Haworth Reflects On A Year In Warsaw
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
"First of all," he said during an interview Monday afternoon, "I would like to compliment the community. I found in one year the greater Warsaw community to be concerned and dedicated to their young people. That truly is a blessing because it makes being an education leader very easy."
Haworth was hired by the Warsaw School Board at its Feb. 20, 2006, meeting. He started his duties as superintendent July 1, 2006. He previously served as superintendent at Springs Valley School Corp. in French Lick.
He replaced Dr. Dave McGuire, who resigned on July 27, 2005. Ralph Bailey, Columbia City, served as interim superintendent until Haworth was hired.
Haworth said there were a number of challenges during his first year.
The first challenge was the corporation's facility needs. He worked to make sure everyone was aware of those needs. Haworth said Warsaw has a great staff, and if it has the facilities to match the staff's skills and creativity, it will be matched by student improvement.
On May 21, the school board approved moving forward with Step 1 of Option A. Step 1 includes replacing Leesburg Elementary with a new four-section school for $16 million; expanding and renovating Claypool and Jefferson schools for $10 million each; and replacing Madison with a new four-section school for $16 million. The total bond issue for Step 1 is $65 million. Total cost for Option A is approximately $100 million. The other two steps, if approved, include addressing the facility needs of other elementary schools and two middle schools in the school corporation.
During the 2003-04 school year, the school board decided to close three elementary schools - Silver Lake, Claypool and Atwood - which contributed to the overcrowding problem.
Another challenge for Haworth, he said, is his number of contacts. Warsaw Schools has a number of buildings off campus in different locations, unlike Spring Valley. Warsaw Schools also has more staff than Spring Valley. He said he wants get to know more of the staff and visit all of the schools more often.
A third challenge has been getting Warsaw Schools out of academic probation. The federal No Child Left Behind program requires annually that each school and school corporation be designated by the Indiana Department of Education to have made Adequate Yearly Progress or not. Schools must meet AYP not only with total population, but also with any subgroups within the student body.
If Warsaw makes academic progress in two consecutive years, the school corporation is taken off probation. Warsaw met AYP last year.
Haworth said Warsaw is often called the orthopedic capitol of the world. "In the education business," he said, "we want to be the education center of Indiana. To try to reach that goal, we're doing several things."
One of those things includes having "looping" principals at the high school. When freshmen enter the high school, they will have the same principal for all four years that will work to build positive relationships with the students. Hopefully, Haworth said, that also will help to decrease expulsion rates and increase attendance, student achievement and graduation rates.
The high school has more than 2,000 students. By breaking the school into four different houses by grade level, with an administrator following a grade for all four years they are there, Haworth said the principals can build on relationships with students and make WCHS a better place.
Principal Dr. Jennifer Lucht will still be the "principal of record" and still in the same capacity she has been, Haworth said. But instead of one assistant principal for attendance, or one for discipline, each principal will monitor attendance, discipline and other matters for their class for all four years that class is at the high school.
The result is schools within a school. Lucht started the idea several years ago, Haworth said, with the Freshmen Academy. Now they're building on that for the other high school grades.
"We're anxious to see how that is going to work," he said.
Haworth said one of the other goals is to decrease the number of discipline problems in Warsaw schools.
The past year also saw Warsaw Schools build on its strategic plan. Haworth said they reached many of the plan's goals. For the upcoming year, he said, the strategic plan will include more long-term goals, such as improvement in communication with the public and an increase in student achievement in English, language arts and math. He wants Warsaw Schools to provide for the needs of its diverse learners.
Asked if there were any major changes coming to Warsaw Schools, Haworth said, "From an educational standpoint, there's always a pendulum that swings back and forth of what is popular, new and the latest craze. The focus for us should be what can be proven with the support data we have." He said he does not foresee any major initiatives and personnel will remain the same.
With the building project comes the need for redistricting of the school corporation. Haworth said that should come after the first step of Option A is completed, and that will take into account the second and third step if the school board decides to proceed with those.
Regardless of what changes happen or don't occur at Warsaw Community Schools, Haworth said it's all about the people that make it up.
