Growth is something FISD has become very accustomed to over the years and that means growing district leaders, as well as student minds and learning environments.

Because of its continued growth, FISD provides opportunity for staff members to work toward advancement within the organization. Many FISD leaders have experience in other districts, but there is also value in growing your own leaders who have experience at all levels within the organization. Frisco is one of a few area school districts (Richardson and Allen are two others) to put into place a program for nurturing leadership. GOAL (Growing Organizational and Administrative Leaders) is a year-long program designed to expose teachers to the operations of the entire district to provide a more big-picture perspective.

Overseeing GOAL are two experienced educators who have served in the classroom, as principals and now as part of FISD administration –Debbie Whitt Jarzombek, Director of Elementary Instruction, and Ronnie Elmore, Director of Secondary Personnel.

“We want to inculcate them in the culture of the district,” Debbie Whitt Jarzombek explained. GOAL participants have the opportunity to meet individually with Superintendent of Schools Dr. Rick Reedy and his Instructional Support Team members, along with principals and other leaders in the district. GOAL also requires each participant to do a project that could potentially benefit or encompasses the entire district – allowing them to begin to consider the needs of the entire school system.

“This reassures them about why they came to Frisco to teach. They see the nurturing and guidance provided by the school board and Dr. Reedy. They develop an awareness of the people in the district,” Elmore said.

GOAL members also attend school board meetings to learn how the school board makes decisions. GOAL members have had front row seats to witness the school board consider and act on issues such as attendance zones, construction, budget and professional development and instructional innovations.

“Each year we ask Dr. Reedy to speak to our class. He takes the time to be introduced to each individual. He is always very good at communicating what the district is doing and our vision,” Jarzombek said.

Jarzombek and Elmore are very clear that participation in GOAL is not an automatic stamp that sends someone up the ladder to assistant principal. But many GOAL class members have been selected and hired for positions such as AP, instructional specialists and coordinators. Others have taken what they have learned in GOAL and moved on to other districts in leadership positions. Jarzombek and Elmore rejoice in playing a part in giving back to the educational field, even if it is not in FISD.

“GOAL is about servant leadership – serving students, serving your campus and serving the community,” Jarzombek said. Many GOAL projects really bring that home. A Stafford Middle School teacher, Stacee Huffer, coordinated a clothing drive for needy students – a project that touched Dr. Reedy since Stafford’s namesake, English teacher Sue Wilson Stafford, for many years collected clothing for families in need.

Nerissa Texada worked on a commercial that promoted Kindergarten Roundup. Karen Kidd remembered that Charlotte Mooneyham and Catherine Fowler used to take new teachers on a tour of Frisco and talk to them about the community’s history and the school district’s history. That is not possible today because of the number of new teachers hired each year, so Kidd turned that tour into a video that helps new teachers understand what makes Frisco special.

Texada, who teaches third grade at Gunstream, is very positive about her GOAL experience. She said she thinks it gave her an opportunity to understand the role of administrators and how the district works. “I gained experience in my leadership skills,” she said, adding that GOAL has impacted her career and her professional expectations.

Projects may arise from a need the teacher sees and many projects are suggested by other administrators to meet a need in the district. Many of the projects can also be replicated by others. For example, Dana Solomon, the new assistant principal at Spears, contacted Dr. Timothy Rasinski from Kent State who had spoken to a group of elementary and middle school teachers and principals about his research.

She chose a project related to developing reading fluency by using reader’s theater. Dr. Rasinsky’s research has shown that increased reading fluency correlates to increased reading comprehension. Dana’s objective with the project was that students “will improve reading accuracy, rate, prosody, comprehension, and self-concept as a reader through consistent practice enacting and creating reader’s theater scripts.” Dana developed a reader’s theater after school club with 5th graders. The outcome showed that fluency growth for reader’s theater club students was 38.4 words per minute and fluency growth for other students was 33.8 words per minute. In addition, Solomon’s dialogue with the professor has led to the two writing an article together.

Each project is presented to Jarzombek and Elmore and then at GOAL graduation each participant has a short period of time to describe their project to the district leadership.
Both Elmore and Jarzombek say they wish they had experienced an opportunity such as GOAL before they made the jump from classroom teacher to administrator.

“I would have loved to been in program like this,” Elmore said. He and Jarzombek note that participation in GOAL allows teachers to see the various avenues of leadership in a school system that could take their career into areas they might not have otherwise considered.

GOAL began in 2002 under the direction of Patsi Tindel, a now retired FISD coordinator. It has grown from having a handful of participants to last year’s class of 27. Elmore and Jarzombek noticed that 27 GOAL students made it difficult for them to get to know each participant on a personal level. They have chosen to limit the class to 20 in the upcoming year as well as move it to the centralized location of the Career and Technical Education Center and to offer more flexible hours during the school year. There have been 90 participants since the inception of the program.

GOAL participants should have finished their master’s degree and are selected following a scientific rubric that measures the years of experience, the strength of the application, professional recommendations and other factors. Once accepted each participant must complete a project, shadow an administrator and turn in written observations, attend campus or district improvement team meetings, and complete assigned readings.

One aspect of GOAL that Elmore and Jarzombek enjoy is seeing how the teachers react when they realize that the very busy people such as the school board members, Superintendent Reedy and his instructional support team take the time to visit with GOAL. “It gives them a sense of their value to the district when they see these folks with busy schedules take time to meet with them,” the two observed together.

As anyone who takes the time to grow something knows – there are failures and successes. But in the GOAL program the growth may not be seen in the hiring of someone as AP but it will be seen in their own awareness of their personal strengths and their leadership styles.

“It is always exciting to watch the class. There are some people who hit the ground running. But sometimes there are those silent ones who end up being a shining star,” Elmore said.

FISD’s GOAL classes help graduates improve in their understanding of the district. Many are still in the classroom. Some of them are now in leadership positions. But they all shine brighter because of their time in GOAL.

Purpose Statement –
To orient aspiring administrators in the operation and culture of Frisco ISD to potentially serve in leadership positions within the district and contribute to the enhancement of student achievement.