Since the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year, staff, students, families and community members have been holding conversations around what a Waterbury Public Schools graduate should be able to accomplish, what they should know and what character traits they will need to succeed in life. Several sessions were held throughout the school year with each focused on a small component of Portrait of a Graduate. These sessions provided opportunities for all stakeholders to have deep, thoughtful conversations about what a successful student looks like in Waterbury Public Schools.
The session conversations included:
1. Designing Student Pathways to Success: Community members and parents joined school and administrative staff to help design innovative career pathways to better prepare students for college, career, and workforce opportunities available in Waterbury.
2. Portrait of a Graduate - Conversation at North End, Wallace & West Side Middle Schools: Parents, staff and community members gathered to discuss what a Waterbury Public Schools graduate should know and be able to do, and what characteristics they should possess.
3. Designing Student Pathways to Success: Community members and parents joined school and administrative staff to help design innovative career pathways to better prepare students for college, career, and workforce opportunities available in Waterbury.
4. Community Conversation: The Waterbury Board of Education, the CT Association of Boards of Education, and the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Foundation held a Community Conversation on the Portrait of a Graduate, especially as it relates to students of color, at Waterbury Arts Magnet School. Following a light dinner catered by the students at PAL and a quick introduction to the topic, the participants broke up into groups and discussed what graduates of Waterbury Public Schools should know and be able to accomplish.
5. Convocation for Staff: More than a thousand school and district staff gathered at the Palace Theater to learn firsthand from Superintendent Dr. Verna Ruffin how the district plans to develop a strategy that will allow Waterbury Public School students to be successful as graduates.
6. Conversation with Focus Group of Students
7. Title I District Parent Advisory Council Annual Meeting: Assistant Superintendent Dr. Michelle Baker led the discussion on Portrait of a Graduate with parents who attended the annual Title I DPAC meeting. Parents were pleased to share some of their thoughts on what a successful graduate should look like.
