Anyone who has heard Superintendent Larry Linthacum speak has likely heard him say, "We're stronger together."
It's become his tagline in the year he's been with Jefferson City Public Schools, and the sentiment was a major overtone in his speech to the roughly 1,200 staff at the annual opening session Monday.
The Jefferson City High School gymnasium was packed with faculty as Linthacum took them through the district's strategic plan. The three priorities - learning, workplace culture and student behaviors - were consistently mentioned in an anonymous survey completed by 1,050 staff members last school year.
While the district has had some "speed bumps" this past year, Linthacum said, the current school year is about focusing on the future and accepting they're not satisfied with their current status.
He opened the session with an exercise.
Staff with a last name beginning with "H" or "S" stood up. Those people represent 19 percent of the faculty in the district, which also represents the number of students who don't graduate in four years.
"When you looked around and saw the folks standing - 81 percent of those students graduating in four years - that's what makes it real," Linthacum said. "'Wow, there are a lot of folks standing.' That is a focus area. It's a long-term goal. It's something that is real."
Increasing the graduation rate is one of the district's long-term goals and is outlined on the strategic plan handed out to every district staff member.
He also addressed the district's 70.7 percent Annual Performance Report (APR) determined by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education based on a five-category grading system.
"Our APR is not where we want it to be," he said. "I refuse to believe we're a C- school district. I refuse to believe it. It stirs something in me. Where are we today? We're pleased with our plans moving forward, but we're not pleased with where we are today. Our vision is through our strategic plan."
Of the three priorities, Linthacum spent the majority of his time talking about workplace culture and student discipline.
Event if the district has a great strategic plan, it will collapse if the district doesn't have an environment where people want to come to work and feel motivated, he said. If teachers feel there's a positive culture, that feeling will trickle down to the students and positively impact their learning.
"We need to have a culture where you don't mind sitting next to the person next to you to help kids," he said.
The No. 1 response on the staff survey was student discipline. At the end of last year, the district put together a Behavior Task Force and created an alignment of districtwide student expectations and a range of consequences.
Starting this fall, Linthacum plans to go to each building and relay the message from the task force made up of teachers, support staff and administrators. Key points were respect and appropriate dress attire.
"At your house, if your kids roll their eyes at you, you may respond differently than I do at my house," he said. "I'm just being honest. Bottom line is we want to have clear expectations and have a line in the sand. And when they cross it, they're going to be held accountable. This is not going to happen overnight. Some of this starts at home."
Linthacum said the dress code has remained the same, but it's going to be enforced. Appropriate dress attire starts with faculty, he said. Teachers don't necessarily have to wear a suit and tie to work every day, but their attire sets the tone for the classroom.
"The bottom line is this: the plan is clearly defined," he said. "There's three kinds of folks: there are riders, there's speed bumps and there are pullers. We've had some speed bumps this past year. We're trying to fix those speed bumps, and I'm asking you to be part of the solution. If you're a speed bump, I'm asking you to get in the wagon. If you're in the wagon, I'm asking you to be one of the ones pulling and leading. We are, we truly are, stronger together."
Board President John Ruth addressed the room and shared the success of a JCPS alum who currently works at Amazon in Seattle. The foundation for the alum's success were his teachers, some of which were probably in the room, he said.
"Whether you realize it today or you realize it 20 years from now, many of your students are bound for awesome things because of you," he said. "You're making a difference in their lives, and you're making them shine."
Executive Director Karen Enloe and President Brenda Hatfield of the Jefferson City Public Schools Foundation announced 10 winners of the Professionals of the Year award, which recognizes outstanding teachers with three years or less experience.
Before everyone walked to Adkins Stadium for a staff photo, they watched a district-made video of the hopes teachers and students shared for the coming year. Students wrote on a chalkboard they hoped their teachers and peers would like them, they hoped they'd do well in school, they'd be happy and school would feel like home.
Teachers hoped their students would learn, that students felt like they mattered, that they'd feel inspired and school would feel like a second home.
The video stood out to high school social studies teacher Lynn Earle.
"I hope (my students) come ready to learn and that they enjoy learning," she said. "I'm looking forward to the new students and the new schedule."
The open session was a motivating way to kick off the school year, and she also really liked Linthacum's enthusiasm.
Erica Golden from South Elementary School agreed the ceremony was a motivating way to come back from summer. This year she'll work one on one with a kindergarten student and she hopes, just like every other year, that she can make a difference in that student's life.