Equity Framework

Recognized as a high performing district of choice that reflects the cultures of our diverse community.

In 2014, then Superintendent Tim Culver and Tom Weber completed nearly 60 SWOT exercises with groups of people across our community, with specific consciousness of connecting with community groups who represent the diversity of our community. The thematic analysis of the SWOT exercises was then studied at a three-night event attended by more than 65 community members representing our diverse community. The result of this meeting is our Sun Prairie Area School District Vision and Mission and our Strategic Plan. 

The Sun Prairie Area School District’s Vision, Mission, and Strategic Plan are annually cascaded through Scorecards across all district departments and schools, continuing through grade-level, subject department, and individual goals, called student learning objectives (SLOs). This represents one of our strongest bonds with our community. What the community has articulated that it expects from the school district, what the Board monitors the system to achieve, and what the administrative team has developed to achieve those expectations directly align on behalf of our students and families.

• Statewide Leadership for Equity-WASB Board
• B.E.A.M Awards
• Student Representatives to the School Board
• Board Equity Statement
• High Expectations
  • One years growth in on years time with low-achieving students growing at a faster rate.
  • Disaggregated data by race.

The Board of Education’s commitment to equity as reflected in the District’s Mission, Vision, Preamble to the Board’s Governance Policies and Student Results Policies is at the forefront of every decision made.    - Chandu Vemuri, Supt. Executive Assistant

• Research Partnerships with UW-Madison 
• Staffing Diversity - Grow your Own
• Governance on MSAN
• Pacific Educational Group
  • Beyond Diversity 

  • Courageous Conversations

I am incredibly grateful to work in a district striving to close the opportunity gap with a relentless focus on racial equity in a systemic way.  We're constantly working to improve our outcomes to realize our mission of every child, every day. 
- Cynthia Bell-Jimenez, Meadow View Principal

• Site Equity-Teams
• Read-Your-Heart-Out
• Site Specific work with Sharroky Hollie
• Site Councils of Parents of Color
• EOS, MSAN, Black Student Union,
• AVID Multi-Cultural Groups

At Westside we offer students the opportunity to solve real life problems through our STEAM Units.  Students solve real world problems through the integration of Science, Technology, Engineering the Arts and Math.  What we love about STEAM is that the Arts piece is really about social justice.  We are teaching our scholars to be change agents, showing them they have the ability to make a difference not only in their school but in their community.
- Nikki Burke, Westside Elementary Principal

• Color-Coded Program
• Stan Davis, Community Liaison
• Police Liaison Partnership with City
• SPEF and JstMe
• Community Schools Partnership with the City of Sun Prairie
• American Family Partnership with our Black Student Union

Some other initiatives include:

BEAM Awards
In 2021, over 469 students received Black Excellence Achievement Makers (BEAM) awards and were recognized in a parade-style ceremony. The community held signs of encouragement along the parade route and celebrated

Read Your Heart Out Events 
Westside and Northside Elementary Schools hosted virtual Read Your Heart Out events in honor of National African American Parent Involvement Day. This year guests included Gov. Tony Evers, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, former UW-–Madison basketball player Nigel Hayes, and members of the Sun Prairie Fire Department. It was a great day for our community to come together. Over 600 students and community members participated in celebrating our Black and African American students’ culture through the love of reading.

Race & Equity Teams
Our District Support Center (DSC) staff engaged in a series of equity trainings for staff who have taken Beyond Diversity training. One recent training included a panel of staff who spoke about how their identities (racial and other) have affected them in their work and/or personal lives, what kinds of microaggressions they experience, what their DSC colleagues can do to make them feel more supported at work, what the District does well when it comes to equity work, and what opportunities for improvement there are. 

 

Staff Professional Development:

Recognizing & Preventing Curriculum Violence 
On Tuesday, March 30, 2021, all instructional staff engaged in required professional development as part of the workday. Recognizing and Preventing Curriculum Violence professional development included: the definition of curriculum violence 

“The three students were the best part of today’s professional development. Hearing about their experiences as Sun Prairie students helped bring awareness to me what I should keep doing to build connections with all of my students, but also what I need to START doing to build stronger connections and to help students feel included and safe.” —SPASD staff member 

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District Book Study 
In the spring of 2020, our instructional coaches recommended that a book study using Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain, by Zaretta Hammond, would help move our school system forward in equity. All educators in our system have engaged in the study, discussion, and application of the concepts shared. Our educators will continue to focus on applying the “Ready for Rigor Framework,” which emphasizes awareness (of race, culture, and brain science), learning partnerships that emphasize relationships between students and educators, information processing (intentional lesson design that helps students process new information), and community of learners and learning environment (a culture that fosters connections, resolves conflicts, and creates space for student voices). These important concepts are now common knowledge for all educators in our District, and with practice will be applied in ways that strengthen learning communities and impact students in positive ways. 

