“It’s no secret that our graduation rate and our dropout rate are not up to par, and we believe that starts with reading,” said Superintendent Josh Porter. “I think we’ve all kind of gotten on the same page that when kids can read they can be a lot more successful. While everything else is important, reading is probably the foundational skill that everybody needs to be able to have.”

The district is addressing these goals with the curriculum and multi-tiered system of supports, or MTSS, used by the schools. Currently, the district is undergoing an English Language Arts curriculum adoption, which is a large undertaking, according to Teri Boezinger, director of curriculum.

“We’re looking at new curriculum,” she said. “I think we’re pretty close to adopting something new and amazing that will support our students and teach the skills that they need. They need to have literacy as a gateway skill, so this is going to provide them the gateway to move on with all of their schooling and with life.”

Part of updating the ELA curriculum also comes from legislation passed by the state last year that prohibits books with certain themes to be taught or available in school, she said.

The district is also addressing how it helps students who are struggling academically.

“We’re also taking a really hard look at our multi-tiered system of supports, which is our MTSS system, which is a framework to support all students where they are,” Boezinger said. “So if students need intervention, they get it before they fall behind. So we will be implementing a very rigorous MTSS system in the fall and I’m excited about that.”

Overall, the end goal is to see more Fort Dodge students successfully graduate high school.

“Our focus is to help improve our system,” Porter said. “Our major focus will be on those pre-K through second-grade kids. We know that if they are proficient readers by third grade, that their chances of graduation rise substantially. There are other indicators of graduation rates and dropout rates that you can check along the way, but we do know that the most significant one is that third-grade literacy proficiency.”

In the coming year, the FDCSD will be unveiling a new mission statement and motto crafted by administrators from across the district.

“I think we spent probably four or five meetings that were a couple hours long really fleshing out what we truly envisioned our mantra and what we stood for,” said Aaron Davidson, executive director of educational services. “Making it something all of us collectively who are in this work is something we can be passionate about and live by.”

Another focus of the district leadership team is improving teacher recruitment and retainment. Last year, the district launched a task force to look at the different pieces that play into recruiting and retaining quality educators in Fort Dodge.

The district also recently began a $4.9 million renovation project at Dodger Stadium.

“That’s really a community project,” Porter said. “A lot of our projects are school-based projects, but I think this is a big community project. It just serves so many different things and not just our district. It also serves St. Ed’s and Iowa Central, so it’s just a source of pride for our community.”