Year Nineteen
Forward

This year, the School District of Upper Moreland Township’s Framework for Continuous Improvement will continue onward in its nineteenth year.  In 2002 when we advocated to initiate the Framework process in Upper Moreland, there were ambitious goals to meet.  We were interested in developing a cohesive process to ensure that planned courses would be developed, aligned to state and national standards and assessments, and that coursework would be “seamless” from grades K-12.  Further, we wanted to ensure that there were both ongoing training and materials available to help us as we moved forward on our journey.  Looking back at these then-ambitious goals, it is difficult to remember a time in Upper Moreland when we lacked standards-based planned course documents and when we did not have mechanisms in place to provide professional development.  What a difference eighteen years of persistent focus on a set of tasks has made!  

As the Framework enters its nineteenth year, it has provided a roadmap for all of us as we have moved forward.   This year will include unusual “firsts” to encounter, including a global pandemic and a transition to new leadership.  The Framework, which has grown and evolved over the years, will continue to move with the times.  However, it is important to not lose sight of the original intent of the Framework.  In 2002, when first published, the Framework document provided an introduction that ended with the following narrative: “If we as a staff, as a building, and as a District can begin to combine all of these efforts and focus on them as a cohesive set of strategies, the sum of the parts should exceed all of the individual components.  At this time, it is important that our District move to a position where all of our efforts to increase student academic achievement are orchestrated, organized, and systemic.”

How relevant that quote was eighteen years ago, and how timely it remains today.

Dr. Robert J. Milrod

As we enter into the next chapter of educating students and supporting families in the Upper Moreland Township School District, the foundation the Framework for Continuous Improvement provides is just as important as it was nineteen years ago.  Despite challenging times, the Framework maintains the context of teamwork and support necessary to maintain focus yet think with an innovator's mindset.  We will need to be creative, collaborative, and flexible as we rethink many of the ways in which we conceptualize curriculum, instruction, assessment and professional development.  Because of the Framework, we are able to say that we are up to the challenges we face and will do so to ensure quality learning experiences for our students.

Dr. Michael Q. Roth

The Upper Moreland Township School District
Mission Statement

The Upper Moreland Township School District, in partnership with the community, will provide all students with educational opportunities to develop knowledge, skills, and behaviors necessary for excellence and success as critical thinkers, as caring and confident individuals, and as contributing members of society.