As Dr. Kate Orozco leaves District 44, we celebrate the legacy of initiatives she has fostered, designed to build a collaborative culture, centered on effective and innovative teaching and learning that improves student outcomes.
Under Dr. Orozco’s leadership, school administrators have formed a visionary “AdCo” team focused on defining and achieving shared goals. Teachers, administrators and board members have attended monthly “Instructional Task Force” meetings where they can discuss innovative teaching as well as problems of practice. Board work sessions have become engaging learning opportunities, open to the community, and designed to shed light on the term “21st century teaching and learning.” Over the last four years, many teachers and administrators traveled to Denver with Public Education and Business Coalition to observe cutting edge educational approaches. At home, our district personnel had the advantage of working with educational coach, Dr. Katy Karschney, to develop collaborative partnerships and workshop techniques in classrooms. In the interests of developing scholarly conversations surrounding effective teaching and learning, Dr. Orozco has introduced Instructional Rounds, fashioned after medical training rounds, except designed to spotlight the best in classroom technique.
During Dr. Orozco’s tenure, our interview process has become even more rigorous; now requiring the teacher candidate to demonstrate his/her personalized approach to engaging students by actually teaching a lesson to Whitefish students during the interview itself.
Through Dr. Orozco’s guidance, the district has undertaken a long list of forward-thinking projects. The Muldown ALPS Program (enrichment) includes a focus on early exposure to foreign language immersion. And at Whitefish Middle School, the new Coding Club has generated great excitement among the students. Of course, there was the successful completion of the High School Building Project and implementation of a modified block schedule. Longer learning periods have encouraged further development of the “new 3 R’s” – Rigor, Relevance, and Relationship. Many new cross-curricular and community partnerships have arisen, including the Acoustics project at the Center, and the new Greenhouse project.
Reflecting on our journey over the past four years, we clearly owe a debt of gratitude to the visionary leadership of Dr. Kate Orozco. She has instilled a Student-centered mindset, focused on a constantly improving educational culture in Whitefish. Thanks, Dr. Orozco, for “walking the talk.”
And as we look to the future, the district is pleased to welcome Dr. Heather Davis Schmidt as the new superintendent. She is eager to continue nurturing what she terms a “remarkable school system,” intending first to listen, with the dual intention of retaining what is working well and identifying what might be better done differently.
Dr. Davis Schmidt looks forward to encouraging the district’s focus on collaboration. She notes that often teachers and administrators feel isolated by their particular assignment, and effective communication offers vital support in both daily work and in ongoing professional development.
As the district builds and strengthens programs, Dr. Davis Schmidt intends to root these efforts in comprehensive and transparent communications. She considers building trust as critical to district success. And she views her role, in part, as a conduit to streamline communications for all participants in the school community. She says, “You will find me very accessible and straight forward, with a focus on building and working from trust.” Looking ahead to the upcoming school year, we School Board members anticipate ongoing growth and benefit for our students and community!
Shawn Watts, Board Chair
Ruth Harrison, Vice Chair