Improvement – it’s more than a buzzword for Omaha Public Schools. It’s at the heart of our Moonshot goal of all students reading on grade level by 2030.

Getting there takes a layered approach – gathering feedback and looking at ways to build on the things that are working and adjust things that aren’t. Throughout our district, teams are coming together regularly to advance this work.

“Everyone is working towards the same goal, which is to improve literacy for all our students,” said John Crowe, Ph.D., Omaha Public Schools director of enterprise strategy and innovation.

The workgroups formed this fall, established to guide our continuous improvement efforts.

“It’s a new, innovative way of facilitating work, leading to a system that allows questions and problems to be addressed faster,” Crowe explained.

The workgroups, which include input from all departments in our district, are focused around big, centralized ideas or themes.

“All the teams are working on building the rocket that's going to get us to the moon,” said Jaimie Cogua, Omaha Public Schools director of English learner, Dual Language, refugee and migrant education.

While each workgroup has a specific focus area, together they support improving the learning experience. One group may be discussing how to build and maintain partnerships with families and the community, while another is ensuring that teachers have the necessary materials to support students.

“The point is to empower the workgroups to solve problems, free up lines of communication and not approach things in a bottleneck fashion,” said Crowe. They move our system forward from strategy to action.”

At the center of these groups is a commitment to improve as a system, which will benefit all our students.

“It’s exciting to be given an opportunity to take tactics that need to be done and move the work forward,” said Cogua. “Knowing that you're responsible for leading work for the whole district and that it's going to impact all of the teachers, students and families in our district.”

The workgroups will continue to meet throughout the school year, providing recommendations that will help move our strategic priorities forward.