional skills to support positive relationships and collaborative problem-solving
    • Fostering a community of learners
    • Communicating a shared mission, vision, and values to model transparency and consistency
    • Leveraging external partnerships
    • Implementing tiered levels of support
    • Accountability through clear and consistent disciplinary policies, practices, and procedures

    Dr. Sessoms also created a series of recommendations based on the state Department of Education's Equity Pillars as they related to the themes listed above.

    Phase I Executive Summary

    Phase I Full Report

    May 19, 2023

    Dr. Sessoms has scheduled meetings with students and parents in the form of advisory councils to discuss school climate and how it can be improved. Those groups plan to meet frequently to hear the students' and parents' voices and get their input on any proposed solutions.  

    In addition, she has begun to set up 60-minute listening sessions with current teams/committees or representative staff members who are committed to positive school climate. The goal is that these individuals will form Implementation Teams that will build knowledge, skills, abilities, and systematize using innovative practices beginning in the 2023-2024 school year.In addition, Dr. Sessoms will create and disseminate surveys for each respective group to identify district strengths, opportunities for growth, alignment with aspirations, and the results they wish to see.

    • Survey results will be analyzed prior to the listening sessions into a SOAR analysis to facilitate collaborative problem-identification and solution-building among each team
    • Additional survey questions focus on community resource mapping, staff morale, effective collaboration among teams, staff core values, and the personal strengths the will bring to the Implementation Team.

    Dr. Sessoms met with the district's Safe & Supportive Schools and Mental Health Committee on Thursday, May 11, 2023, and a subsequent meeting will be scheduled in Auguest to develop strategic goals to support dignity-affirming schools.

    Other meetings scheduled include: 

    Lower Dauphin High School will meet on Monday, May 22, 2023, and a subsequent meeting will be held at the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year to begin implementation team strategic planning.

    • Lower Dauphin Middle School will meet on Tuesday, May 23, 2023, for the listening session. The Implementation Team meeting will be held at the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year.
    • South Hanover will meet on Tuesday, May 23, 2023, for the listening session. The Implementation Team meeting will be held on August 17, 2023.
    • Conewago will meet on Tuesday, May 30, 2023. The Implementation Team meeting will be on Tuesday, August 15, 2023.
    • Nye will meet on Wednesday, May 31, 2023. The Implementation Team meeting will be on Thursday, August 3, 2023.
    • Londonderry will meet on Thursday, June 1, 2023. The Implementation Team meeting will be on Tuesday, August 8, 2023.
    • East Hanover will meet on Friday, June 2, 2023. The Implementation Team meeting will be on Thursday, August 3, 2023.
    • Price Building will meet on Friday, June 2, 2023. The Implementation Team meeting will be in August.
    • Superintendent's Advisory Council will meet on Wednesday, June 14, 2023, to be apprised of preliminary findings from Phase I data analysis to identify root causes and develop sustainable solutions for the 2023-2024 school year.

    Secondary-level Relationship Mapping Sessions
    • Dr. Sessoms met with the secondary building principals to coordinate dates and times for two, 60-minute Relationship Mapping sessions at each secondary building to support staff in identifying students who do not have a positive connection with school adults. These students will then be paired with a supportive adult mentor within the school to reduce bullying, lower dropout rates, and improve social-emotional capacities.
    • Lower Dauphin High School will hold its Relationship Mapping session at the beginning of next school year due to the conflict with staff availability due to May assessments
    • Lower Dauphin Middle School will meet on Tuesday, May 23, 2023, for the Relationship Mapping session. Students that are transferring to the high school who do not have a positive connection will be communicated directly with staff to support a positive transition.

    April 25, 2023

    The School Board directed the Administration to advertise for a consultant to support our work on Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. Those ads were posted in The Sun newspaper on March 30, 2023, and The Patriot-News on April 2, 2023. The postings ended on April 12, 2023, and interviews were held April 14, 2023.

    The committee of the Board made a recommendation to the full Board who hired Dr. Amber M. Sessoms on April 24, 2023 as a Systems-Level Strategist and Alignment Specialist.

    Amber M. Sessoms, Ed.D., NCSP, is the Founder and Chief Visionary Officer of Natural Inclination LLC. Their website is located at www.aninclination.com

    The Statement of Work approved by the Board is attached - Statement of Work. 

     

     

     

     
Last Modified on April 30, 2024