"In terms of education, I believe it's about people, not necessarily the programs, and Warsaw Community Schools has a lot of good people, and as a result, Warsaw Community Schools is going to be successful," said Haworth.[[In-content Ad]]
"First of all," he said during an interview Monday afternoon, "I would like to compliment the community. I found in one year the greater Warsaw community to be concerned and dedicated to their young people. That truly is a blessing because it makes being an education leader very easy."
Haworth was hired by the Warsaw School Board at its Feb. 20, 2006, meeting. He started his duties as superintendent July 1, 2006. He previously served as superintendent at Springs Valley School Corp. in French Lick.
He replaced Dr. Dave McGuire, who resigned on July 27, 2005. Ralph Bailey, Columbia City, served as interim superintendent until Haworth was hired.
Haworth said there were a number of challenges during his first year.
The first challenge was the corporation's facility needs. He worked to make sure everyone was aware of those needs. Haworth said Warsaw has a great staff, and if it has the facilities to match the staff's skills and creativity, it will be matched by student improvement.
On May 21, the school board approved moving forward with Step 1 of Option A. Step 1 includes replacing Leesburg Elementary with a new four-section school for $16 million; expanding and renovating Claypool and Jefferson schools for $10 million each; and replacing Madison with a new four-section school for $16 million. The total bond issue for Step 1 is $65 million. Total cost for Option A is approximately $100 million. The other two steps, if approved, include addressing the facility needs of other elementary schools and two middle schools in the school corporation.
During the 2003-04 school year, the school board decided to close three elementary schools - Silver Lake, Claypool and Atwood - which contributed to the overcrowding problem.
Another challenge for Haworth, he said, is his number of contacts. Warsaw Schools has a number of buildings off campus in different locations, unlike Spring Valley. Warsaw Schools also has more staff than Spring Valley. He said he wants get to know more of the staff and visit all of the schools more often.
A third challenge has been getting Warsaw Schools out of academic probation. The federal No Child Left Behind program requires annually that each school and school corporation be designated by the Indiana Department of Education to have made Adequate Yearly Progress or not. Schools must meet AYP not only with total population, but also with any subgroups within the student body.
If Warsaw makes academic progress in two consecutive years, the school corporation is taken off probation. Warsaw met AYP last year.
Haworth said Warsaw is often called the orthopedic capitol of the world. "In the education business," he said, "we want to be the education center of Indiana. To try to reach that goal, we're doing several things."
One of those things includes having "looping" principals at the high school. When freshmen enter the high school, they will have the same principal for all four years that will work to build positive relationships with the students. Hopefully, Haworth said, that also will help to decrease expulsion rates and increase attendance, student achievement and graduation rates.
The high school has more than 2,000 students. By breaking the school into four different houses by grade level, with an administrator following a grade for all four years they are there, Haworth said the principals can build on relationships with students and make WCHS a better place.
Principal Dr. Jennifer Lucht will still be the "principal of record" and still in the same capacity she has been, Haworth said. But instead of one assistant principal for attendance, or one for discipline, each principal will monitor attendance, discipline and other matters for their class for all four years that class is at the high school.
The result is schools within a school. Lucht started the idea several years ago, Haworth said, with the Freshmen Academy. Now they're building on that for the other high school grades.
"We're anxious to see how that is going to work," he said.
Haworth said one of the other goals is to decrease the number of discipline problems in Warsaw schools.
The past year also saw Warsaw Schools build on its strategic plan. Haworth said they reached many of the plan's goals. For the upcoming year, he said, the strategic plan will include more long-term goals, such as improvement in communication with the public and an increase in student achievement in English, language arts and math. He wants Warsaw Schools to provide for the needs of its diverse learners.
Asked if there were any major changes coming to Warsaw Schools, Haworth said, "From an educational standpoint, there's always a pendulum that swings back and forth of what is popular, new and the latest craze. The focus for us should be what can be proven with the support data we have." He said he does not foresee any major initiatives and personnel will remain the same.
With the building project comes the need for redistricting of the school corporation. Haworth said that should come after the first step of Option A is completed, and that will take into account the second and third step if the school board decides to proceed with those.
Regardless of what changes happen or don't occur at Warsaw Community Schools, Haworth said it's all about the people that make it up.
"In terms of education, I believe it's about people, not necessarily the programs, and Warsaw Community Schools has a lot of good people, and as a result, Warsaw Community Schools is going to be successful," said Haworth.[[In-content Ad]]
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