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Week 10: Reflecting, Refocusing, and Reaching Beyond
Happy Friday!
Thank you for the energy, effort, and commitment you continue to bring each day. As we move beyond the first quarter of the school year, it is a meaningful time to pause, reflect, and align our work with the goals we set at the beginning of the year: academic growth, strong attendance, and a positive school culture.
Throughout this week and next, I have been meeting with each building’s leadership to review first-quarter progress and discuss strategies for continued growth. These conversations are centered on reflection and improvement—how we can apply what we have learned during the first nine weeks to finish the year as strong as possible. Across all schools, there is a clear sense of purpose and teamwork. Leaders and teachers are examining data, sharing effective practices, and aligning their plans to support stronger outcomes in learning, attendance, and behavior.
These discussions are also helping us focus on the practical work ahead—maintaining pacing in both literacy and math, strengthening reading stamina across all grade levels, expanding interventions for students who need additional support, and ensuring that our professional learning communities are using formative data to guide daily instruction. We are also emphasizing consistent communication with parents, purposeful use of assessment tools, and renewed attention to engagement strategies that keep students motivated and connected to their learning. This level of collaboration and reflection demonstrates our shared commitment to finishing the year with excellence and unity of purpose.
Phones in Focus: Angela Duckworth’s Research and Our Results
Many of you are familiar with Dr. Angela Duckworth, psychologist, researcher, and author of the bestselling book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. Her TED Talk, now viewed more than 30 million times, explores the link between perseverance and long-term success, a theme that has guided her research into self-control and achievement across schools, workplaces, and communities.
Dr. Duckworth is now applying that same scientific lens to cell phone use in schools through her national Phones in Focus study. She recently spoke to superintendents across Arkansas to share how this research is unfolding and invited teachers to participate in a nationwide survey available at phonesinfocus.org. In her short video message, she explains how teachers’ voices are shaping this study and announced that she will personally visit schools with high participation rates to highlight their impact.
The Arkansas data already show compelling patterns:
* Schools with stricter phone policies report higher educator satisfaction and fewer classroom distractions.
* Students demonstrate greater self-control and higher GPAs when they modify their environment to reduce phone temptations.
* Arkansas ranks #4 in the nation for participation, with 1,316 educators from 26 percent of schools contributing.
Dr. Duckworth and her team have promised district-specific reports for schools with strong participation, allowing us to see how our own policy compares statewide.
Here at Mena Public Schools, we are already seeing a reduction in discipline incidents, and I would like to understand how much of that improvement may be linked to the cell phone law and our consistent enforcement of policy. Please take a few minutes to complete the Phones in Focus survey. It is open to all staff and takes less than five minutes.
Your input helps place Mena among the schools shaping national research on learn
Published on 4 weeks ago