“We are all seeing ourselves as part of the solution and exploring instructional practices and biases to best meet the needs of our Black and Brown students. Through vulnerability, honest and difficult conversations, and building a deeper level of trust within our building, we are committing to the ongoing work of addressing racial injustices in our educational system.” —4th-grade teacher 

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Sun Prairie chose Cornelius Minor to address our teachers at the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year to promote our commitment to equity and our implementation of SEL this year. 
Cornelius Minor is a Brooklyn-based educator. He works with teachers, school leaders, and leaders of community-based organizations to support equitable literacy reform in cities (and sometimes villages) across the globe. His latest book, We Got This, explores how the work of creating more equitable school spaces is embedded in our everyday choices—specifically in the choice to really listen to kids. He has partnered with The Teachers College Reading and Writing Project, The New York City Department of Education, The International Literacy Association, and Lesley University’s Center for Reading Recovery and Literacy Collaborative.

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Sharroky Hollie was the keynote speaker at our 2019-2020 school year commencement to kickoff our schools year.

Sharroky Hollie is a national educator who provides professional development to thousands of educators in cultural responsiveness. He has authored several texts and journal articles. Most recently, he wrote Strategies for Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Teaching and Learning (2015) which teachers in Sun Prairie have found valuable to their learning. Sharroky brings the practical implications for creating a culturally responsive culture that teachers strive for with their students. In addition to providing district-wide professional development, Dr. Hollie coached teams of teachers at the secondary level and at Westside Elementary School. 

We have been working in partnership with the Pacific Educational Group (PEG) as part of our strategic goal to eliminate the opportunity gap for students of color through racial equity. The staff at PEG have been working with staff and community members to transform beliefs, behaviors, and results so students of all races can achieve at their highest level. Three teams have been formed to learn the Courageous Conversation protocol to help us engage in deep interracial dialogue and to address persistent racial disparities. The three teams within our system are as follows: 

1) District Equity Leadership Team (DELT) 
Comprised of the superintendent, assistant superintendents, and District Support Center administrators.

2) LEADS
Made up of all site and District administrators as well as program managers and administrative support staff.

3) Site E-Teams (equity teams)
Seven to ten members from each school site.

All three teams began their equity journey by participating in the Beyond Diversity seminar and have participated in quarterly staff development. All teams have been charged with examining the impact of race on student learning and creating strategic actions to address disparities that exist at each site. The results of this work have been shared on our district, department, and site action plans.

AVID is a college readiness system designed to increase school-wide learning and improve academic performance for students. AVID is offered in the 7th–12th grades. 466 AVID elective students participated in the program. AVID targets students in the academic middle who have the desire to go to college and the willingness to work hard. These are students who are capable of completing a rigorous curriculum but can benefit from support. AVID learning strategies are a focus in all of our secondary buildings.

• 100% of AVID Graduates were college accepted. 

• Over 4 million dollars were offered in scholarships funds. 

“AVID has given me more opportunities than I ever could have learned or found on my own. I think one of the best gifts AVID has given me is how to direct my pre-existing driven personality to benefit my future.” —AVID student

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Equal Opportunity Schools brings equity to Advanced Placement (AP) and Project Lead the Way (PLTW) classes. Equal Opportunity Schools (EOS) has helped more than 540 schools, including Sun Prairie High School, identify low-income students and students of color who qualify for, but are missing from AP classes. Working together, we successfully enroll students and support their academic success.  

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The purpose of the BSU (Black Student Union) is to train students to become leaders for themselves, their families, their communities, and school. The organization’s mission is to analyze and resolve the stereotypes and barriers between ourselves and others, and to build commUNITY within our own as well as with other cultures and individuals by applying honor and respect. Beyond, the BSU is a safe place for minority students to express, debate and celebrate Black culture, history and politics.

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The SPASD in collaboration with grants awarded from the Sun Prairie Education Foundation have provided for JusTme to work with all elementary schools and middle schools in the SPASD. His expertise is in teaching self-love and self-awareness through mindfulness and Hip-hop.

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Computer Science and robotics camps are available to students throughout the school year and into the summer. The program links mentors in computer science with students who attend the clubs and summer program to grow overall interest in the field of computer science.