Did you know that through extensive work and continual reflection over a long period of time, KCS has developed a set of beliefs, principals, and truths that both define our district’s focus and guide all work?  These are called the KCS Guiding Tenets, and they act as the foundation for all that happens throughout Kingsport City Schools.  This week, the Saturday Six looks at the Guiding Tenets and shares this important information with you!

1.  The KCS Mission explains what we hope to accomplish as a district, and that is to provide all students with a world-class and student-focused education that ensures college and career readiness.  Our Vision describes our desired future, which is to be “Student Focused … World Class.”
2. Six Core Values have been identified, which describe what we believe as a district.  We believe in:
   • Exemplary student learning.
   • A guaranteed and viable curriculum.
   • Collaborative professional learning communities.
   • Engaged families and the community.
   • Data-driven decisions for continuous improvement.
   • A culture of shared leadership.
3. All of our work is centered on five Goals, which are the things we strive to achieve.  They are:
   • Goal One: Deliver world-class curriculum and instruction.
   • Goal Two: Provide committed and innovative educators.
   • Goal Three: Furnish safe, appropriate, and well-maintained facilities that support teaching and learning.
   • Goal Four: Ensure business operations effectively support teaching and learning.
   • Goal Five: Engage families and the community.
4. There are also a set of items called Core Competencies, which define who we are as a district.  We are a district that:
   • Promotes and supports exemplary leadership through programming and succession planning.
   • Offers a rigorous, comprehensive, and engaging curriculum.
   • Engages students in learning through the use of transformative tools and innovative instructional practices.
   • Provides personalized professional learning opportunities for all employees.
   • Actively engages and serves our families and community.
   • Supports and sustains the organization with a performance improvement system.
5. What do we do?  That is describe in our Key Practices.  We:
   • Plan, teach, assess, and evaluate to inform instructional practices through the use of the 4 critical questions (see below).
   • Incorporate problem-solving and innovation in teaching and learning.
   • Guide teaching and learning using internationally benchmarked standards.
   • Seek to understand and engage our families and community.
   • Recruit, retain, and develop highly competent educators.
   • Build leadership capacity within our educational community.
6. And finally, our teaching and learning philosophy is focused on Four Critical Questions:
   • What is it we expect our students to learn?
   • How will we know when our students have learned it?
   • How will we respond when our students do not learn?
   • How do we respond when our students have mastered the content?

These Guiding Tenets serve as the road map for what goes on throughout all of Kingsport City Schools!