This page is a copy of an article appearing in the Daily Jefferson County Union

Keeping you informed

Exciting and Changing Times for Our Country and Fort Atkinson!

                                                                        Dr. James Fitzpatrick

                                                                        Superintendent

 

“We will continue to work on building learning communities where respect and honor are readily recognized as a signature characteristic of the School District of Fort Atkinson”                                                                                         Strategic Plan Diversity Goal for Fort Atkinson

 

These are interesting times in our country.  With the presidential primaries underway, we are witnessing the debate of issues that have national, global, and local interest and impact.

 

Illegal immigration has been an intensely debated issue by candidates of both parties.  As Senators Clinton and Obama begin to distance themselves as the clear front runners for the Democratic Party nomination, the issues of gender and race are likely to surface as neither a woman, nor an African American have ever been nominated by either party.  Religion and faith based views held by candidates have also been scrutinized in newspapers and Sunday morning network news programs such as Meet the Press, more so than any time in my memory.  While we thirst to find out as much as possible about who will lead our country as president, I suspect our main focus should be on who we believe is best qualified to carry-out the duties of the presidency in following our constitution and championing the cause of social justice for all.       

 

This election will have a great impact on the future of education in our country.  Health care, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the economy, finding alternative energy sources, these issues and many others, will face the next president who better “hit the ground running” the first day in office.  

 

In the School District of Fort Atkinson we have focused on building learning communities. A community is defined as a unified body of individuals.  We know that our learning communities flourish when there exists understanding, respect and honor, for all members. 

 

I think we can find universal agreement that the speed of change brought on by technology is something most of us accept as a sign of the times.  Ask a person thirty years of age or younger about a dial telephone and they will wonder what you are talking about!  Yes, technology changes seem to occur daily.  Keeping up is both a necessity and a challenge.  

 

Changes in diversity are more complex to understand.  Under the umbrella of diversity, we are not just talking about race, ethnicity, or religion. Economics, disabilities, and poverty, are also a part of this mosaic both globally and in Fort Atkinson.  Our school district and community has a different profile now than we did just seven years ago as shown below.

 

                                     Fall of 2007                            Fall of 2000

Asian students                          27                                    26

African American                      32                                    10

Latino                                       237                                  80

Native American                       14                                      9

White                                       2202                            2533

 

Total pupils                               2712                            2658

 

Approximately 12% of our students, per the figures above, are reported as non-white pupils with 9% being made up of a growing Latino population consistent with similar trends in Jefferson County.   

 

In relation to socio-economics, it should be noted that one in every four students in our district qualifies for free or reduced lunch.  This is compared with one in ten in the fall of 1999.  We suspect more could qualify if they applied. 

 

Our students with disabilities population is at approximately 413 students or 15.40 % this year.  In the fall of 1999, that number was 341 students or 12.89%.

 

Over the past couple of years, we have held exercises with our staff emphasizing various aspects of diversity present in our learning communities.  Dr. Cathy Hamilton, a renowned expert on the topic of changing learning communities, did a masterful job speaking to our staff in September about diversity and what she referred to as the “faces of AYP (Annual Yearly Progress).”  One of her key messages was to make sure our classrooms and learning communities made students feel welcomed, invited and safe. 

 

Immigrants and their families live and work where jobs are to be had.  Thus economics, often overlooked as a diversity piece is arguably most significant.  In almost every organization or agency that conducts strategic planning in Jefferson County, our changing diversity is always defined as a goal target.  It isn’t enough to only reflect back on how we have changed since 2000.  Moreover, per all aspects of diversity, we need to plan for what our communities will be like in ten, twenty, and fifty years?     

 

In our learning communities we want all of our learners and their families to feel invited, welcomed, respected, and honored.  If we succeed in this quest, learning will flourish and so will Fort Atkinson!