cA streamlined education plan aligning the current administration’s focus with the district’s philosophy and the board’s mission and vision statements will get another round of discussion at the Ames Community School Board’s meeting Monday, Nov. 15.

 Superintendent Tim Taylor proposes the board approve the plan at its meeting on Monday, Dec. 6, pointing out the new plan connects all elements of the district, from early childhood through high school, with administration, support staff, the board and the community, in a systems-thinking approach.

 The main goal of the education plan is to create student-centered classrooms where all students are actively engaged in learning, staff uses data and effective formative assessments, teachers form professional learning communities for collaboration to make informed decisions about a variety of instructional practices, and the needs of all students are met so they reach their potential.

 The board will hear what’s at stake for the education plan from the perspective of Ames High Principal Spence Evans, who will present the high school’s Adequate Yearly Progress report. The report is a federal requirement for each school for No Child Left Behind, which demonstrates students’ yearly progress towards meeting the state’s goals for academic standards, participation rates and other benchmarks.

 Chief Financial Officer Karen Shimp will provide a board learning session about the district’s year-end financial report at 5:30 p.m., and more details about the facilities aspect of finances will unfold later in the meeting with a Physical Plant and Equipment Levy fund report from Gerry Peters, director of facilities planning and management.

 Following up on a report Peters presented last week on the condition of district facilities, Board president Mary Jurenka will lead the board in a discussion about the next steps in the facilities planning process. The board reviewed the pros and cons of the school sites it has visited during the facilities planning process and plans to seek consensus on the design elements it prefers.