“When we think about the instructional opportunities that we want for our children, we want them to be prepared for whatever faces them in their post-secondary world.”

In this episode of Talking Tosa, Chief of Academics Dr. Nicole Marble breaks down the findings from the district’s Analysis of Learning Spaces, which revealed an “instructionally unhealthy, outdated, and obsolete” state of the secondary schools in the Wauwatosa School District, along with the next steps for addressing these issues.

✍️Read the Analysis of Learning Spaces Executive Summary at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1J-_xR6-O1bieP41NXWSmive0xw1h020DnROdd3Yeo6o/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.xdsqexi3t2wm 

💻Learn more about the Secondary School Ad Hoc Committee, which was created to address the state of the four secondary schools, at wauwatosaschools.org/secondaryschooladhoc2025

Learn more about the curriculum review cycle and its importance from Director of Curriculum Jessica Ebert and Chief Academic Officer Nicole Marble.
“It’s really important that our educators and our community know that any high-functioning organization has regular reviews and opportunities for reflective change. We know it’s a non-negotiable. Education inherently is iterative; it relies on cycles of improvement and standing still or maintaining that status quo should never be our goal.”

- Jessica Ebert

Director of Curriculum, Wauwatosa School District

“To us, teaching reading and writing is one of the most powerful and urgent ways we can ensure that every student is able to pursue their dreams, their aspirations, and their goals.”

Act 20 requires all Wisconsin public schools and private institutions to instruct 4K to third-grade students in science-aligned literacy, and all public schools to assess reading levels to achieve proficiency in reading before fourth grade. 🎙️Learn more about the supports in place in the Wauwatosa School District for both students and educators in this episode of Talking Tosa with guests Elementary Literacy Coordinator Brenda Jones and Director of Curriculum Jessica Ebert.

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“We connect, as humans, to what we already know, so it’s really important that our literacy instruction is grounded in these funds of knowledge.”

Wauwatosa School District serves 2,050 students during summer school. From enrichment courses to credit recovery, Tosa summer school consistently provides something for everyone. In this episode of Talking Tosa, Summer School Coordinator Stephen Oliver and Superintendent Dr. Demond Means discuss how engaging and beneficial summer school programs are for Wauwatosa students and families.

As the Wauwatosa School District prepares for its next strategic plan, Director of Strategy and Continuous Improvement Jennifer Fotsch reflects on the district’s 2022-2025 strategic plan, breaks down the overall process for what it takes to create one for a school district, and emphasizes its importance. #TosaProud

“A strategic plan–for any organization, educational or otherwise–it’s important because it sets the course of action.”

“Now that we have the good infrastructure in place, we’re able to be probably even more strategic at a higher level, so our community can expect to see more focus on instruction and academic and career planning, in addition to things we might expect, like fiduciary responsibility and facilities.”

“The strategic plan really sets the tone for our organization, so it’s really important for our students, families, and staff to have good working knowledge of the plan.”

Wauwatosa School District’s school counselors help students grow in three main domains–academic, career, and social emotional intelligence. While also acknowledging that all students develop in these areas at different rates, counselors provide strategic and consistent touch points with students and families to help develop each student’s independence and a plan for success.

In this episode, Wauwatosa West High School Counselor Nicholas Becker and Director of Student Success Emily O’Connor break down how school counselors and student services play a significant role in fulfilling the goals of the Wauwatosa School District’s Vision of a Graduate and help prepare all students to become good members of society. #TosaProud

“We want to send complete human beings out into the world. They’re productive, they’re happy, they have good relationships, they also have a flexible career and a flexible mindset.” - Nicholas Becker, West High School Counselor

“How do we kind of ease that transition into the world of work and independence so that we’re helping students find the opportunities that match their skills and interests.” - Emily O’Connor, Director of Student Success (former)

“Whether students are at the top of their class and they’re doing everything that we want them to do, …or whether they’re struggling through, trying to pass, and just trying to graduate, the partnership is of the utmost importance.” - Nicholas Becker, West High School Counselor

Director of Instruction Leann Neese and Chief Academic Officer Dr. Nicole Marble talk with Superintendent Dr. Demond Means about how instructional framework supports student-centered, high-quality instruction and gives the Wauwatosa School District a common language across its system. #TosaProud

🎬🍿Fun fact: The conversation even touches on how teaching portrayals in movies compare to real-life instructional processes in Wauwatosa. #RobinWilliams #GoodWillHunting #DeadPoetsSociety #OhCaptainMyCaptain #ButPleaseDontStandOnDesks 🙃

“Excellent instruction doesn’t happen by chance. Strong student-centered instruction requires strong student-centered planning.”

“It’s really a partnership between students, staff, and families. When there is a strong partnership between all of the stakeholders, then there is a collective commitment and a collective effort to put one’s best foot forward in the learning process.”

“We want to prepare students for a future that we don’t even know exists yet.”

“Everyone in the community and the district is part of safety. It’s not one person. It’s not just students, it’s not just staff, it’s everyone.”

In this episode, Superintendent Dr. Demond Means, Chief of Pupil and Family Supports Luke Pinion, and Director of School Safety Laura Geisler discuss how everyone in the community and the district is part of safety. They define what safe and unsafe means for a school, share data that provides evidence of safer schools, and emphasize the importance of building relationships–including with our School Resource Officers–and modeling appropriate behavior and conflict resolution at all levels of community. #TosaProud

When it comes to school safety, prevention is our strongest lever. Much of that prevention is due to processes in place that are aligned with the district’s mission, vision, and core values, along with best practices around school safety nationwide. Behind the scenes of every disciplinary case in the Wauwatosa School District, there is a lot happening in terms of strategic intervention and careful safety planning around each individual student’s needs.

In this episode, Chief of Pupil and Family Supports Luke Pinion and Director of Student Success Emily O’Connor break down how preventative processes play a significant role in school safety. #TosaProud

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"I think it's important to continue supporting the development of an atmosphere in which the rights and duties of student policies are acknowledged. So, really, all of us have an opportunity, and I think even an obligation, to seek to understand that behavior is a form of communication, and so, when students are experiencing challenges, what is that telling us and can we respond in a supportive and healthy way for that student? That's really what research demonstrates will be effective longterm is really putting in place those supports and strategies."

-Emilie O’Connor, Director of Student Success

"It's really important that we all approach these needs and these situations with a lens of curiosity and inquiry rather than judgement and making assumptions."

-Emilie O’Connor, Director of Student Success

“It's very important to know, just because a student has a piece of paper that says they're expelled, that does not equate to more safe schools. In fact, you look at Sandy Hook, Uvalde–those students had a piece of paper that said they were expelled. So even when you go that far, it is crucial that we're still doing safety planning around the student's needs.”

-Luke Pinion, Chief of Pupil and Family Supports

Superintendent Dr. Demond Means, Chief of Academics Dr. Nicole Marble, and Director of Strategy and Continuous Improvement Jennifer Fotsch discuss the grading process at the secondary school level in the Wauwatosa School District and how it aligns with the state's academic standards or a content area's governing body's standards.