RATIONALE:

Bismarck Public Schools believes all our stakeholders deserve to learn, work, and have meaningful educational experiences in safe, welcoming, and nurturing environments which allow them to reach high academic standards and peak personal potential.

DEFINITION:

A positive school culture and climate is the foundation for supportive relationships among staff, students, and parents. School culture is a group’s shared beliefs, customs, and behavior. School climate is the “feel” of the school environment and how people perceive their relationship with the school.

GOAL:

All stakeholders contribute to and benefit from welcoming and supportive environments.

RATIONALE:

Bismarck Public Schools believes developing digitally fluent learners is vital to navigating and contributing to the technological world in which we live, work, create, and communicate.

DEFINITION:

Digital stewardship is the obligation of all learners to be positive digital citizens and to manage their online environments. Digital environments are used with sophisticated intent to accelerate and improve the educational system. An education in and practice of high levels of digital citizenship, online safety, data security, data use for decision making, and information literacy skills are vital to digital stewardship.

GOAL:

All learners have the tools, skills, and behaviors to positively contribute in digital environments.

RATIONALE:

Bismarck Public Schools believes safe environments are foundational for all students, staff, and community members to thrive at school and in the community.

DEFINITION:

Safe environments are free from harassment, violence, bullying, drugs, and harm in order to ensure students, staff, and visitors are physically, emotionally, academically, and socially supported. School safety includes building solid relationships with students and first responders, reporting threatening behavior to identify threats, physical hardening of buildings with regular safety inspections, and regular training and drills to support emergency response.

GOAL:

All learners are physically, emotionally, academically, and socially safe.

RATIONALE:

Bismarck Public Schools believes authentic learning experiences empower learners to develop agency, efficiency, and passion.

DEFINITION:

Authentic learning allows students to explore, discuss, and meaningfully construct concepts and relationships in contexts that involve real-world problems and projects. This can take the form of learning trips, projects, capstones, internships, alternative pathways for graduation, or other learning opportunities that result in relevant and useful products or experiences.

GOAL:

Every learner has access to a variety of experiences that facilitate meaningful connections to relevant real-life situations.

RATIONALE:

Bismarck Public Schools believes that all learners deserve effective teaching that supports them in growing to their full potential.

DEFINITION:

Effective teaching is the application of evidence-based practices based on collaboration and intentional, reflective planning. To optimize learning, experiences are inclusive of supportive relationships, clarity of purpose, and appropriate challenge.

GOAL:

All educators implement research-based instructional strategies, inclusive of social emotional support, culturally responsive practices, success skills, and disciplinary literacies.

RATIONALE:

Bismarck Public Schools believes in empowering all learners to be choice-ready through a tiered systems framework.

DEFINITION:

Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) is an integrated framework for continuous improvement of high-quality instruction, data- driven decision-making, collaboration, and shared leadership to provide all students with the best academic opportunities to succeed.

GOAL:

Every student experiences growth through multi-tiered instruction and assessment practices inclusive of differentiated learning paths and supplemental support.

RATIONALE:

Bismarck Public Schools believes personalization honors who learners are, how they learn, and what they aspire to do.

DEFINITION:

Personalization is a relationship-based approach that provides learners with more choice in how they demonstrate mastery. Instruction is tailored for each learner’s culture, strengths, needs, and interests - including enabling voice and choice in what, how, when, and where they learn. Personalization empowers exploration, practice, agency, communication, creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and efficiency.

GOAL:

Every learner has access to personalized learning paths.

RATIONALE:

Bismarck Public Schools believes standards drive instruction and that all students need to meet or exceed proficiency on North Dakota state standards.

DEFINITION:

Standards-based education is a systemic approach to delivering high quality, equitable learning experiences inclusive of instruction, assessment, grading, and academic reporting practices deliberately focused on students demonstrating mastery of skills and understandings inherent in the standards.

GOAL:

Deliver a high quality, equitable, standards-based education that is consistent across grade levels and courses.

In addition to the Strategic Priority areas, BPS believes having comprehensive plans for critical operational functions within the district are essential for optimal performance. Our Facilities, Finance, Transportation, Technology, and Communication Plans will be located online at https://www.bismarckschools.org/Page/53

OBJECTIVES:

RATIONALE:

Bismarck Public Schools believes in developing human capital where employees can learn and apply ideas and acquire new competencies, behaviors, and attitudes that align with our foundational values.

DEFINITION:

Human capital development serves to position the district as a sought-after choice for employment. It is a system to implement and improve human capital decisions, recruitment strategies, hiring and onboarding, retention, professional development, mentoring, evaluation processes, and compensation and benefit packages.

GOAL:

Recruit, hire, develop, and retain a diverse and premier workforce.

RATIONALE:

Bismarck Public Schools believes collaborative partnerships with the community enhance and enrich experiences for learners.

DEFINITION:

Partnerships include the formal and informal community connections, collaborative projects, and relationships that advance a school’s learning goals.

GOAL:

Create and refine our partnerships based on the mutually beneficial interests between BPS and other agencies, citizens, and private-sector companies.

RATIONALE:

Bismarck Public Schools believes all students deserve extracurricular/co-curricular experiences that facilitate exploration of interests and passion in order to enhance school experience and build life skills.

DEFINITION:

Extra/co-curricular activities provide additional opportunities to support and reinforce learner skills and understandings through passion driven participation in teams, clubs, and specialized courses both in and outside of school.

GOAL:

All learners have diverse opportunities to participate in or lead activities that enhance their experience.

RATIONALE:

Bismarck Public Schools believes each learner thrives within an equitable and inclusive learning environment that values the contribution of personal, cultural, and historical aspects of identity to enrich our schools and community.

DEFINITION:

Inclusive practices ensure that each learner is valued as an equal member of the school community. They support positive school climates and foster an understanding of each student’s strengths and weaknesses while providing intentional and meaningful opportunities to engage in all aspects of learning.

GOAL:

Each learner is valued for their distinct characteristics, ideas, and perspectives.

RATIONALE:

Bismarck Public Schools believes supporting social and emotional needs through a tiered systems framework is foundational to learning.

DEFINITION:

An Interconnected Systems Framework (ISF) serves to integrate School Mental Health and Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports through the blending of resources, training, systems, data, and practices (Multi-Tiered System of Supports). There is an emphasis on prevention, early identification, and intervention of the social, emotional, and behavioral needs of students. Family and community partnerships are critical to this framework.

GOAL:

All learners are supported through a continuum of evidence-based practices that promote behavioral and mental health.