PLANO ISD
ACADEMY VISIONING COMMITTEE MEETING
October 13, 2010
Meeting began at 6:04 p.m.
Deputy Superintendent Danny Modisette called the meeting to order with a reminder that
the main focus of the committee was to form the belief system around schools of choice,
what they might be and what the first academy might look like. He stated that there was
not a mandate for planning a certain number of academies. Although November 10 is the
last scheduled meeting, more time can be taken if the committee does not feel ready to
submit their recommendation to the board.
Discussion about Community Meeting
Mr. Modisette briefly outlined the Education Summit plans for November 3 stating tables
would be set up for community discussion with one committee and staff member present
at each station to facilitate two-way communication.
Executive Director for Government and Community Relations Karla Oliver reviewed
how the work of the committee would be shared publicly. Avenues of communication
will include campus and district eNews, social media, PTA, the PISD homepage, parent
portal and the shared public site. Ms. Oliver noted that committee names would be
published on the public site and that members may be approached regarding their
involvement with the committee’s work.
Consensus on Mission
The committee members designated to work on the mission of the academy requested
more time to put their final thoughts together. The mission will be continued at the next
meeting. The group designated to work on the mission was entitled “Mission Writers.”
Writing Findings and Directions
Group Facilitator Roz Keck defined findings as “statements about what the district and
community believe about how learning should be facilitated and supported” and defined
directions as “statements that describe how you will make the findings happen.” Ms.
Keck asked the committee to begin brainstorming their ideas on findings and directions
based on the committee’s previous work in the following areas: academy focus,
teaching/learning/expectations, technology, time and school size/counseling/advisories.
The committee began sharing findings and directions at the end of the meeting and were
asked to save their work on the wiki site for review at the next meeting.
Ms. Keck initiated a table activity for participants who were divided into eight working
groups. The question posed in regard to academy focus was, “Should each academy have
a particular focus? If so, what should the focus be for the first academy?” Comments
shared included:
Table Ideas:
 Project Based Learning (7) New Tech (3)
 International Studies
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Communication Studies
Digital Gaming (2)
Biomechanics
Global/Public Health
Technology Research/Computer Science (2)
Career (approximately 10 areas) (5)
Digital Arts/AV
Medical Science (2)
Personal Services (cosmetology, massage, etc.)
STEM
Group Consensus
 Technologically PBL
 Technology/Global Health with PBL
 Public Health/International Studies with PBL
 New Tech High School Model (2)
 Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math, Science (TEAMS) with PBL
 CTE with STEM + medical + personal services with PBL
The table groups were asked to discuss the following questions as background and then to
begin developing findings and directions on the wiki site:
Teaching/Learning/Expectations (tables 1 & 5)
 What should learning look like at an academy?
 How can learning become engaging, real world work that students perceive as
relevant, interesting, and motivating?
 How can students take responsibility for their own learning?
 Should learning in a focus area be integrated with learning in core areas, and if so,
how?
 Should all teaching and learning take place at school? Should some learning take
place in the community?
 How should students demonstrate their learning?
 What types of learning will help students to be successful in college, and how
should that be integrated into instruction at the school?
 Should the graduation requirements for students at the academy be identical to
those at other schools? If not, what should be added?
Technology (tables 4 & 6)
 How should technology be integrated into learning in an academy?
 How will technology impact the library?
 Will there be a need for general purpose computer labs? Will there be a need for
computer labs for subjects that require special software, processing capability,
peripherals?
 How should the building be planned now to respond to what is anticipated or
imagined in the future?
Time (tables 2 & 8)
 How should time be utilized to allow for individual student learning?
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Should the entire school day for both teachers and students be fully scheduled or
should both teachers and students have some unscheduled time to work together
and independently---to allow students to obtain help as needed, to pursue areas of
interest? If so, how can time be used in order to help students know how to
effectively use unscheduled time?
Should students be able to earn credits outside the typical school day? School
year? If so, should the school day be extended to allow students to take additional
courses?
School Size and Counseling and Advisories (tables 3 & 7)
 What is the optimum maximum size for an academy? Conversely, is there a
minimum size below which important programs or instruction cannot be offered
or costs become prohibitive?
 What should the role of the counselor be at an academy?
 How should counselors interface with students? When? Where?
 What kind of advisory services should be provided in an academy?
Homework
Ms. Keck asked the committee to continue working on the findings and directions for the
next meeting. Mission Writers stayed after the meeting to continue their work.
The next committee meeting will be on Wednesday, October 20, 2010, with a light dinner
served from 5:30 – 6:00 p.m. and the meeting held from 6:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Meeting adjourned at 8:38 p.m.
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