Vision Venues: Opportunities within each school for parents, staff, and students to view the proposed Vision for a Learner and provide additional input.  Vision Venues were set up at all 29 Parkway schools plus all district offices.

Equity: Parkway’s working definition of equity is to “ensure each student, family, and staff member receives the necessary resources to meet their full potential.”

Diversity: Differences between individuals.  This includes but is not limited to, racial/ethnic differences, religious differences, ability differences, and intellectual differences.

Well-being: A state of being emotionally healthy, part of a community, socially satisfied, and secure in one’s mental health.

Pathways: Pathways refer to the choice of ways students learn. Various pathways mean students have options in addition to a traditional learning environment.

Pacing: Supporting students in moving more quickly or more slowly through the curriculum.  American education typically relies on ‘teacher pace’ (i.e. all students moving through learning at the rate set by the teacher).  Pacing, in this context, means ‘moving at a pace different than that of other students.’

Post-Secondary: The timeframe that follows a student’s completion of their high school education, typically lasting 1-6 years.

Vision for a Learner: Parkway’s version of a ‘Profile of a Graduate’ or ‘Profile of a Learner’ specifies what it looks like when students achieve the mission.

Success-Ready Skills: Success-ready skills indicate a student has completed experiences that prepare them for college or workforce success. At the high school level, success-ready skills include Market Value Assets, a Missouri statewide education term. A recognition program will be developed for students who demonstrate the attributes in the Vision for a Learner.

Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS): A comprehensive approach to making sure all students are successful in school.  This includes high-quality instruction for all students, additional time and support for students in need, and intensive intervention for students with significant needs.  It also includes the development of structures to support identification of and student access to all levels of support.

Curriculum and Instruction: Curriculum refers to Parkway’s written curriculum, which is available on the Parkway website. This specifies the essential standards for each course, the intended learning for students within the course, and the criteria for success. Instruction refers to the learning experiences and processes teachers employ in their classrooms.

Disparities: Differences in student outcomes, including academics and opportunities. This can include grades, test scores, and other measures and outcomes between groups of students.

State-defined “student group”: The Student Group includes any student who has an IEP, receives free or reduced-price lunch, is learning English, or identifies as either Black or Hispanic.

Benchmark assessments: Exams given periodically during the school year that help identify student growth and achievement at fixed periods in time.

Parkway surveys: Parkway surveys are administered to students, staff, and parents three times per year. Climate Scans, which occur in the fall and spring, focus on the climate in school buildings and district departments. The “Annual Parkway Survey,” administered once a year, measures organizational health and implementation of the strategic plan.

Facility revitalization plan: Focus groups repeatedly said Parkway needs improved facilities.  This plan will focus on long-range efforts to modernize buildings in the district.

Relevance: Seeing meaning in one’s work, whether personal meaning, preparing for what comes next, or engaging with authentic work in a particular area.

Continuum of learning options: A description of various pathways for student learning ranging from traditional educational settings to learning experiences in fully personalized structures and all points in between.