During the 23-24 school year, teams of teachers, curriculum/professional development teacher leaders, instructional coaches, and principals will meet most Fridays to answer the four critical questions that drive  Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) :

  1. What do we want students to know and be able to do?

  2. How will we know students have learned?

  2a. What instructional practices will produce our best results? 

  3. What do we do if students have not learned?

  4. What do we do when students have already shown mastery?

During this collaborative time, teams look at essential standards and create pathways to effectively ensure students master the standards. Teams create assessments to monitor learning and use the data to guide instruction and determine next steps, such as re-engagement, to help when they have not mastered the learning, or extension when they have mastered the content.

The district has embraced this process and will continue to actively support staff in this important work. Our students deserve our best. PLCs provide the framework for all staff to work collaboratively for the success of ALL.

DVUSD is a Model PLC (Professional Learning Community) District! As 1 of 25 globally recognized model districts, DVUSD shows commitment to the PLC @ Work process, implemented PLC concepts for at least 3 years & presents clear evidence of student learning!

Introducing the Year One PLC Model Teacher Leaders: 2022-23

At the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year, thirty-six teachers embarked on a journey to be campus Model PLC Teacher Leaders. Through professional development, they learned how to effectively facilitate collaborative teams and build PLC capacity on their campuses.  

Model PLC Teacher Leaders shared their thoughts about the personal impact of the program.

•  “It has helped our team see the value of collaboration and working together to guide the success of all the students at our grade level! We are sharing students and helping each other in a way we didn't before.” 

• “This process has allowed me to self-reflect. These meetings have provided more information and strategies for me to dig deeper into and implement in my own Collaborative Team. I plan to take some time to review this information over the summer and continue growing and changing how I think about the PLC process to support my team and my students better.”

•  “It has shown me multiple new ways to reach my students and to structure lessons in an engaging way. It has also shown me that I am someone who can run with the pack; I don't need to worry about my abilities because I can do it!”  

•  “I  have had the opportunity to reflect on my own teaching practices - what I can continue working on and new strategies to implement from peer ideas. I've really enjoyed getting to learn from and talk to like-minded people.”

Year One Model PLC Teacher Leaders 2022-2023: 

Alex Porter,  Katherine Richardson, Jessica Belsterling, Meghan Allen, Casey Bohnenblusch, Patricia Bucholz, Lauren Foltz, Laurel Abbott,  Lililan Ha, Alecia Pernick, Ashley Vickers, Sarah Crabtree, Clara Valdes, Anastasia Smones, Erica Fewell, Leslie Harris, Randi Sell, Hadley Parham, Sara Perkins, Chrislyn Perry, Michelle Sumner, Angela Larson, Laurie Bennett, Justin Hoff, Kelsey Clearly, Kelly DeTata, Melissa Snowden, Donna Newport, Courntey Sutton, Nichole Rezac,  Anastasia Champlin, Connie O'Halloran, Rachel Rutan, Molly Britton, and Dustin Butler. 

Thank you to all of our Year One PLC Model Teacher Leaders for sharing your experiences!  #inspiring #extraordinary

“In my entire career, the single best professional development I have ever witnessed is that of the power of PLCs. Together, teachers are the key to moving our students forward. Dedicated time for collaboration sets it apart."

                                                                                                                                                      - Dr. Curtis Finch

“Our team has come a long way but we didn’t get there alone. Our school leaders and district trainers were with us every step of the way. We accomplished what we have because they didn’t give up on us. They believed in us before we learned to believe in ourselves.”

                                                                                                                                                     -Model PLC Teacher Leader

"Let me start by saying that this year’s new PLC implementation by Aspire’s High School teachers has been challenging.  It is the first year we will be implementing true PLC with common assessments and it got off to a rocky start.  However, I attended the first meeting for the MTL year 1 and chose to make some adjustments to how we ran meetings and truly considered the meeting in my agenda, and may I just say, I was blown away by the focused, student-centered conversations and work in our PLC this afternoon.  There are no words to describe what a night and day difference having roles, norms, and taking into communication into account did for our PLC team.  This is for the whole PLC team that ran the first training.  It was engaging and applicable.  I have never had something that worked so effectively and so quickly and I am looking forward to continuing to be a part of this year’s MTL team. "

                                                                                                                                                      - Social Studies Teacher

"My teachers told me that they are so excited to start the school year because there is a strong focus.  This week has done amazing things to help teachers understand the standards and the CFA cycle.  Also, there is great relationship building with our teachers and our partnering schools!”

                                                                                                                                                       - K-6 Principal

“In my entire career, the single best professional development I have ever witnessed is that of the power of PLCs. Together, teachers are the key to moving our students forward. Dedicated time for collaboration sets it apart."

                                                                                                                                                        - Kindergarten Teacher

"I am so blessed to have the BEST Math PLC Team. We all work so well together, we are on the same page, and we share out ideas and strategies. We challenge each other to push out of our comfort zone and try new things. The data of our students show that GROWTH is occurring and it is because of our PLC commitments. YAHOO!"

                                                                                                                                                         - 5th Grade Teacher

Learning By Doing, Solution Tree Press, Solutiontree.com