District increases Diversity Efforts

Staff Recruitment and Retention

Administration has been working on reviewing district recruitment and retention practices, with particular emphasis on recruiting teachers of color to better reflect the diversity of our student body.

To accomplish that, recruitment trips have begun to several Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Besides sharing  district highlights and benefits to working in our schools, district representatives are sharing highlights about living and working in the City of Beloit.

The District is also working on addressing equity through professional development opportunities. This past Friday, November 13, staff at each school participated in a presentation on Culturally Relevant Teaching Practices, presented by Rachellee Clardy-Brown, Assistant Principal at Aldrich Intermediate School. Such professional development is occurring on a monthly basis to be implemented daily within the classroom.

Student Engagement

One of the major obstacles to students achieving academic success is truancy. With the help of community members, we are reviewing truancy procedures to better service our students.

Specifically, to address the achievement gap and disproportionality, several programs are being established to provide a framework of support for students of color. For example, just after Thanksgiving, the African American and Latino Mentoring Program will begin. This program matches juniors and seniors who are proficient in math with students in elementary and intermediate schools who are struggling with that subject.

Naturally, academic support is ongoing through all these initiatives. In fact, ACT Prep will begin on Nov 21. Many colleges take a look at ACT scores, in addition to this serving as the high school state test. The prep courses will help students with test taking strategies so that students can boost their scores.

This is just a start. Other programs are in the pipeline such as student leadership teams; we will keep the community informed as we move forward with these plans. We appreciate the support of this community in working with our staff to ensure our students have the environment and resources they need to become successful.

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